Before we arrived at Hanko we were interviewed by the police! This was a first for us and quite exciting.
As we approached Hanko we saw a rib making a beeline for us. They came to our port stern and with lots of shouting they asked us where we were coming from, if I was the owner, our registration number and so on. I am not sure if they wanted to check on us about bringing illegal alcohol or illegal immigrants to Finland, but everything seemed in order and they wished us a pleasant stay at Hanko.
We started our visting tour of Hanko from the wrong side of town. Hanko has a very large harbour and loads of lorries queue up to be loaded. Maybe interesting but not a picturesque sight.
But after strolling around we did discover the charm of the place. Lots of wooden houses, some grand seaside buildings from the turn of the century give a good impression of it’s former days. Hanko was a popular seaside spa used by the Russian hautevolee.
The Russians did have another brush with Hanko though. After the winter war with Russia (1939-1940), Hanko was leased out to Russia for a period of 30 years! What a concept – don’t fight a war just put an offer in for a town and make sure you don’t get gazumped. It seemed that Russia found a more interesting object though. They ended the lease early and went for Porkala, 30 km west of Helsininki. Location, location, location.
Sure enough the town planners were not idle during the 70s either, but they kept the “modernisation” localized and the old parts remain largely unspoilt.
Best of all however was the galley view.
.
