A pilgrimage in Finland, Åland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
But not Norway. That’s a shame because the first half of this pilgrimage is all about St Olav (995 to 1030AD), king and patron saint of Norway. I’ll be following in his footsteps along the St Olav Waterway, a pilgrimage dating back to 2019. It was a time when every tourist office was scouring their history books in search of a tenuous religious connection to draw the faithful and unfaithful to their region.
The St Olav Waterway is a pilgrimage across the Finnish archipelago from Turku to Stockholm. Pilgrims walk across the islands and travel by local ferries between them. At the end, the faithful will head to Trondheim where St Olav is buried but my pilgrimage continues on the night sleeper from Stockholm to Copenhagen. This is the start of the Danish Pilgrim Trail heading south to the German border and then onwards along the Via Scandinavica to my destination: picturesque Lübeck.
As our pilgrimage proceeds, we’ll learn more about St Olav’s extraordinary life as we follow in his watery footsteps. We’ll also investigate the ABBA phenomenon in Stockholm and then, at journey’s end, reflect on everything, including Bruckner’s 8th Symphony, in Lübeck’s magnificent cathedral.
- Day 1 – Hello to St Olav and his Waterway
- Day 2 – onto the archipelago
- Day 3 – Alone on the Edge of the Water
- Day 4 – The Shape of Water
- Day 5 – Nature in the Archipelago
- Day 6 – Goodbye to Finland
- Day 7 – A Day on Kökar Island
- Day 8 – Lumparland & Lemland
- Day 9 – Mariehamn
- Day 10 – Ferry to Stockholm
- Day 11 – Stockholm
- Day 12 – Copenhagen
- Day 13 – One More Cappuccino
- Day 14 – Walking in Denmark
- Day 15 – Bluetooth
- Day 16 – Rain Stopped Play
- Day 17 – The Bruun de Neergaard Estate
- Day 18 – The Scenic Route to Næstved
- Day 19 – Moonlight Shadow
- Day 20 – To Vordingborg and back
- Day 21 – Two Storstrøm Bridges
- Day 22 – Andris and his Gen-Z Daughters
- Day 23 – A Light Drizzle to Start the Day
- Day 24 – Another Day, Another Island
- Day 25 – Another Island, Another Bridge
- Day 26 – Süssau to Grömitz
- Day 27 – Objective: Neustadt
- Day 28 – Along the Baltic Riviera
- Day 29 – Finally Lübeck
- Day 30 – A Day of Riches in Lübeck
- Day 31 – Mighty Hanseatic Lübeck
Pilgrimage 