Rob's words and images for Kökar, including 360 degree view.
Originally shared by Rob Masters
A (far too brief) visit to Kökar.
On the advice of the Swedish lady from the yacht Catalina II, we paid a visit to Kökar today. As it is just over a three hour journey each way, we only had a couple of hours on the island group (it is actually three islands linked together), and needed a taxi to get around.
So we paid a visit to the museum, which is housed in the old schoolhouse. This was an interesting experience, as the english-speaking guide was on their day off. This left us with an elderly, but very spry, local lady with very, very little English. Despite this, and the fact that almost all of the descriptions were in Swedish, we managed to learn quite a bit. Our guide come from one of the older fishing families, and there was a clear division between the fishing families and the farming families. We also learnt that both groups had specific marks to show boundaries and property. The farmers used a sort of hybrid rune and heraldic system, and the fishers used special knots.
The forms of the vegetation there were very different from what we've seen elsewhere in Åland, and there are old longboat paths passing through the marshes.
With lots of space to kayak in, and very cool places to cycle, we could easily spend a couple of weeks there!
Alas, we had to leave, but the trip itself is very interesting, and well worth the bus fare.
In other news, the hotel has very kindly offered us a very late check-out!
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