The Windows of Porvoo

Just an hours’ long bus ride from Helsinki, Finland is the small, delightful, medieval town of Porvoo, the second oldest town in Finland. Meandering the cobblestoned streets of Porvoo’s Old Town, with its shops, galleries, museums, churches and restaurants, create a quaint and pleasant day trip from Helsinki. Porvoo’s infamous red ochre shore houses and sheds, that line its waterfront, make for some scenic photographs. It is even said somewhere that Porvoo is the most photographed town in Finland.

I started off my one day there enjoying the activities as others do when they visit – walking around the Old Town, browsing the shops and museums, and eating. But then I also did what I usually do when I travel – getting off the beaten path and wandering the side streets.

In the peacefulness of this environment, I became immediately aware of the colorfulness of Porvoo. Each home, with its wooden vertical- or horizontal-striped siding, was painted a different color. Reds, grays, blues, oranges, browns, pinks, rusts, yellows, peaches, golds, greens. I was strolling through a rainbow of homes!

I began to take photographs of the windows of these homes, each picture with a different paint color in the background. I became obsessed with trying to take a picture of each color that I could find, so that no two of my pictures had exactly the same color, although shades were allowed. By the time I was done with my photographic journey, I hoped that I had all colors of the town represented in my collection!

I really enjoyed my time of getting off the beaten path and entertaining myself with photographing the windows of Porvoo. I wonder if I made a poster of my photos if it would sell in the shops as a souvenir item?!

Oh, and perhaps I should mention, that one of the chocolate wrappers in my previous blog, “cioccolato, chocolat, schokolade,” is from Porvoo.

If you are interested in visiting Porvoo, here is a link for more information: Porvoo tourism

Sweet Travels!

All colorful photos taken by Debby (note that these are only a sampling of the many more photos that I took of the windows of Porvoo)