We arrived in Åland around noon, gig at nine. Lots of free time, so we took a walk into town. The others tried to flip over the festival check-in booth, but stopped just short of succeeding.

Anders and I found a bike-rental place where we acquired two bikes for €10 a piece. They provided us with much fun during the day! We went up to a classic make-out point next to a water tower (we verified this was actually what it was with one of the locals afterwards), took a ride through the harbor and on main street, where we met up with the others in the band.


In Sweden and Finland, you can not buy alcohol in regular stores. To be able to control the drinking, the governments theorizes, they have kept the monopoly and decide when and where the people of the countries can buy their spirits. The outlet in Sweden is called Systembolaget. In Finland, they are a little less subtle and simply named it Alko.



The bikes were a big hit, as we played with them more or less throughout the entire day. We drove them round and round indoors, kicking at things, we competed in drifting, tried to make a turn without putting out feet down in the truck that carries our equipment (called a "garagevändning" when you take your motorcycle license in Sweden) etc. I lost the key for my bike while trying to make marks in the gravel in front of the stage, but some friendly photographer had picked it up, saving me from having to pay €50 in penalty.



Thank you Åland, for an absolutely amazing time yesterday! There is absolutely no question that you enjoy your heavy metal, and we were very, very excited afterwards. Too bad we had to leave so soon, but we had a ferry to catch. Overnight to Stockholm, then about 13 hours on the bus awaits. Going to the north of Sweden, to Piteå.