To Åbo

I was up again early morning and went take up the fish net, as it happened I got 3 fishes which I removed and cleaned up the net and then the fishes. Then it was time for breakfast and once finished my Mom drove up to the house to join us for a cup of coffee. After some chatting it was off to Tallberga for lunch and then we started for Åbo.

Uncle Bengt

Before getting to the main village of Nagu we stopped at a "maiden's dance" (jungfru dans/ Jatulintarha). It is a leftover from the heathen times thought to have been set up by waiting fishermens wives standing perched up on a mountain looking for their husbands to return from the sea. The dance is thought to have been constructed to while away the time. It is a circular maze that when one enters and goes around it one is also extricated on the same way forward without walking on the inward path. The concentric in and out circles goes between each other. On the path to the hill we passed a defunct windmill that used to be in operation when my Mom was a child.

Maidens Dance

The old windmill

The trip back was uneventful and soon enough I was back at my childhood home where I also met my Father. The town lot was quite overgrown and Father calls it the "natural beauty without interfering" and Mom was somewhat fed up in asking permission to cut a grass straw. After some time it was again time for dinner and rest later in the evening. 

My childhood home

Rölleka

Smörblomma

Going to Nagu

Next morning went we got up and Bengt headed for the health station to get some of his old age problems tended to and once back we went for some shopping and bought the necessary ingredients to make my Thai dish for lunch. After shopping Bengt drove my around the shores of Helsinki and showed some places of interest. Lunch became so much we got a lunchbox saved for my aunt Elisabeth that was going to accompany us to Nagu. In the afternoon we packed us into my Bengt's SUV and off we went westwards. In Klippsta we picked up Elisabeth and we continued our journey. My aunt I hadn't also met in 12years but she looked the same as before except a few more wrinkles. She ate the lunchbox with gusto but I could see the jalapenos was making her mouth burn. The new motorway to Åbo was really smooth and soon enough we found ourselves in Pargas where we stopped to buy some food for the evening. Then the next stop was at the inter-Island ferry (along the now named "archipelagic ring road") and we made the short seavoyage across to Nagu.

Canada geese in Helsinki

 

The main village of Nagu had not changed much since my childhood although there was now a hotel and a new marina on the south side. The marina looked really good. The road to my Aunt's villa Tallberga (that used to be my Grandma's) was still the same dirt road and Tallberga (Pinehill) looked somewhat the same. The paint scheme had been changed and a sauna had been added as well as the notoriously dangerous staircase to the second floor inside the house had been removed and been rebuilt at another place in a much less steeper inclination. Tallberga looked really good and now that there was running water it made life much easier. Compared to the time when my grandma was still alive and stayed there all summer and at times could have 10 grand children living there with the parents coming and going. We all washed in the lake so there was not much choice for hot or cold water. Elisabeth treated us to some white wine and we chatted for a time but time was again working against us so we had to load us into the car and drive to Bengt's villa Missvik.

 

The ferry to Nagu

We drove the old main road of Nagu to Missvik that was now relegated to a back road that not many knew about nowadays. At about halfway used to be the municipal garbage dump where we as kids used to go and shoot rats with air rifles. The dump has now been closed for several years and I assume the rats have moved on as well. The rest of the road was still the same and maintained in a fairly good condition as well. Then it was 100m on the current main road and a turn to the dirt road leading to Missvik. After awhile we passed the Uttis mansion that used to be the property of my Grandma's sister. The mansion was under repair and now under Ownership of my little cousin that resides in France. The estate grounds had also been developed to a homestay country resort for tourists. Not a really appealing development but I guess that is called progress. Anyway, at the end of the road was Missvik and we got to offload ourselves from the car. In my childhood we used to come by boat over from Tallberga to Missvik for sauna nights.

Aunt Elisabeth

I started cleaning up the herring we had bought in Pargas and Bengt set to warm the sauna. As a welcome drink he offered some Famous Grouse that went down well, washing away the dust from the days travel. Once the herring was cleaned up Bengt broiled it in the sauna while I cleaned the new potatoes. Then we set about putting out the fishing net in the hopes that we would get some fresh fish for the next day. I rowed as per instructions from Bengt and he lowered the net. Once we were back it was time for sauna and get cleaned up. After that it was time for dinner and while waiting for the potatoes to boil we had some German beer to cool down. Once finished dinner & cleanup I discovered it was already over midnight, having stayed so long in Far East where I'm accustomed that darkness comes between 6-7pm, this long time of daylight was a bit difficult to realize but sleep was not a problem.

Villa Tallberga

Villa Missvik