Bits of Finland: Porvoo, Turku and Rauma

---

Porvoo

I had thought about visiting Rauma long ago, when I checked up the lists of UNESCO World Heritage sites in European countries. Of Finland’s World Heritage Sites, I have seen only the Suomenlinna Fortress, and the other few ones I’m not yet planning to visit. It was not a nearby town, and when I checked up the total price of getting there (from Petersburg) I thought it a bit expensive, but nevertheless made plans to go there.

Finally, I had the opportunity of arranging a short journey to Finland. According to initial plan, my work in Moscow was to be finished by October 14 but I will have to stay till the end of October. However, when I was planning this trip I yet thought I’d be at home during this time. So, I bought LuxExpress discount tickets for half price and devised the route from Helsinki to Porvoo and back on the first day, and on the second day from Helsinki to Turku, from Turku to Rauma, and then back. Initially, the plan was also to spend about half of the final day in Helsinki before the bus, and to visit a museum perhaps, but plans were changed and I again proved that on many occasions the wish to save money may lead to spending more money. As I was hurriedly gathering my things before departure, and trying to complete a part of translation job, I somehow decided to change my return ticket so that I could stay a day in Petersburg before return to Moscow. I bought a new ticket (the discount ones are usually non-refundable), but instead of Helsinki to Petersburg it was Petersburg to Helsinki. How stupid of me! Hurrying is, perhaps, one of traveller’s worst enemies.

I came from Moscow to Petersburg by overnight train at 5 o’clock in the morning and the bus was at 6-45 from Baltic Station. It was cold and I, while waiting in the station hall, switched on my laptop to upload the ticket to flash and discovered the error I made. But I decided to solve the issue later, after arriving to Helsinki. I still hoped to remain in Petersburg for the day and see Lyudmila. I do want her to trip with me, but she does have a passport and expresses little wish to go anywhere during cold weather.

The LuxExpress bus was to some extent really luxurious, with free drinking water and a coffee/tea machine, and each seat had a built-in pad with internet access, games, movies and music. Myself, I was listening to Balance CD series, which turned out to be one of the best series of electronic music compilations I have heard so far (try Jimmy van M 2006 for instance). This time we passed border control very quickly (the Finnish authorities asked where I was going to and for how long) and arrived in Helsinki as scheduled, to Kamppi. I at once searched for a ticket office and bought a ticket to Porvoo. To my delight, the bus left in a couple of minutes and I was soon walking the sunlit streets of the beautiful town.

Porvoo is 50 km away from Helsinki and is the second oldest town of Finland after Turku. It dates back to the XIV century, and belonged to the Swedish Kingdom till 1809. After Russia’s victory in the war of 1808-1809, the town was included in the Grand Princedom of Finland, and since 1917 it was in the independent Finland.

I came to the Cathedral, and then retraced my steps and went in a different direction towards the town hall. After the town hall square, I followed the signs to the fortress hills (Linnamäki), along the river, came to a bridge and then reached the hills. I followed the path uphill, and observed a panorama of a town’s part and saw the wooden bridges across small dried ditches. The large fortress hill is one of Finland’s major prehistoric defensive structures, while the small hill is a burial mound from the Iron Age. Then, I walked back and crossed another bridge in order to see the famous red-painted riverside barns. They were painted with red ochre in the end of XVIII century before the arrival of Swedish king Gustav III, for him to enjoy the views along the route. Now, this colour attracts a lot of tourists. Besides, the paint protected the wood; some kinds of products were stored in the barns.

I went to the other river bank and saw a white ship and many small boats, and a suspension bridge. I finished sightseeing in a small park with a monument to J. Runeberg, and from there walked a couple of paces to the bus station (“Matkahuolto” – a place where we can buy tickets, coffee, snacks and many other items).

I returned to Helsinki and got off the bus at a station near the Olympic Stadium, because I was residing at Stadium Hostel. I admired the location, somehow I liked it very much, in the same way on my first visit there in 2012.

In the evening, I did a small translation and bought an Allegro train ticket to St. Petersburg. With these changes, I lost about 50 Euros on non-refundable bus tickets. But Allegro allowed me a whole day of rest in Petersburg. I forgot to mention that all my tickets, except tickets to Porvoo, were bought in advance via official Finnish sites.

Turku

I fell asleep very quickly and got up at 5-30 in the morning and went to Rautatieasema. My train to Turku was leaving at 6-56. It was a double-storey car, no doubt high-speed, and during the two hours I was reading a book of French poets. I do read much lately (Jown Fowles is my next author, and also a collection of poems by Russian poets, perished during World War II, translated into English).

I arrived to Turku at 9-00. The bus was departing at 11, so I had one and half hour of leisure. I simply walked along a street, wanting to see the Turku Castle. My mind returned back to 2009, when I was on a guided tour, and we saw the Turku Cathedral and, I’m sure, also saw the Castle from the distance. I didn’t reach the castle this time.

I noticed funny drawings on outdoor ‘boxes’ (I think those accommodate electric utilities or other technical equipment) – they do please the eye. As I was running out of time, I decided to go towards the bus station (it is located close to the train station, but you have to walk).

I then saw the most unexpected monument. It was a bust of Mr. Lenin, gifted to Turku in 1977 by Leningrad. I did not expect to see it there. As we know, Lenin has played a certain role for the Finland’s independence, and without judging his merits and demerits we still have to respect a country’s history, and remember the persons, whether good or bad, who decided its fate. I also saw the imposing art museum building. From there, I quickly reached the bus station and had a cup of hot tea and yoghurt.

The bus driver was, to my surprise, a woman (a thing I never saw in Russia on intercity buses, but here we have women drivers of urban trams and trolleybuses). The drive to Rauma took one and half hour. Rauma was basically the essence of my trip. It is an excellent town (its old part with timber houses, comparable with Swedish Sigtuna) and is perhaps the best place to see in Finland (as regards architecture). Its old wooden buildings in the centre have been preserved almost entirely.

Rauma bus station is not far from the old centre. Several steps from the bus station is Hesburger where I had a coffee and salad. It feels awkward not to know the local language; I at least have to print out a phrasebook and try to reproduce them. The old town’s appearance needs no description, because no words reproduce one’s own particular feelings. It was Saturday, so there were few people and the shops seemed to be either already closed or closing. The pavements mainly were cobblestone. The cars on some streets seemed absolutely out of place here. I walked almost all the streets and never got tired of the atmosphere – even the people gradually disappeared. There is a fully preserved cathedral and ruins of an old church, all covered with fallen yellow maple leaves.

Having thoroughly explored the old part, I went in the other direction, and saw some more interesting places, an unusually designed flowerbed, a children playground, and two monuments to mariners. Then I wanted to go in the bus station, but it was closed. I felt cold and went to Hesburger again to warm up by a cup of tea. The bus driver again was a woman; there were not many passengers.

When I returned to Turku, I walked in a different area, first heading to the Turku Cathedral. When I was there in 2009, we had bare ten minutes to photograph it and that was all we saw of Turku (not from a bus window). Then I walked along the embankment, getting slowly tired, and finally decided to stop and go back to the train station. I found a kebab café, asked the permission to use the toilet and asked for hot drinks, but the man said hot drinks were offered only during lunch time. It seemed strange, given the café’s working hours till late evening. In Russia, in any God-forsaken hole you’ll most probably be able to find hot tea, for as low a price as 8 Roubles (in Vladimir and Kostroma, for example).

I returned back to Stadium Hostel by 22-30 and immediately fell asleep. I got up at 5 and headed to Rautatieasema, Allegro train departed at 6-12. It is an excellent train with the only annoying thing being the various checks throughout the journey. I spent the day with my wife in St. Petersburg and went to Moscow on an overnight train.

---