all hands on deck
No wonder the educated and well-fed minds of mankind say that when you really want something, you always need to prepare to meet it. So, thinking about the spring sky and feminine features and simultaneously scanning installations in a small maritime museum in the Finnish town of Rauma, I swept a small brochure with advertising slogans and no less vivid diagrams of one of the largest maritime museums in the city of Turku. Where is the Turk, and where am I - I realized not cheerfully and hopelessly attached that same transformer brochure to the back pocket of my worn jeans.
This pamphlet traveled with me for a long time, gathering dust in turn in one of the pockets of my clothing ensemble, until this morning I began to frantically remember which city it was talking about. As it turned out, the names of the cities matched better than the elusive numbers on the lottery ticket.
Conscious of the size of the chance, I automatically jumped into my street shoes and tucked my wallet into the breast pocket of my winter jacket. Marine Forum will see one more tourist today.
Arriving at the area, I did not rush to meet with sea trophies, as the no less famous Turku Castle turned out to be on the road. Having familiarized myself with the history of the city and the castle in particular, I could already spend the remaining hours on the marine theme with peace of mind. The cold was brutal and we had to move very quickly, and the presence of the edge of sea water obviously did not warm up the already chilled atmosphere.
Forum captures the size. On its territory there are several hangars with thematic exhibitions, plus you can visit several ships and, in the old fashioned way, dine in a cozy restaurant or even arrange a holiday in the best corporate traditions with a buffet and greasy stories.
To whom iron euro pockets are pulled, they are offered to buy magnets or plates, and who had a childhood that was not quite full, they can also buy vests with caps.
Let's skip all this husk with souvenirs and plunge into the sea of emotions. Having acquired the coveted ticket, we make a turn around, over the left shoulder, do not forget, and we make a decisive choice between the two halls: one is smaller to the left, and the other is more serious to the right. It didn't matter where I started, so I started small.
Small hall.
I have always liked the Finnish approach to museum design. And so, looking at them, you can’t tell. You might think that they are some kind of hard-hearted, gloomy people in rubber boots, but they decorated the hall for you so sincerely that your heart melts, and the desire to shake the industrious Finnish hand with gratitude grows with every cubic meter examined.
Here you have canning jars, fishing nets, a wall photo in the theme, and even special ovaries with spices. Someone else would have loaded all this into showcases and would have pointed out signs. And then a jar to a jar, a photo embellishes a photo. That would be where the notorious grocery merchandisers can learn to show the art of the jar in the window.
By the way, with spices there is not so simple. Next to the bags with fragrant ingredients, there are scales with weights, glass jars and a description in English-Finnish. They offer you to help sort out the cunning ship's cook, who was too lazy to distinguish spices by weight and smell, so he threw all this on you. With sugar, salt, pepper and cinnamon, I quickly figured it out. But I had to tinker with meadow herbs and thyme-parsley.
At the end of the hall hangs a fishing net with a solid catch and a valiant hand with a tattoo in the form of an anchor, holding out a hammer for some reason. Probably to kill the fish.
Having made a circle of honor, you can go to the big hall.
The hall is bigger.
Here is the scale, somewhere 10:1 compared to the small hall. Here they were able to place both yacht-boats and spare parts for ship engines of real sizes and work overalls forgotten by someone in the locker room right with the lockers in which they usually sag. You can climb on the boats, stroke the spare parts, and try on the robe. Everything is real. You can also set up a grinder or raise your legs to the top in the captain's cabin - it all depends on the amount of time allotted for all these pleasures. Everywhere, characteristic sounds are made, disks are spinning. You won't be lonely even if you're alone.
After visiting 2 halls to continue the tour, you need to go outside and rush towards the cafeteria, where my desire to continue this very tour was met with confusion and slight surprise.
Having made my way to the cafe, I desperately turned my head in search of the “start here” sign, and found only a cashier at the cash desk at the cafe and a small wardrobe. After explaining her delights in English, the cashier raised an eyebrow and called the waitress over to her. For that, too, the word "exhibition" was completely new and did not lead to any reactions. As soon as I started poking at the map of the area in a completely international way and twisting a strap in front of their noses with a pass to the entire territory of the forum, the waitress joyfully jumped on the spot and after that she pushed the huge door on roller shutters to the side. This was the entrance to the main repository of marine trophies. By the way, I later bashfully noticed the pointer with an arrow, but I probably would not have dared to move such a massive door.
Here the scale once again increased, and the number of exhibits was dizzying. The topics were completely different, but all about the sea.
The collection of outboard motors went up to the 20 meter ceiling. Those who do not know how to lift their heads so high can climb to the second floor and see this entire collection from a close distance. There are also our copies of "Veterok", "Moscow" and a very popular name that gives a sense of celebration in the soul of "Salute". Wandering further through the impressive wooden buildings, you will get to know different types of ships and their history, feel the diving equipment, see how ships are monitored in the coastal zone, learn what the main engines are and much, much more. There are also papier-mâ ché personnel who work here constantly and completely free of charge: one paints the side of the ship, the other climbed onto the wall and plays etudes and preludes on the piano from there. A whole team is involved in a compartment that simulates the control of arriving passengers.
Here is the customs office, which "takes the go-ahead", and border guards with pagons, and some other postman.
In general, you can walk for a long time, and in the hall where they tell and show about the Crimean War, you can also sit for an indecently long time.
Guided by the lack of time, I went out into the cold. In summer, there are several options to board the ship, in winter - all roads lead to the Bore passenger ferry.
Having not prepared to get acquainted with the ferry, I was pretty surprised by the high-quality and fresh finishes inside and the number of people hanging out there, and the attendants. It turned out that this is, first of all, a hotel-hostel-restaurant, and only then an excursion object.
The ferry resembles a modern passenger liner, only of a more modest size. At the entrance, you are handed a plan-scheme of the steamer and a magnetic card for access to the excursion area.
Those who have never been on a steamer, and even more so on a passenger one, may get a little lost. I also managed to get a little lost, although I used this confusion to good use.
The ferry has a high-profile history and dual Swedish-Finnish citizenship. The cabins of staff, officers, the captain and, of course, the bridge are offered for inspection. In certain places you can go to the open deck.
Having handed in a magnetic card at the exit and smiling enough at 2 pleasant Finns, I wandered on foot towards the city bus station, warmed by warm mittens and no less warm emotions.
