Teach Middle East Magazine Apr - Jun 2020 Issue 3 Volume 7 - Page 50
Travel
PORVOO THE CITY OF CHARMING MOMENTS
BY: EVA SAARELMA
P
orvoo is a city that will enchant
the visitor and the inhabitants
time and again: Old Porvoo
with its cobbled streets, the
small galleries and the river lined with
old wooden warehouses, a town in
whose narrow lanes the ambience
of days gone by meets the spirit of
modern design. Historical Old Porvoo
is naturally the best-known attraction
but you can also easily fall in love with
the beautiful surroundings with a wide
countryside, riverside and amazing
archipelago.
Porvoo is the second oldest city in
Finland from 14th century and it is
located only 50km east of Helsinki.
The city has over 50,000 inhabitants
and about one third speak Swedish
as their mother tongue. Porvoo is the
most popular day trip destination in
Finland. Over 1.6 million visitors come
every year to admire the colorful
wooden houses and stroll along
winding pebbled streets to enjoy what
this city has to offer. For longer stays,
Porvoo is a good base for exploring the
capital city, relaxing in the countryside,
enjoying Finnish nature and tasting
modern Finnish cuisine.
Walking around Old Porvoo is like
travelling through the pages of an
old book of fairy tales. There you can
50
Term 3 Apr - Jun 2020
find many restaurants and beautiful
small coffee shops with a great taste
of Finland; try traditional pastry
Runeberg’s Cake, taste local chocolates
and sweets or even have reindeer
pizzas. The story tells that Fredrika, the
wife of Finland’s national poet Johan
Ludvig Runeberg, used to bake the
Runeberg’s Cake for her husband. In
Porvoo, you can enjoy these delicacies
all-year-round. This city is also well-
known for its Chocolate Kiss pastries
that are full of creamy foam and
topped with crunchy chocolate. These
kinds of products, from the locals, are
After the Bell
totally the best souvenirs that you can
find from Finland! The forests, fields
and the sea around Porvoo produce
excellent ingredients that chefs use
to create the most spectacular dishes
for their customers. This city is worth
a visit for its restaurants and coffee
shops alone. It is also said that, among
Finnish destinations, Porvoo gets the
best reviews for its restaurants and
its atmosphere. The charm of Old
Porvoo is particularly present in the
summer heat as well as in the soft
snows of winter. It’s hard to find the
same kind of atmosphere and idyll
anywhere else in Finland. Porvoo
is also called the capital of Finnish