Porvoo, part 1

Welcome to take a tour with me in the second oldest town in Finland, Porvoo. I had a mini holiday with darling Mr. K. there to celebrate my birthday. Like most places in Finland, Porvoo is at its nicest in the Summer. In winter some of the alleys in the old town looked like this:

It is not possible to keep the snow away from the smallest alleys  so they are closed for the winter. The little streets are not much wider:

There were interesting yards with the gates open:

I wanted to se the toy museum, but it was unfortunately closed. I have seen it about 20 years ago, when the children were little:

Details from the same yard.

The houses are built of wood, as usual in Finland. The town has burned down many times, but the houses have been built again on the same foundations. The buildings standing there now are built after the last big fire in 1760.
The icy streets were so slippery that I didn't want to walk across the bridge to get a nice picture of the storehouses by the river.

We stayed at the Hotel Onni (=Happiness). There are only 5 rooms and a suite. The service was friendly and we loved the room. Welcome in:

We had a bowl of fruit and chocolate crisps waiting.

We had chosen the Peasant room. Each room was decorated in a different style.

We had fluffy bathrobes and slippers too, Melanie!

The bed was better than average. This kind of beds used to be pushed together for the day to make a sofa. I think they used straw mattresses at the time, so they could be folded away.

The breakfast was chosen from a list for each of us at arrival, and served at the time we chose.

The hotel is just across the street from the Cathedral, so it is a popular accommodation for newlyweds.
 I will take you to the church in my next post. As you see, it had started to snow on Saturday when I looked out of our window.

There is a little cafe in our hotel.

They sell decorations and little gifts there too. The Easter is coming!

In the morning the crocuses placed under the decorated tree were all covered in snow. I hope they will survive the cold temperatures. In the gardens the crocuses will not show their heads before May.

You must be exhausted and cold by now, so let's go back in and have a cup of something hot. Pick your cake here, please, and enjoy!