Travelog for: Poppy McVee

I just arrived in Finland! I'll show you a photo tomorrow when I have rested enough to go play in the snow

Edit: here's the photo! The spring is approaching so there isn't as much snow as there used to be. My host said they rarely have even this much snow in the winter. It's been a proper winter she says 

Happy Easter!
Iloista pääsiäistä!

Due to my mentor contacting the Foster Care Home and due to Delenna's personal inspiration: I'm staying with Delenna for a while before I go back home  I celebrated it with Delenna by eating the last chocolate eggs 

After eating all the chocolate eggs my new host decided to show me  the Baltic Sea. It's just that the archipelago is blocking the view... And the fogg  Fogg is not that common here so we're hoping it'll clear out soon. Then I'll come here again to see the views

Anyway, somewhere over there, quite nearby is the small island where Tove Jansson, the creator of Moomin spent her summers. Did you know that the Moominhouse was drawn after a lighthouse that really exists?

Moomins are very popular here (and in Japan where the newer animations have been made) - year after year  Here, I found you the theme song in English!

As the sea view didn't turn out "seeable" I went to the local sightseeing tower with my host. We walked from the other side of the hill where you can see to the old town. In the tower I got a relly good view over the city of Porvoo! Porvoo is the 2nd oldest city in Finland. It has almost 50 000 inhabitants of which 33% is native Swedish speakers (finnishswedish). Porvoo is only 50km east from Helsinki, the capitol of Finland. It takes less than an hour to drive there.

The story tells that the sightseeing tower was made by a giant: he heard that they were building a church in Porvoo and got angry (apparently giants don't like churches) and threw a stone all the way from Sipoo (where he lived, a place not too far from Porvoo). He didn't either aim it too well or his arm wasn't in good enough condition as he missed the church.

The stone has been a place to gather for festives a hundred years ago. Kids were told that babies were picked up from under the stone. Around 1880 they made the stairs and it became a sightseeing tower. Nowadays kids are told that a stork brings the babies - which is weird because you very rarely see storks in Finland...

After the views in the tower we walked back to our car. I got a closer look on the red shorehouses. They are also part of the old town - and the most wellknown attraction in Porvoo. The brochure tells this about them: The shore houses are now red, but they got their colour only in the late 18th century. Red ochre paint was used to paint the shore houses in honour of King Gustav III's arrival from Sweden. All of the houses along his route were painted, in order to make them more beautiful. The red ochre also helped protect the logs from wind and sun damage. Exotic fruits, wines and spices were brought to Porvoo, and the shore houses also served as intermediate storehouses for coffee an tobacco. Today the shore houses are used as private living quarters and storage space.

Today was a really nice day with sunshine and warmth! The sandbox had melted too - I mean the piles of snow above it had melted  The girls let me play with their toys - I liked the turtle mold most. Do you know what they say here in Finland when they pat the mold full of sand? They say "tule, tule hyvä kakku, älä tule paha, kakku". It's translated something like "become, become a good cake, don't be a bad cake", as they hope it'll be a good sand cake  The girls also made me a sandy house! Although I'm glad my host took me back in when we were finished, it might've become a bit too chilly to stay there the whole night...

I'm by the Baltic Sea again! And now I can see something more than just the pier 

We made a small trip to Castle Hill! I've seen this hill from further away (see three posts back - 7th April, second photo).  In the 14th century here stood a wooden fortress. Now you can only see the hill and the castle moats. My host said this's a good place to play Robin Hood!

Also a famous artist (Albert Edelfelt) has painted this view. He painted other views from Porvoo as well - and tons of not-at-all-Porvoo-related paintings. After all, he spent years in Paris.

The view where you can see all the bridges from here, and the Old Town is my host's favorite spot. She has taken a photo here which she made into postcards! Very cool!