Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Sailing in Lake Saimaa, July 2011

This summer we decided to experience what the inland lakes of Finland had to offer. First we had to sail south through the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland towards russian waters. After passport checks at the border we would have to make our way up the Saimaa canal and into finnish territorial waters again.

This was a one and a half month journey and we had four different crews helping us out along the way. Everybody took photos and after sorting through all of them, here's a small selection. Click the first photo after the map to start the slideshow.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Ikaalinen - Tampere kayak trip, june 2011

Our inland kayak trip started right after the 5o5- Championships in Helsinki. On sunday evening we drove to Manso-niemi, where we on monday morning set off. When we got to Kyröskoski later that day we found out, to our surprise, that the whole river Pappilanjoki in Kyröskoski was closed. One of us had to go back and get our car to get us passed this unforseen obstacle. Despite this setback the trip was a success, we had all kinds of weather and gathered 73kms.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Via Francigena, stage 2/3, April 2011

Centuries old Via Francigena was calling us once again. We continued our journey from Fiorenzuola in Emilia-Romagna and ended this leg in Siena, Tuscany. There were very few pilgrims, during three weeks we only encountered four others walking this route.

The weather was on our side the whole way, blue skies and sunshine for the 375 kilometers, 15 walking days plus a couple of days as tourists in Lucca and Siena. This part was also kind of a gastronomic journey as it took us through the region of Parma and Chianti.

The last leg of the pilgrimage is planned for October 2011 and it will take us to Rome. They say all roads lead to Rome but we managed to get lost a couple of times. We didn't mind it as we took in the sights and scenery. We also took a couple of pictures as seen here below.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Via Francigena, stage 1/3, October 2010

In 58 BC Julius Caesar opened the 'Road of the Sun', the shortest route between the North Sea and Rome. This route was called 'Via Francigena' for the first time in 876 AD. The archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric wrote down the itinerary in 990 AD when he returned home from Rome. The road was used by merchants, armies and pilgrims. As a pilgrimage, this route fell out of fashion around the 17th century. In 1985 Via Francigena was retraced as described back in 990 AD by the archbishop.

The route starts in Canterbury, England but we started from Grand Saint Bernhard in Switzerland. From there it's 1020km's to Rome, on this leg we walked 360km's. The next stages are planned for march and october of 2011.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Huittinen - Pori kayak trip, June 2010

Our latest inland kayaking trip started in Huittinen where we ended up last year. Our goal this year was to finish up in Pori, 85 kilometers away, by the coast. The idea was to leave the car in Huittinen and after reaching Pori, one of us would take a bus back to Huittinen to get the car. This was the last stage of five. Fortunately there are a lot of lakes and waterways to explore in coming summers but there is no way to top the weather we had on this trip.