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- 21 Haz 2014 09:36
- ⛅ 10 °C
- Yükseklik: 13 m
- FinlandiyaVarsinais-SuomiTurkuKakolaKakolanmäki60°26’58” N 22°14’56” E
Summer Solstice in Turku
21 Haziran 2014, Finlandiya ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Turku Finland - Saturday 21st June (Summer Solstice)
Our stay last night was at the huge Naantali Spa Resort. This is a modern 5 star resort situated right on the ocean with its own impressive decking facility for the visiting passenger liners that frequent these waters. With its opulent entry foyer (complete with piano player), shopping arcade, array of saunas, swimming pools and spas, outdoor sports centres, swimming pool and marina it certainly was quite a spectacle. On arrival at the check in counter I was given a list of the day's optional activities (bridge club at 9 am, flower arranging class at 9.30 am, tap dancing at 10.00am, etc, etc) and in the morning the breakfast buffet would have been big enough to feed a small African country.
Needless to say I could not wait to leave it and move on to the next location. Compared to the small character filled hotels we had been staying in for the past few days, this hotel was crowded and impersonal and seemed to be made of metal and plastic. It seemed like most of our riders shared the same sentiment and we were quite happy to pack our bags and ride on to something much simpler. I could never imagine why some people travel around the world and only ever stay in these sort of places.
Before riding to Turku we spent some time exploring the delightful old centre of Naantali. This area had narrow streets and higgledy piggedly wooden houses. The atmosphere was wonderful although the temperature suddenly dropped so low that a few flurries of snow started to fall. Obviously mid summer in Scandinavia is not the place for shorts and thongs. A few minutes later the timid sun was doing its best to poke out between the clouds and the mood immediately changed. I don't we could ever complain about Melbourne's fickle weather again.
Our ride today was quite short and we rolled gently along the sealed bike path back to our starting point in Turku. The rain stayed away and by mid afternoon the sky was mostly clear. This Is a pattern that had been established for the past few days.
Back in Turku we finally caught up with Group 1, who had been doing the ride one day ahead of us. Tomorrow they will be catching the plane to Stockholm while we enjoy our final day in Finland. This gives us one evening to share a combined dinner before both groups separate again.
Since this is the longest day of the year (and a Saturday) I thought there would be some sort of celebrations in town but the place is as quiet as a tomb. Maybe the population has all left to spend the at Naantali Spa ?Okumaya devam et