mental health day in porvoo

as in "had to get away and see something else" kinda mental health day. us girls drove to porvoo to maybe shop for xmas and eat well. porvoo is a cute little town 50 km east of helsinki, very old, unfortunately (or fortunately, depends which way you look at it), also quite touristey...but then again, those old houses don't provide for themselves...

the weather wasn't that great, but then again, it hasn't been anything else for the past few weeks. the rains have risen the porvoo river almost to its brink...even spring floods aren't this high.







first stop was tuulan aitta (no website) from where i got this elf that now sits on the mantel at the shack. we were told that the lady who makes these elves (there were several different) has so many ideas but doesn't have the time to make them all...







porvoo city hall from 1771







cobble stone street up the hill to the porvoo cathedral. from wikipedia: "The church has been destroyed by fire numerous times; in 1508 by Danish and in 1571, 1590, and 1708 by Russian forces. On May 29, 2006, the outer roof collapsed after arson, however with the inner ceiling undamaged and the cathedral interiors intact. An eighteen year old black metal musician, was found guilty and convicted to three years and two months imprisonment on August 31, 2006.[2]".
so sad.







up on the hill is also the lilla chokladfabriken. i only bought two little boxes...







as the weather was so lousy, and the fact that one of us was on crutches, we needed something hot to drink, warm glög with gingerbread, almonds and raisins at café fanny.







i should not go to a shop like this...skafferi colonial store. the smell, or rather smells, in the shop were amazing and kept changing when browsing on in there, coffees, teas, spices, cookies, jams, candies and what not!







another store that i should avoid...teetee shop, the selection of yarns they have, and the colors!







manos del uruguay yarns. i tried to crochet the other day and noticed after 5 mins that it's not yet time to do even that, let alone knit.







after all that hard shopping it was time for lunch at restaurant walgren's. loved the decorative idea of framing the structural logs in the wall like this.







there were several interesting items on the menu, here is the appetizer of xmas menu I, beetroot terrine and mushroom salad, delicious i was told.







i had porcini soup with horseradish sour cream, very nice.







fried arctic char with saffron risotto







fillet of pork, dijon sauce and root vegetable puree








chocolate brownie and gingerbread ice cream







bailey's créme brûlée. could have just sat down for a while longer in the restaurant, but had to start driving home, it was getting dark and the rain kept falling. great outing all together, thanks girls!