Escape to myself

I’d heard good things about Porvoo so I decided to take the bus. It’s about an hour from Helsinki. It was easy to catch the bus from Kammpi shopping centre about 5 minutes walk from the Central Station. You can buy tickets on the bus. About €6. The bus takes you through the city and out onto roads through birch and pine forests dotted with traditional wooden houses. The journey is fairly ordinary but pleasant enough.

Porvoo Church

This is a real gem of a building at the top of the town overlooking the river. A typical plain Lutheran church exquisitely maintained. It’s apparently the oldest church ch in Finland. The roof is of wooden shingles. Inside plain walls, sage green pews and a magnificent organ and pulpit. The church has two galleries for worshippers. I was quite entranced by its simplicity especially after Italian Baroque! While there we were treated to an impromptu organ recital. It was charming.

The Old Town

The old town is very pretty; small but lying by the river it’s cobbled streets and brightly decorated wooden houses are enticing. Some nice touristy shops if you like browsing. A few good restaurants too … and bars. I ate at Gabriel’s; orange juice, an excellent salad and coffee for €13; very reasonable for Finland and nice surroundings. Pleasant on a sunny day. There are two museums… one Holm House was built in about 1770 and lies in the town square. It has a display of excellent Jugendstil furniture by Spaar who had a factory here in the 1890s. Very Germanic art nouveau. Upstairs the rooms are beautifully presented as a merchants home of the period. Very Swedish Baroque.

Inside the Museum