Trapped in Turku!

We packed up the next morning and headed for Naantali, planning to reach it by around noon, explore a bit and then head further south towards the islands. This plan was disrupted when a snap on my pannier hit my back wheel and broke a spoke just after we left the campground. Thus began a many-hour adventure to try to get my spoke repaired. We were soon to discover that while nearly the entire population of Finland has a good understanding of English, bike store employees, for some reason, don't. Furthermore, they don't like repairing spokes! Map in hand, we went to a bike shop, where we were informed that such a repair couldn't be completed that day, and were directed to a second shop where we were assured it would be no problem. On arriving at this shop and explaining the problem through a complicated game of charades, we were told that the repair couldn't be completed that day, and directed to a third shop. At this one, we were told that it could be done the following day, but could not be completed immediately. We moved on to a fourth shop, where we found someone who spoke English, was sympathetic to our problem, but directed us to a fifth bike shop, this one on the other side of the river. Upon arrival, we were again told that the simple repair could not be completed. By this point my wheel was starting to bend, it was getting towards noon, and we began to feel like we would never get out of Turku.

Out of desperation we headed to the Turku tourist information office, where I delivered a very effective sob story and was immediately assisted. The person I was talking to gave me the address of her own bike shop, called ahead to ensure that the repair could be completed, and even wrote a note in Finnish to the shop owner explaining our predicament. We biked over the Aura River a second time, got lost, and finally found the shop. The very helpful shop assistant fixed my wheel in about 20 minutes. With the spoke issue solved, the bike store assistant inflated our tire, but it deflated shortly. We changed the tube, re-inflated it and headed on our way, only to find it deflated again in another two blocks. We stopped and removed the tire, and found that it was punctured by a thorn that had now punctured the new tube as well. After 15 minutes of patching, we were finally on our way.

Turku

Following our stay in Pori, we decided to take the train down to Turku before starting our exploration of the Archipelago Sea between Finalnd and Sweden. Turku, the oldest city in Finland, is known for its deep history and high concentration of students. Upon arrival, we had the pleasure of running into Moritz and Elisabeth, who were on their way to Helsinki after staying a few days in Darryl and Kiira's apartment. We got some good food and sightseeing tips, and then headed off to track down the apartment.

After months of living in our tent, having access to a kitchen was excellent and I spent the night cooking supper and enjoying the privacy while David started exploring Turku by bike. The next day we headed out to explore, touring the medieval Turku Castle and checking out the Turku cathedral. The evening was spent enjoying a beer on a boat on the River Aura. These boats line the river, and provide drinks, food and entertainment.


Darryl and his family arrived the next day, so we moved out of the apartment but decided we didn't want to leave Turku just yet. We biked out of Turku to Ruissalo Island, slightly west of the city. It was lovely and quiet, with a very nice campsite, and made an excellent home base for some more exploring and odds and ends. After arriving and setting up camp, we headed back into Turku to pick up some needed items (biking gloves that we had forgotten in Switzerland, a clock, sunscreen, etc.) and work on the blog. We then checked out the Turku Kauppahalli (market hall), and I met Darryl and his parents for a beer at the Panimoravintola Koulu, a former school house that is now a restaurant and brewery.
Our day in Turku complete, we picked up some food for supper and headed back to Ruissalo, and I completed the 7th Harry Potter book on the bus there. We had a nice evening, complete with an hour of sauna before turning in for the night.

Return to Pori

We returned to Pori and decided to stick around a few more days. Pori Jazz, an internationally known jazz festival that has hosted musicians such as Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, was approaching and we were reluctant to leave all of our new friends. One of the most interesting sights we saw was the Juselius Mausoleum, a mausoleum built in 1902 by a local industrialist for his daughter who died at the age of 12. The mausoleum itself is an impressive structure (see photo at left), but the interior in quite remarkable, decorated with intricate paintings depicting the natural cycle of life (long before Elton John and The Circle of Life did the same thing).

Kiira's family organized a great surprise birthday party for Jodie - one of the best gifts was ant bait (see below) to prevent repeat infestations! We all enjoyed cloudberry liquor and delicious dessert.

After a few days in Pori, we said our goodbyes and made our way towards south towards the city of Turku.