A technical and cultural stopover in Vaasa, 14 July 2019

A week after our stopover in Oulu, we are in need for a decent marina with services, electricity, and the city life, restaurant, museums and more... So we went to Vaasa. Like in most of the cities we have visited in the Bottenviken, the city skyline can be seen from far at sea. First, the "fumulus" created by the factories, then the chimneys, cranes, poles...

Vaasa skyline from the sea

 But Vaasa has more to offer...
The high voltage electric line pole close to the modern art museum is a piece of art itself. First time that we see such a thing!

The high voltage electric line pole close to the modern art museum. 

The marina is very well equipped, with large catways (22€ per night). The city is a few hundred metres away and we appreciate having bikes and a cart for the bike in order to go shopping!

The Ostrobothnian Museum in Vaasa is quite interesting. It has a wing devoted to the Kvarken archipelago, part of the UNESCO world heritage along with the Swedish Höga Kusten with a set of movies and a lot of explanations. This would deserve a whole posting (in the future).

Another wing of the museum hosts an exhibition about the sea in the gulf of Bothnia. We were particularly interested with the seal hunting boat used in the past during the seal hunting season.

Four to six hunters were on board for weeks on the banquise where they could pull the boat on ice due to its shape.

Pictures on display in the museum

Cooking pot

Hunting camp (picture  from the museum)

In the entrance of the Museum stands this big painting by August Malmström entitled "1809 retreat". Initially,I thought it was referring to the Napoleon Russia retreat. But it refers to the "Finnish war" between Russia and Sweden in 1808-1809 which resulted in the creation of the Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire.

"If you want peace, prepare for war", Åland retreat, 1809, August Malmström

 Find below several paintings that attracted our attention while visiting the painting exhibition on the theme of the sea.

Berndt Lindholm, Seascape

Berndt Lindholm, Shoreline rock

Oscar Kleineh, 1910s, Archipelago Landscape

Oskar Dahlström, 1900-1917, Rosenberg's villa in Gerby

Thorsten Waenerberg, 1910, Maritime pilots pier on Hogland

Albert Edelfelt, 1883, At sea

Hugo Simberg, 1903, Dance on the jetty

 This buste of Queen Christina was found in Kristinestad, a nearby town. Not clear whether it wants to be a realistic depiction of the queen?

Queen Christina

 The wooden beggar is interesting since such statues are only found in Finland (144 still exist), and a lesser extent in Sweden where only nine are known. They are called "pauper statues". They often represent a disabled soldier (as the one below  covered with an army coat) in full scale. They have an opening in the chest where to give money. They were instituted by Queen Christina in 1649, to be put at the door of the Lutheran churches.

A wooden beggar