Antwerp - FinlandDAY 5
- by Nikki and Pol
- Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Last night we did not notice that the Timca had already left Hanko, this morning not that it had already arrived in Rauma. Around four o'clock I was awake for a while: it was full of light and the ship was still moving. When the alarm clock went off at 7 o'clock, the Timca was moored and unloading was in full swing.
Gisela and Arnout decide to explore Rauma immediately after breakfast.
Gisela and Arnout decide to explore Rauma immediately after breakfast. Nikki and I prefer to watch the unloading and loading from up close, so at 11.30 am we can enjoy a rich lunch just the two of us: onion soup with a spicy and toasted roll, a salad, chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes and 'enriched' rice and princess beans and spinach leaves with bits of fried bacon, and as a sober dessert a beautifully cut quarter melon. Then we pick up our bicycles in the Timca and ride out of the vast but quiet harbor area of Rauma. At the 'gate' we have to follow the trail of some trucks to get past the automatically opening and closing gate which seems to work with license plate recognition, but we just manage. Via good and wide bicycle paths, which you share with the few pedestrians, we quickly reach the 'historic center' of Rauma, where we park our bikes to stroll through the car-free streets.That center consists of single-story wooden houses, which now mostly house craft or design stores, with a striking number of businesses for knitwear.
The favorite Finnish winter activity?
In the past, most small Finnish towns looked like this. Because the center of Rauma is one of the few that have not burned down, UNESCO considers it a World Heritage Site. Nice, but we got bored and walked out pretty quickly. After a phone call from the Timca that the departure has been brought forward, we cycle via a different route and with a detour along a nearby lake back to the port. In this way we see that Rauma, with its 80,000 inhabitants, is a quiet town with plenty of space and greenery, but at first glance somewhat boring. Driving back into the port area is a bit difficult. Because we secretly drove outside, we don't have a code to open the entrance gate. And we don't risk following a truck this time, because the gate for entering closes very quickly. So we have to politely ask the office of the Port of Rauma if we can enter again. After a good quarter of an hour a man appears who with some trick (or key?) takes the pedestrian area apart so that we can pass through with our bicycles. He also confirms that we should have asked for a permit to enter and exit the harbor.
The best story of the day brings travel companion Gisela.
Back home in Bremen, she is not only active with the Red Cross, but also in her parish. When she entered a Protestant church in the old part of Rauma, she saw the large organ there. Fortunately for her, the "sexton" was also walking around there, and she asked him if she could play the organ for a while. The man agreed. The scores that were lying around appeared to be mostly of music that Gisela knew from home. She played the organ for an hour, she says, still as delighted as ever. Arnout, Nikki and I sincerely regret that we did not attend this 'concert'. It would have been a highlight of this trip for us as well.
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