If most Finish campsites are like our first one, I wouldn’t recommend sleeping in a hotel. I couldn’t ask for more. As soon as we parked our car, I ran to a sauna (an evening in Finland without sauna is a wasted evening, isn’t it?). However, it wasn’t the time yet to try a real smoke sauna, this one was electric and I couldn’t make it boiling hot – every time I put some water on stones, the vapor would vanish after 15 seconds. Anyway, I got very warm and ran to the sea and dipped in it. I was shocked as it was very pleasing (I had expected freezing cold or something). I swam around feeling refreshed, then took a few jumps from nearby pier and finally got back to eat a dinner (in a big kitchen cabin accessible for everyone), to take a warm shower and to surf the Internet using wireless network (which was the last thing I had expected to exist on a campsite). I”d say it”s funny to sit inside a tent with a laptop on your knees.
Saaristo is an archipelago in Turku area. It consists of 2000 islands which makes it one of the densest archipelagos in the world. One can take a round trip on Saaristo – it (the trip) has its own name but I forgot it. One of the things that caught my attention is that the flora around these islands is very similar to that of lakes – I was surprised to see a reed on the sea. They all look similarly: bigger ones have dense forests and rocky shores. Here and there you can see people laying on those rocks and sunbathing or others sailing around in their small boats. A perfect place to spend a few weeks in summer (if one seeks for a calm and peaceful place, of course).
The usual route goes like that: Pargas -> Nagu -> Korppoo -> Houtskär -> Iniö -> Kustavi. I had only some time to see Nagu and its old church; unusual one with some funny paintings on the walls, two grand pianos and one piano (sic!), and a ship model hanging instead of a lamp. Apart of that, the interior was very modest – I guess it’s usual in Lutheran churches. I noticed that this region (not only Archipelago, but west coast in general) is bilingual. It’s kind of unique as Finnish and Swedish are completely different languages, with almost no common words. I wonder if it’s only based on the region’s history or there are really many Swedish people. I recommend spending more than one day on Archipelago and maybe experience nightlife there.
Oh, maybe it’s usual in other countries or even other regions of Poland, but I think I had never seen an isolated (I mean in some distance from a church) bellfry before.