An adventure trip to Vepsä

We had never made a trip to one of the islands that are owned by Turku Town. Finally today we set out for a little adventure. Vepsä is an old smugglers island about one hour from Turku harbor. The boat was leaving at 11am and there was a big queue of summer holiday people eagerly waiting to get aboard the middle sized red and white boat called Lilys. We were 30minutes early but where lucky to get on board. I know it might get boring to tell you yet again that it was a blue sky, warm sunny day but it was. We were sitting on the top deck watching all the beautiful boats and the antique sailing ships that have there home at Turku harbor. The Suomen Joutsen is one of them. It is a beautiful white ship that does it's name justice: Finnish Swan/The Swan of Finland. It is an old wooden sailing ship with 3 masts that was build in France in 1902. Later in 1930 it became a Finnish Navy trainingship and now rests in Turku harbor as an museum ship. It is a beautiful ship as you can see on the pictures. What is interesting that there is also a Finnish sailing yacht shipyard that produces sailing ships under the name Swan. The yard is no longer in Finnish hands as it was bought by an Italian company. But it is a famous name in the world of exclusive sailing yachts. Maybe it has something to do with the white of the swan and the blue of the water that matches the Finnish Flag,
or maybe people just love swans because of their beauty and grace. The Suomen Joutsen is a both as you can see on the pictures.

Then we went passed Turun Linna (Turku Castle) and the parts of the harbor where Viking line and Silje line leave before we sailed past Ruissalo on the right and Hirvensalo on the left. It is incredibly beautiful from the water you have an excellent vieuw on all the Pippie Longstock style old wooden villa's. With their romantic woodwork, veranda's and some even with watchtowers. How fantastic is that! Imagine yourself having breakfast there in the morning looking over the water, or watching the stars with a glass of wine at a warm summer night.. well when I win the lottery you know where to find me. It is either training in Tian Tan or somewhere in the beautiful mountains of China or there in Ruissalo, painting by the sea.
Enough daydreaming, even if you are a bit less loaded you can have an amazing time here.

Turku council has a more socialist streak then I have ever seen. I did mention before that they are nice enough to plant flowers for its citizens and also peas which you can pick for free. Apart from that the city ownes 3 Islands (big ones) were you can rent a cute red wooden cabin for a fraction of the normal price




or camp with your tent for next to nothing. Then I mean camping in a place next to the water with smooth soft warm rocks, clear water, almost as if you are alone in nature. There is a sauna you can rent, and grill places with ready cut wood to use. The trip with the boat only costs 10e for a return I so that is pretty cool. How nice is that? You don't need a shower place because from your bed you jump in the sea for a dip. At night you can make a camp fire and grill your own caught fish that surely had a great life in clean water. Oke there are no disco's there is no bar and the restaurant served mashed potatoes with sausage saus (?) and limp salad but who cares bring your own food and you have a great time. For all you people who are packing their bags already there is one catch you must be a Turku citizen. But isn't that a cool thing of a city to do for its inhabitants? Finland isn't a socialist country but you would almost think so. And the cabins are no cheap nasty looking things, the sauna was brand new and looked a million bucks and the cabins are very cute as you can see. The Island is not very big you can walk around it in 1.5hours and that is what we did. There is a lookout point where the smugglers used to hide and there are big smooth rocks that warm up in the sun and are wonderful for sunbathing and warming up after swimming. There were 400 people on the boat but it didn't look like that on the island. Everybody found his or her own place and you can sit all by yourself if you want to.

 

I forgot to mention that the island is open to all visitors that come just for a daytrip. We met a really nice couple when sitting on the rocks. I tried to go for a swim but where we sat, there were rocks in the water



covered in green seaweed. They yelled out to us to come and swim from their rock and soon we were talking and swimming together. They were very nice and enthusiastic to talk to and told us all about the must sees of Turku. She was from Helsinki and he from Karalia but they have lived here many years and seem to know everything. From where to spot nice well trained young men (for me), to the best fish restaurant, which cycle paths go to nice places anything and everything. Apparently nice looking men you should look for in the swimming pool…. Of course if you are an professional swimmer you look pretty sharp… I could have thought of that myself. Too bad I like to swim in the sea much more and don't intend to go to a swimming pool anytime soon. Not that I was on the look out but I guess they figured that me being there with my mum must be a sign that I apparently hadn't gone to the right places yet..I like to think they are not right.

Part two will follow tomorrow