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LPA Coat 84 c/o Revolve, Express sweater, J. Crew jeans, Marc Fisher boots c/o, Free People faux fur bag, J. Crew earmuffs (similar here), Coach gloves (similar here and here)
It's very easy to get to Porvoo from Helsinki. You don't need to rent a car, since there is a bus that leaves the main bus station at Kamppi to Borgå in Porvoo frequently every hour. Tor and I hopped on the 9 am bus and arrived for our day trip to Porvoo at 10 am. Our day started at the Porvoo Art Factory, where we got a private look at their beautiful art gallery showcasing local artists' work. The bonus part is you can even rent some exquisite paintings or sculptures monthly for your own home (if you live in Finland, of course). If I lived in Finland, I would definitely take advantage of that! The Art Factory also houses a permanent exhibition of Finnish art from Yrjö A. Jäntti's private art collection, which spans from the 1950s to the 1980s. Downstairs in the Art Factory, we got to visit Peter Westerlund of Pieni Suklaatehdas ("The Little Chocolate Factory") and his new chocolate factory. Peter, who has been making chocolate since 2005, kindly showed us his process of making his award winning chocolate. He even demonstrated how he makes his salted milk chocolate bars, which happens to be my favorite kind of of chocolate. Tor was even daring enough to try his chocolate cricket bars, which he found to be pretty tasty! Needless to say, we did not leave his little shop empty handed! We brought several delicious chocolate bars back home to Los Angeles, including his milk chocolate that won a bronze award for best European milk chocolate last year. Peter and his family use renewable energy to make their chocolate, which is sold in a couple of stores in old town Porvoo. After lunch at Zum Beispiel (where I had a heavenly prawn and white wine risotto), Tor and I decided to do some exploring. The snow had held off for most of the day, but after lunch it finally began to snow. The falling snow made the Old Town of Porvoo really charming and peaceful. Each building is a different pastel color, which popped in the snow covered village. When you picture a quaint Nordic village, Porvoo is exactly what comes to mind. It all felt so new yet so familiar thanks to my own daydreams. Our day trip to Porvoo was the perfect escape from the bustling city of Helsinki. The colorful river houses and cute shops all made the city feel so romantic, especially covered in a blanket of snow. I can only imagine how lively the old town must get in the summer when the sun never sets. I think we will need to consider another day trip to Porvoo at that time of year to find out!Thank you to Visit Finland and Visit Porvoo for hosting us. As always, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.
Photos by Torrance.
I’ll be sharing all the details of our visit to Helsinki in a minute, but first I want to talk about our day trip to Porvoo in Finland! About an hour outside of Helsinki lies this charming riverside town full of history, culture, art, and something that puts all the hearts in my eyes: chocolate!
LPA Coat 84 c/o Revolve, Express sweater, J. Crew jeans, Marc Fisher boots c/o, Free People faux fur bag, J. Crew earmuffs (similar here), Coach gloves (similar here and here)
It’s very easy to get to Porvoo from Helsinki. You don’t need to rent a car, since there is a bus that leaves the main bus station at Kamppi to Borgå in Porvoo frequently every hour. Tor and I hopped on the 9 am bus and arrived for our day trip to Porvoo at 10 am. Our day started at the Porvoo Art Factory, where we got a private look at their beautiful art gallery showcasing local artists’ work. The bonus part is you can even rent some exquisite paintings or sculptures monthly for your own home (if you live in Finland, of course). If I lived in Finland, I would definitely take advantage of that! The Art Factory also houses a permanent exhibition of Finnish art from Yrjö A. Jäntti’s private art collection, which spans from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Downstairs in the Art Factory, we got to visit Peter Westerlund of Pieni Suklaatehdas (“The Little Chocolate Factory”) and his new chocolate factory. Peter, who has been making chocolate since 2005, kindly showed us his process of making his award winning chocolate. He even demonstrated how he makes his salted milk chocolate bars, which happens to be my favorite kind of of chocolate. Tor was even daring enough to try his chocolate cricket bars, which he found to be pretty tasty! Needless to say, we did not leave his little shop empty handed! We brought several delicious chocolate bars back home to Los Angeles, including his milk chocolate that won a bronze award for best European milk chocolate last year. Peter and his family use renewable energy to make their chocolate, which is sold in a couple of stores in old town Porvoo.
After lunch at Zum Beispiel (where I had a heavenly prawn and white wine risotto), Tor and I decided to do some exploring. The snow had held off for most of the day, but after lunch it finally began to snow. The falling snow made the Old Town of Porvoo really charming and peaceful. Each building is a different pastel color, which popped in the snow covered village. When you picture a quaint Nordic village, Porvoo is exactly what comes to mind. It all felt so new yet so familiar thanks to my own daydreams.
Our day trip to Porvoo was the perfect escape from the bustling city of Helsinki. The colorful river houses and cute shops all made the city feel so romantic, especially covered in a blanket of snow. I can only imagine how lively the old town must get in the summer when the sun never sets. I think we will need to consider another day trip to Porvoo at that time of year to find out!
Thank you to Visit Finland and Visit Porvoo for hosting us. As always, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.
Those pictures and houses looks amazing… Also thanks to you and tor, this is first in my life I saw a snowflake….. I also notice in these photo and from iceland, your face looks amazing (so fruity fresh and clean)… Can’t wait to read about Lapland……
Thank you so much!
I live in Porvoo, this beautiful city with its deep history, surrounded by beautiful lakes, forests. I am lucky to live in Porvoo.