We woke just after midnight, Finnish time, shortly before the ferry arrived in Vaasa and drove to the Bäckliden rest stop, on the highway near Närpes, and slept a few hours.
Then we went into town to a café so Bryan and Keldor could have coffee, and we all bought a snack. Then we went to the grocery store next-door and got some snacks, beverages, and ice cream.
Yes, the ice-cream from Närpes Glassfabrik is as good as I remember it. They are clearly still following their business model of small batches, made with the best possible, preferably local, ingredients. (Alas, they have yet to find a local source for vanilla or cacao. )
The next stop was at a highway gas station/market in Rauma, for toilet, fuel for the car, and because Bryan had forgotten to buy licorice at the last grocery store.
Then on to Turku, where we bought sweaters at a second hand store. Keldor got a classsic Norwegian style wool sweater, I got a grey and white thick wool poncho with hood that is really nice, and Bryan bought a blue velvet suit jacket that fits like it had been custom made for him.
(a couple of weeks later, we finally got photos of the sweaters, as my sisters wanted to see them, so I will put them here)
We also got a game at the game store (thanks, Alfr!), and then we went to a tiny restaurant, The Indian Curry House, for a late lunch/early dinner. Yum!
I managed to eat all of my naan bread and half of my Palak Paneer (this was much more than I should have eaten on one go), and I packed the rest of my bmved and rice up to take home. They both had the mutton curry, and managed to eat all of it, and their naan, and most of their rice.
The owner fed us, had us pay, gave me the to go package to deal with myself, anded four times if we needed anything more, then explained that he was on his own, as he hadn’t found help, and left us to finish eating as he took a delivery away, saying that we should just shut the door after us if we needed to leave before he returned.
We did, and noticed the handwritten “we are open” Sign that greeted us on arrival had changed to a “if the door is locked, call this number”, note.
Then we were about 45 minutes from site. We were all feeling tired and commented that it would be good to ger a nap before being socialbe. We didn’t. After moving in to the cabinand getting beds ready for late we first chatted for quite a while with the others in our cabin, before heading up to the main hall.
The only down side to this event site is the rather long walk between the main hall and the group of cabins we are sleeping in. One can’t see the main hall from out cabin (POI). One can see the other latge building, the one by the lake, from our cabin, which is good, as the fighting field is just beyond that building, so we don’t have as far to walk tomorrow to fight after we get Keldor into armour. (But breakfast will be up the hill in the main hall)
This cabin has three sets of bunk beds (one set for Sven and Siobhan’, the others for Morales, ___ , ___ and ___ ). Plus a sleeping couch (Maximilisn) downstairs, and a loft with four more matresses on the floor.
Keldor and I happily took two of the loft mattesses, of course. Bryan took one of the others, and Krake the fourth. This is the second time in s row that Keldor and I got the loft in this cabin. Siobhan says that the first time she and Sven slept in this cabin her now adult daughter was only 10 years old, and they got the loft.
I enjoyed hanging out in the main hall talking to people for quite a while, but by 20:00 I was feeling sleepy, so I started wrapping things up, greeted only a handful of more people, and listened to the welcome announcements from the event stewards.
By 21:00 I was back in the cabin, where I brushed my teeth, did my yoga, an got most of the rest of today written up, before getting too tired to finish typing, and I went to sleep at 22:15.
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