Hey ho, to the Medieval Market we go!

It's once again time for the Medieval Market here in Turku. I've gone to see it almost every year since I moved to Turku and it's all kinds of awesome.

This time Mr Morrgan and I went with friends - the more the merrier. The ladies went wild amongst ye olde market stands of all kinds, while the gentlemen seemed more at home at the "taverns", sampling the traditional Finnish beer sahti.

As a friend of fine beers, I had to try the drinks too though. In the first of these drinky places I preferred the honeyed mead, but in the second the sahti was excellent. This second place, advertising its drink with a guy shouting "there's not a more miserable sight than a thirsty person!", also demonstrated the different steps of of making sahti (pictured on the right here). This was the first time Mr Morrgan had tried sahti and I expect that any day now he will drag home some vats and juniper branches and start up his own sahti brewery.

Other handicrafts were both demonstrated and sold at the market, which was perfect for a crafty soul like me. I found a few things to take home too. I bought a wooden pendant from an Estonian lady and a really cool silver snake (or maybe dragon...?) ring from a Swedish lady.

The wooden pendant caught my eye with its stylized shape and was just too neat to pass by. More examples of the makers' work can be seen online.

The snake ring, which I had to name Edmund, was just perfect in that it's a more subtle design than the others I've seen. This one doesn't overdo it, plus I like the snake's little smile!