Travelog for: BellaKitten

Today we went to the Castle Hill like my host had promised earlier. On this hill used to be a wooden castle/fortress in the 14th century. Nothing more is left than the hill and castle moats. They had done some archeological diggings in 1886 and 1971 on the hill and found tools, weapons and foundations. Also the flora on the hill reveals something as the plants can't be found in many places in Finland. The water level of the river was much higher those days, when vikings and others sailed the seas and rivers. Oh, and the name Porvoo is Borgå in Swedish - and that means "castle river"! borg=castle, å=river

Nowadays it's a tourist attraction and a good place to play Robin Hood! And to take photos

We felt very energetic and decided to continue from Castle Hill to another hill! This one's the local downhill skiing center. We climbed all the way up to see the views. It would've been nicer if it hadn't rained...

At the end of the day we played in the leaves  You can imagine how tired we were when we finally headed back home...

Eww, the snow is so wet! Everyone was so excited when they noticed it was snowing for the second time this "winter" and that the snow was staying for a while. I think it was just wet. And cold. I did help them (Leonard, Banyo and Twix) make a snowman - that was fun! It turned out quite well too 

Meow! This Friday we spent mostly in an "indoor playground" called HopLop and it was fun  They have this huge "maze" and slides and bouncy castles and games and  places to climb and... We were all sweaty when we finished 

Today we went to a Stamp Fair in Helsinki. It was a small one, but then again stamps aren't big either. There were tons of stamps for sale and on display. My host spent most of the time next to that huge box full of stamps: she was able to choose as many as she could fit in a small envelope for just 1 euro.And believe me, she made many fit 

After the Stamp Fair we went on the other side of Messukeskus to see the Book Fair. Books take more space so this fair was much bigger! Other than books we also saw Mauri Kunnas being interviewed. He's a famous Finnish author & illustrator who mainly makes children's books, but those books are loved by adults too. His works have been translated into several languages.

Later we saw the Moomins and a musical show with Pekka Töpöhäntä (a cat without tail) and his friends. Both are very well known children's book characters. Pekka Töpöhäntä originates from Sweden and his original name is Pelle Svanslös.

We bought only a few children's books and comics but the visit was still worth it - although my paws might disagree...

Hisssszzz! Halloween! Scary! Meowrr! My host went to organize a "Fear Factor" in the local school's Halloween disco with some others. My host was responsible for scary music (wolves howling, Dracula soundtrack and aliens soundtrack - yikes!), "poison spider box" (just yarn!) and "teeth&bones" box (pasta!). The kids were meant to put their hands in the boxes if they'd dare. My host also dressed up - and she said someone was going to dress up as a catwoman! I would've wanted to see that! But my host said we were to small to attend... 

We were passing thru the Old Town again and my host decided to take a few photos. In the first one is a poster of a famous painting and the next one is the view in the painting Ok, my host should've taken a few steps backwards... The white house in the painting is the now pink house in the real photo - plus there's a new yellow building in front now so one can't really see the clocktower.

Then there are electricity boxes! They've been painted by the local art school kids - much nicer this way than in the origibal greyish-greenish color. And lastly a mailbox that had been decorated with flower stickers!

This is the capitol of Finland: Helsinki. It was a rainy day but we didn't let it bother us much. Helsinki has about 500 000 inhabitants and is located only 1h drive from Porvoo.

In the first picture is the Cathedral at the Senate Square.

The next photos are taken near the Cathedral, next to some souvenir shops. The green phonebooth is not the regular Finnish phonebooth. You can hardly find the regular ones as everyone has a cellphone nowadays. My host guessed it's somekind of an attraction itself for the Finns - and not all tourists carry cellphones so... And it suits the small street it stands in! Next to it were that couple and their reindeer wishing people welcome to the souvenir shop.

One block away is the Market Square. As you can see there are huge cruise liners but also smaller boats and ferries (not all in dock at that moment). The big cruisers go mainly to Tallinn (Estonia) and Stockholm (Sweden) frequently. The building with the flag on top is the Presidential Palace. The president of Finland is Tarja Halonen, she's the first female president in this country. There's also the Uspensky Orthodox Cathedral

Next to the Market Square is the fountain statue Havis Amanda. It was sculpted by Ville Vallgren in Paris. It's naked so it made quite a fuss in the days it was revieled (1908).

After that is the parkway Esplanad and later the Main Railway Station and its surroundings.

Close to the railway station (on the mainstreet)  is Parliament House the white building which is the Museum of Contemporary Art  Kiasma and the statue next to it is the riding Mannerheim (one of our former presidents).

And in the last pic a general view of the main street.

After the tour in rainy capitol we went to the Main Post Office (next to the Kiasma) and the Postmuseum there. They show the history of Finnish Post and mail - from the early days to present day. They also have a wide collection of postcards on display - even from the war time, when soldiers sent notes to their loved ones from "somewhere". It was abit tricky to take photos as it was so dark and mysterious there...

Today there was also a special stamps display. New christmas stamps were issued today! My host was very excited to get first day cancellation to her postcards.

The day ended with postcards, chat and hot chocolate My host attended the Red Nose Day Meetup of Postcrossers (well, she organized it so she'd better be there). I enjoyed my hot chocolate after all the cold rain... Red Nose Day is a charity event that raises money "by having fun". The Postcrossers didn't raise money but they used charity postcards as much as possible. My host sent for example Fair Mail cards. And they had red noses! 

We met other ToyVoyagers too as one of the other postcrossers is a host too - thanks to my host 

Meoww! I'm on board M/S Mariella (a Viking Line ship)! Going to Stockholm, Sweden. As you can see it was rerally dark when we left so you can basically see only the lights of helsinki - and the lights of Silja Line boat which left before us. On the dock we also found a place for doggies to pee  A sandbox for dogs! I couldn't stop laughing 


Later we ent for a welcoming drink. It was just juice but the glowing ring was fancy!

A while later we had dinner: a delicious vegetarian burger! And ice cream for dessert 

In our cabin we checked out the Swedish money and the map of Stockholm. Nothing (= places to visit) was open on Mondays from now on so we would just walk around and maybe do some shopping.

Meow! Good morning! Or "god morgon" as they say in Swedish 
We had a buffet breakfast (frukost in Swedish) on the ship and went on the deck to see the surroundings. When we docked we saw the front part of the ship open and cards come out.

We're in Stockholm, the capitol of Sweden!

We walked towards the city center. The first photos are views to the old town (Gamla Stan) which we didn't visit. Byt you can see the narrow streets with a hint of "Italy-style". At least that how it looked to us 

The statue is King Gustav III a former ruler of Sweden. He points to the Royal Palace on the other side of the street. That's where we went next. Well, not inside as it wasn't open today. The Royal Palace is the official resident of the royal family and it has over 600 rooms - that must've been one helluva place for the princesses & prince to play hide&seek! The Palace was largely built during the eighteenth century in the Italian Baroque style, on the spot where the “Tre Kronor” castle burned down in 1697.

In the last photo you see the Palace from further away. It really is big isn't it...