Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
Fab Foodie's travels to Kaliningrad got me thinking about 'left-over places' that don't really fit in with the modern world, or which just persist despite everything.
One place I really love like this is the Aland Islands (the A should have a little circle over the top which makes it pronounced 'err' or 'o' depending on whether you're a Swede or a Finn).
These are a magical series of hundreds of islands between Sweden and Finland. The people are largely Swedish, but under nominally Finnish rule, and they are still governed under a mandate from the League of Nations (which dates from when Russia stopped claiming them) which makes it them semi-independent. They have their own government and stamps and sense of identity. They are also stunningly beautiful lumps of granite rock with pine trees and a sparse population of fisherman and retirees. If you've read Tove Janssen's The Summer Book (which I really recommend), this is where it's set. If I could live there, I would.
What other 'left-over places' are there to which been you've been or want to go?
One place I really love like this is the Aland Islands (the A should have a little circle over the top which makes it pronounced 'err' or 'o' depending on whether you're a Swede or a Finn).
These are a magical series of hundreds of islands between Sweden and Finland. The people are largely Swedish, but under nominally Finnish rule, and they are still governed under a mandate from the League of Nations (which dates from when Russia stopped claiming them) which makes it them semi-independent. They have their own government and stamps and sense of identity. They are also stunningly beautiful lumps of granite rock with pine trees and a sparse population of fisherman and retirees. If you've read Tove Janssen's The Summer Book (which I really recommend), this is where it's set. If I could live there, I would.
What other 'left-over places' are there to which been you've been or want to go?