Pirates of the Archipelago :)

Here are some photos that were taken on my small sailing trip with the Swedish brig "Tre Kronor". Princess Victoria of Sweden and her spouse prince Daniel were in Turku for an official meet n' greet in September. They faked their "sailing" to Turku, but I guess it was a fancier way to arrive... Read more about it in my previous post.

So, me and my colleague took the opportunity to sail on Princess Victoria's ship. It was the last perfect day of autumn, take a look!

We were met with a happy Swedish flag!

BW photo of Turku's most important industry: ship building.

Wärtsilä is a big Finnish company. They build ships and engines and stuff:)

Ship's bell, detail. Learn more about it here.

It was cold outside so it was nice to have hot coffee and treats.
(Princess crown was napkin accessory on the table;)

One photoshopped test photo.

Hard working sailors!

This is what they're supposed to look like.

Photo-au-naturel aka no editing.

Sneak photo. I like it a lot! Man and daughter looking at cruise ship going to Turku harbor.

Me and some of the crew. Can't remember the boys' names, but the girl was Amanda.

Detail.

Ruissalo (where they have Finland's oldest music festival) looked like it was on fire!

The sky is hostile. The geese flee.

An old ship, now transformed to a hostel. Bore.
Love the nostalgic, vintage soft lines of the ship!

The pride of the Finnish Navy, Swan of Finland (Suomen Joutsen). 

In september Princess Victoria of Sweden and her spouse, Prince Daniel, came for an official visit to Turku. They arrived by boat ("Tre Kronor"), and I thought that they actually had sailed from Stockholm to Turku. But alas! They had not. They came by plane, jumped onboard the ship outside Turku and then graciously sailed into the city harbor - waving in a very royal manner!:)

As the school where I work is close by the harbor, I took my students to see Her Majesty. Here are a few pictures!

Children sang a Moomin song for the Princess. Here in her red costume, Little My.

Press people were there, of course.

First glimpses at the Princess!

Royal wave! :)

The little girl that was to be the flower girl.
Later she threw a temper tantrum! :D
Oh boy, will she hear that story when she grows up! :D

Meeting and greeting Turku representatives.

She is so sweet! Daniel was by her side at all times.

The Princess gets her own seal!
The seal is a symbol for the environmental work that is been done for the Baltic Sea.

Her Majesty points out the place where her name plate is going to be.

Paying close attention...

"I wonder if they can do the work properly?"

Tall Ships' Regatta 2011, Turku

Because of the European Culture Capital year, Turku also had the big ships visit this autumn. This event is usually during the summer and it's (usually) called Tall Ships' Race. So, to avoid any misunderstanding, this event was called Tall Ships' Regatta 2011...

Whether the name was a good choice or not, I leave it up to you to decide, but here are a few photos from when the ships were leaving (28/8/2011)... It was such a grey day, so it's only appropriate that the photos are B/W.

Russian "Akela" leaving (click name!:)

Decorative (Russian "Shtandart").

Russian "Shtandart" behind the pier on the left leaving (click links on the names:).
Right ahead/in the middle, Russian "Sedov".

Sails down.

Curious people with a view to the river Aura.