Finland & Norway Trip Day 2 - Hotel Arthur, Porvoo, Helsinki

Since we will only be staying in Helsinki for 1 night before heading to Lapland, we searched for a hotel which is close to almost everything while not making a hole out of our wallets. We manage to find Hotel Arthur after some research, and booked a room which 4 of us can stay together. Although it is quite an old hotel, it is reasonably clean and spacious and within walking distance to the Central Raiway Station, Market Square, and the shopping districts in Helsinki. Typical Finnish style breakfast is also included in the hotel room rates.

Day 1 ended quite early as we were all too tired after the red eye flight, and we started Day 2 fresh and excited, as my friend's friend, who lives in Helsinki, will be picking us up and bringing us to Porvoo, a scenic old town some 50km away from Helsinki.

After an hour's drive, we arrived at this quiet town and headed uphill to the old town.

Porvoo Musuem

Our first stop is Porvoo Cathedral, 1 of the oldest and largest church in Finland. We were told that this Cathedral was destroyed quite a few times, and it took years to restore the Cathedral to its former glory.

After a long coffee break to keep ourselves warm and to listen to stories from the friend on how living in Helsinki is like, we walked towards the Porvoo River to see the famed red wooden houses.

Next, we browse through some local shops, before having lunch at a local restaurant.

One of my friend expressed interest in picking wild berries and mushroom, so our friend drove us to a nearby hill after lunch for a hike.

As it is already late autumn, there were not many berries around, but we still managed to find some bilberries (looks & taste very much like blueberries), and lingonberries (red version of bilberries).

There were also some mushrooms around, but they are not edible.

*Disclaimer: As our friend is very knowledgeable on such berries & mushroom, he is able to distinguish what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten. Pls do not attempt to pluck and eat such berries & mushroom even though they look similar, unless you are able to distinguish the berries and mushrooms!

After some hiking exercise, we made our way back to Helsinki, stopping by Sibelius Park to see the Sibelius Monument, a sculpture dedicated to a famous Finnish music composer, Jean Sibelius.

We bade farewell to the friend, and went to Stockmann to do some shopping. Our dinner was settled at Hard Rock Cafe, afterwhich we headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage to begin our journey to the Lapland.

Up Next: Finland & Norway Trip Day 3 - Santa Claus Express to Rovaniemi & Santa Claus Village

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