Porvoo is the second oldest city in Finland after Turku, receiving its town charter in the 14th century. In the Old Town, you’ll find adorable little streets with wooden houses that seem to have materialized straight out of an Astrid Lindgren novel. Just imagine growing up there before it had become so frequented by tourists!

There are little shops selling souvenirs, antiques or sweets in most of these houses. It’s pretty much torture to go into any of these because I wanted to buy everything and could afford nothing. I’m going to make a point to mention the Brunberg chocolate factory, even though I don’t have a picture since I was too busy eating their chocolate. We went to the factory outlet store later that day and I bought their delicious caramel fudge and caramel licorice fudge. It was dreamy.

Later we had a hot chocolate at Porvoon Paahtimo, a cafe and bar situated in the old brick building on the right sight of the picture below. Inside, the brick walls, the wooden, rustic furniture and candles placed everywhere, providing most of the light on a dim Finnish spring day, create a cozy and relaxing atmosphere. Plus, their hot chocolate pretty much equals one full meal and it’s delicious on top of that!