Day Two: Västmyra-Tjudö

After a night of strong winds, cold temperatures around 5 C, and rain, both Serge and I woke around 09:30. It was a bit later than I normally wake when camping, but given our early wake-up the previous morning, it seemed justified. Silence was abound in the area. As we ate our fresh picked apples, muesli, yoghurt, cheese and bread, we slowly packed up our camp. I wondered what life must be like out there in such a rural place where so few cars pass daily and how little social interaction people must have. Given every home seemed to have a satelite dish, this could be construed as the social life. For me, it seemed to offered a sense of peace and calm (not the sattelite dish, but the serenity of the area). When I mention we packed slowly, it was not an exaggeration, as our bikes started rolling around 13:00.

Leaving Västmyra towards Näfsby, we continued east with the wind at our backside. It was slightly warmer at around 7-8 C. At Näfsby, we had to travel a short distance on that same busy road again before continuing east towards Bjärnströms by (village). A most pleasant site was seen in the village with the "midsommarstång" (midsummer may pole). It stood easily 20 meters high with an Åland flag at the top along with a wind dial. On each side in 3-4 layers hung the Swedish, Finnish and Åland flag colors in flower designs. Behind it was another beautiful red wind mill. Not far down the road  was the the Bjärnströms stenbro ( stone bridge) which in the 15th century was used as part of the postal road connecting the mainland from east to west. 

After Bjärnströms, we traveled north towards Markusböle. Enroute we found ourselves hiking up a 1000 meter trail and up several staircases to the top of an Utsiktorn (view tower). Although it was quite windy, the 360 degree views were spectacular. I believe we could see all of Åland from there. Afterwards, we biked a bit further into the hub of Markusböle where we collected water at the large and empty Ålands Folkhögskola. The school is used for education and other community gatherings. Serge contested me with a 100 meter run on the well groomed track. With his long legs and perhaps ability for sprint distances, he beat me by an arms length. Way to go, Serge!  

As the afternoon chill set in and a quick snack, we were headed towards Finström where we stopped to take a look at the Finströms Kyrka (church). There exists some contraversary whether it was built in the early 11th or 14th century.I believe that is a big difference. This we may never know, but one thing is for sure, there was a bronze statue on the grounds of Frans Petter von Knorring. He wrote many swedish school books and started the newspaper Åland (which still exists today). Then it was back towards the north through several small villages. Eventually as the evening cold set in, we started the search for our 2nd night's campsite. With luck,  just south of Tjudö we find ourselves at a badstrand (beach) and arranging our sleeping bags in the beach changing room. It had no door and a window opening that we covered with our  dependable tarp.  I wouldn't say that it was precisely warm, but it allowed us to escape from the howling wind that crossed over the lake. We had our 2nd  pasta dinner and tea outside by candlelight and made our way into our night's cozy shelter. Other than the tarp blowing in the strong winds and the rain dropping on the aluminum roof, it was very quiet. Then lights went out on Day Two.