Porvoo Local Customs

Finland seems to be the country of mobile phones.

You will see Finns phoning almost everywhere; especially at popular meeting places like train stations and cafes.

A survey by Statistics Finland states that 91 % of Finnish households have mobile phones and 64 % of all phone calls in Finland are made with mobile phones (2004).

So be prepared that even your Finnish VT friends will receive many calls during a VT meeting.

The Postimäki open air museum at Ilola, 7 km to the east of Porvoo. Open by agreement, contact Porvoo Tours.
Adress of Postimäki is Vanha Viipurintie 12, Ilola.

Hey, if you visit there, come to say hi to me! My parents has their summer house just next to Postimäki and in the Summer time I use to be there too. Not everyday, but sometimes.

(But hey, this number under there is not mine, it's Porvoo Tours.;) Unfortunately)

Observe Finnish way of life at the local Market place, especially in summer!

This is something I enjoy doing: go to the market place in center Porvoo (next to the main bus station)on Saturday morning and go to this "van cafeteria" and enjoy cup of Finnish coffee and a chat with other people.

The price for a cup of coffee in this particuliar stand ("van cafeteria") is 1 euro and really worth it!

The market place is open from early morning (6am?) until 4pm, Monday to Saturday. On the market place there are also some local handicrafts, bread, pulla (=Finnish coffee bread), vegetables from local producers sold.

Rest your feet, chill out and observe people who pass by.

Gossiping seems to be quite popular in Porvoo. In the Old Town of Porvoo you still find some houses with gossip mirrors, which were quite common in old times. A gossip mirror consists of two mirrors and is fixed to the wooden window frame. It enables people in the house to see what happens outside in the street in both directions.

Finland has two official languages. About 93 % of the population speaks Finnish, whereas Swedish is the mother tongue for 6 % of the people.
So all signs are bilingual in Finland. For example "katu" is the Finnish and "gatan" is the Swedish word for "street". Most of the Swedish speaking Finns live in the coastal areas; including Porvoo.

These are the Runeberg muffins, which are basically related to Porvoo, and I guess it is because Mr. Runeberg was living here. The Runeberg day is celebrated in Finland on February and on that day and week these muffins will be available all over Finland in coffee shops and stores.

The creator of Momins, Tove Jansson (1914 - 2001) lived in a small island near Porvoo. Before the World War II there nearby was a light house that has been a portrait for Momin's house. Jansson's island was very desolate - no trees at all.