Medieval Market in Turku

I found out on Thursday that there would be a Medieval Market in Turku over the weekend.  I’ve been to a couple of Renaissance Fairs in the States and have always enjoyed them, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to go to Turku and be tourists, rather than just go to Ikea.

Turku is about an hour south of where we live, and although we’ve been down there several times, we’ve really only seen Ikea.  I got a quick tour one afternoon with my friend Pam, but it was cold and dreary and there was muddy slush everywhere from melting snow, so was not the best day for being a tourist.

Yesterday, however – What a day!!!  Absolutely gorgeous – low 70’s, light breeze, sunshine.  Stephen and I walked along the river, soaking up the sun and checking out the booths set up for the Market.

I felt that it was a much more authentic Medieval experience than what I’ve had in the States – although, I don’t know how I could prove that!  The costumes were much simpler, plainer, and worn – no lace, or vibrant colors, and I don’t remember seeing any women with their breasts spilling out of their corsets.  And some of the booths set up were much more authentic:

A woman at the Medieval Market dying yarn

Fresh thrown pottery

Roasted Pig

The Medieval Market was held in the old square, which is directly across the street from Turku Cathedral, so we had a look inside (although I didn’t take any photos inside, for some reason).

Turku Cathedral

There were some large floating ducks set up in the river, and one of them had a man on the back – both Stephen and I thought it looked like Burning Man!  You can see some of the booths set up in the background, too.

Burning Man?

We didn’t buy anything at the market, although I was very tempted.  To make up for it, we made a stop at….

Ikea!

As much as we didn’t want to, we still needed one piece of furniture that was out of stock last time I went down there.  We were finally able to get it, but it was so long that the front passenger seat had to be pushed all the way up.  So I had a very uncomfortable ride back.  But at least that’s done, and next time we go to Turku, we can be tourists again!  I still want to check out Turku Castle, as well as the Aboa Vetus museum, which apparently has a glass floor through which you can see the ancient remains of buildings and streets that were excavated.  Sounds intriguing, no?