Cosy town Porvoo with wooden houses, Cathedral, handcrafts and cafés

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Porvoo is a small cosy town, with a river and colourful houses. Another great place for a trip around Helsinki. The old part of Porvoo is very atmospheric, it´s nice to just walk there and soak up the atmosphere. Roads are made of paving stones, leading to streets that invite exploration. And there is a lot to explore: many of the local shops with handcrafts, vintage, food, clothes, home decorations and much more.

When we arrived to Porvoo and parked the car, we got an overwhelming view to the houses by the shore which were mirrored in the river. The town is partly built on the hill, so the view on the town is really impressive, tempting for photographing.




It was so pleasant weather that before we crossed the bridge, we stopped to have an ice cream at kiosk Vanhan Porvoon Jäätelötehdas. One could pick a size and from one to three flavours. The ice cream was served with a heart shaped biscuit. I decided for sorbets: lemon, mango and apple. It was refreshing and exactly what I needed. Late spring and summer in Finland is so beautiful, but too short time of the year. It means that every sunny day must be cherished with an ice cream!




After we celebrated the sunny day with ice creams, we slowly climbed the hill and headed to the Porvoon tuomiokirkko (Porvoo Cathedral). It probably originates from the 13th century, however it was rebuilt in the 15th century.  I very much recommend having a look there, because it´s an interesting place with nice architecture. The entrance is free and there were people available to answer visitor’s questions about the Cathedral.  




Then we were walking the streets, talking, and looking in the shops. I bought very lovely pink crossbody purse and Petri some sweets.




We stopped for a coffee at Tee- ja kahvihuone Helmi (Tea and Coffee House Helmi). We visited the same café one and a half year ago in November when I was in Porvoo for the first time. We liked it there so much that we even didn´t think about trying some different place. The interior is in vintage style and the whole cafe has a magical feeling. A bit like time travel. The selection of cakes was so rich that it was tough to decide what to pick. We eventually agreed on a feta-spinach quiche and a strawberry-mango-yogurt cheesecake.




Then we slowly headed to our next program which was a concert of avant-garde music The Great Learning in Porvoon Taidehalli. It was for me totally new experience, I hadn´t seen and heard anything like it before. It was a bit strange, but also good, partly confusing. Definitely not something easy to forget. There were some peculiar "music instruments" such as electric toothbrushes, a children´s phone, a drill...Sounds were also made by rhythmically pounding pillows?!

The concert was in the new part of Porvoo, so we could see more of the town. Before it we didn´t have much time to look around, but on the way back we fully enjoyed this part of Porvoo with no rush. We walked by the river and it felt like being in some summer destination on a Riviera promenade.




We had a very good dinner in one of the many restaurants in Porvoo called One Bar & Restaurant. I picked salad with goat cheese and Petri tempeh with pak choi and lentils. 




On the way to our car, I made many photographs because the evening sun and colourful buildings were creating an incredible scenery.










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