The primary purpose of this visit is not pleasure. The next 11 days will no doubt be long and tiring, as we will be seeing to the finishing pre-commissioning touches of Scanships (my employers) installation onboard Freedom of the Seas, which will become the worlds largest cruise ship when it is delivered to Royal Caribbean late spring 2006.
Yesterday though, was a day for recovery and relaxation and after our arrival to Turku at around 9 a.m also offered plenty of time for exploration.
This is not the first time I have done this journey and had a free Sunday in Finlands oldest city. The last time I was delighted to find the presence of a large fish market, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Yesterday, I had the company of a college, leading to a more in depth exploration and the realisation the most, if not all, of the cities many museums are open on Sundays.
Our tour first took us to the Cathedral, completed in the late 13th Century. A spectacular illustration of the durability and wonder of early architecture. Given that it was Sunday Morning, we did not go inside for fear of disturbing those with holier things on there mind than sightseeing. Maybe, I will return one evening this week.
After a tour of the wide streeted town and a spot of lunch it was time to hand over some of our hard earned cash to enjoy presentations of the areas history in local museums.
We mutually decided that the shipping museum Forum Marinum was a good place to start. At first it appear that our 7 Euro's entrance fee was not going to go all that far, but as we took our tour of the museum, it became apparent that this was one of the largest collections of shipping history I have come across. The museum comprehensively covers Turku's shipping and ship building history. Including freight vessels, warships and equipment, pleasure craft large and small and so on. Particular impressive for the petrol head was the room with rows of outdoor motors mounted on both walls. Must have been 8 motors high by 20 motors long, from the earliest engines to the most recent.
I can recommend this museum to anybody, especially those with an interest in shipping and things mechanical in general. If you happen to ever be in the situation that you are a couple of hours early for your ferry from Turku, don't sit in you car like lemons, take advantage of the close proximity of Forum Marinum. Great for old and young alike.
The other museum that we visited was Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova. A combination of the ancient city and a collection of Modern art.
After handing over our 8 euros, we found ourselves directed to a flight of stairs down which, quite literal, we descended into times past. The history of Turku, it seems has been preserved in the soil, and some of those clever archaeology types have spent an awful long time with their teaspoons to unearth it again. So you find yourself exploring part of the old medieval city, where it stood, as it stood. There are, of course, signs of strengthening and repair here and there, but it is amazing just how much was uncovered and found intact. You look into peoples basements, and walk down cobble streets, all now enclosed by modern concrete and steel. Absolutely fainating. Educating, enlightening and fascinating.
The modern art exhibition was entitled ars Iberica. Some of which was, in my opinion, of the "is it really art", "I could have done that" league. However, to find a number of Pablo Picassos in the middle of all this was a pleasant surprise. All of which illustrated why Picasso became a household name in the "contemporary" art
field. The Picassos certainly had something that the others did not.
So, Turku, A compact city, full of history. Come here in the summer, I would imagine that the winter is quite bleak, I will find out soon enough..... I hope to publish some pictures of this beautiful place, but you will have to wait until I am back on Norwegian soil.
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