Mariehamn, Finland

If it's Friday, it must be Finland!  We docked at the port city of Mariehamn, which is in Aland -- an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty.  Very early this morning, we set out to tour the Pellas Museum which does a fantastic job of documenting this area's considerable seagoing history.  One of the exhibits is a real Pirate flag (see collage) which used to be black, but has now lost most of its colour.  We then traveled to nearby Lemland, where we visited an old farmhouse and met the grand daughter of the original owner.  She gave a very interesting and entertaining talk about the house and its history, and then we were free to wander through the rooms and the barns.  The colourful miniature "May pole" decoration was in the sitting room there.  Those red barn doors with the chickens painted on them were also at this place.  Onward to a beautiful little Medieval church with some amazing frescoes that have survived for hundreds of years (see largest picture above.) The festively dressed cellist was at the port to greet us with beautiful classical music.

Tomorrow we will arrive at St. Petersburg, Russia where we'll be for the next three days.