The official sunrise is 0403 AM and the official sunset here today is 1103 PM. So we should have five hours of darkness, but it isn’t very dark. The sun doesn’t go far below the horizon at all, so it is a twilight. I have been in the Mora region of Sweden for midsummer where the sun touched the tree tops, but here it does go below the horizon.

There were many more boats in the marina on Thursday evening. On Friday many left. We think they were here preparing to head to the outer islands of the archipelago for the Midsummer weekend.

At 9 AM it was 68 F (20 C) with calm winds. We rented bicycles from the hotel and pedaled around the island. There is a very nice camping area at the very tip of the island, which has its own campsite sauna. People were already swimming at 9 AM.

The bike path was well maintained and ran the the entire length of the island. We saw quite a few deer while riding.

We took a side road off the bike path and were rewarded with a pleasant surprise. Villa Kuuva was a beautiful fika stop. Built in 1850 the house has original windows, floors, and stove. It is truly beautiful and the owner will gladly tell you stories of Alexander III’s visit.

After fika we cycled back to the hotel. As promised, we returned to the marina lunch spot for our late after midsummer lunch. It was a very good meal.

On the island of Ruissalo the University of Turku has a Botanical Garden. We visited the garden after lunch.

We were present for the flag raising ceremony.

And we joined in for the raising of the midsummer pole.

It was a beautiful midsummer, with the only disappointment the absence of the lighting of the bonfire. We later heard that it is a common occurrence due to dry conditions.