This was another ‘where am I going to end up tonight’ kind of day. I really didnt know but I decided to follow the Eurovelo 10, in the hope that there were a few camping options nearby. There weren’t .
It was complicated to leave. I kept the bike in the apartment. The courtyard where they suggested i leave it was simply not secure, so my green machine somehow made it up the stairs to the 5th floor. It wouldn’t fit in the lift.
Anyway, back to leaving … I carried the bike down to the courtyard then went back and got my bags, left the key on the table as requested and forgot that i needed the key to get to the courtyard. D’oh. I waited about ten minutes for someone to leave the building and they helped me out.
Helsinki was eerily quiet this morning. Hardly anyone was on the streets and there were only a few cars about. It was the usual exit from a big city. Some streets to navigate followed by some good bike paths which continued for many kilometres and by that stage, i was so gar out of the city that the roads were quiet as well.
I chatted to a local cyclist, Ismo, as we rode along and later saw him at a roadside lunch stop. He’s a great guy, and full of useful information too. Later he sent me a link to a fantastic website which lets me plan some island hopping in the Turku Archipelago. Thanks Ismo !!!
After that lunch stop, things got quiet alright. I rolled into Ingå and asked around for a camping spot. Nobody knew of any, but the local pizza restaurant rented rooms which seemed pretty expensive but were clean enough.
Dinner was a nice pizza downstairs (at the Pixxeria, Dennis) followed by a walk around the small port of Ingå. I managed to hide the bike in the shed behind the building, so all was good.
Over dinner, I was looking at Google maps and clicked on the local beach here. In one of the photos were a few tents pitched there. That would have been much much better. Next time.