Mariehamm

Mariehamn is the capital of Aland ( pronounced Orland) , an autonomous territory , made up of many, many small islands, under Finnish sovereignty but closer to Sweden. The residents speak Swedish. 

We had breakfast in our room and watched as the captain manoeuvred the boat past many small islands on the way to the harbour at Mariehamn. 

We went on a bus tour of Marienhamn and the surrounding area in the morning and in the afternoon went sailing on a reproduction of  an old 2 masted vessel with many sails and with 36 other people plus crew. It was very relaxing. We motored out for a while and came back under sail ( several passengers helped raise the sails)

. Until today all of our tours have run very smoothly. Not so today.  A bus took us to the boat and after the cruise another was to pick us up. It was not waiting for us, as all other buses have been. The guide made a phone call and shortly afterwards the small tourist 'train' on wheels that we had seen taking people around a regular set route turned up. We all piled into the smallish wagons and set off back to the boat with much hilarity from all the ( mostly elderly) passengers, amusement of locals who were waved to and tolerance from the few drivers who had to wait for all the carriages following the engine to turn left onto the main street.  On the 3km way back, we passed 3 of the correct company 's buses going in the opposite direction towards the boat. Someone will not be happy.