Ouch, ouch, ouch ... I mis-stepped and badly twisted my right ankle. Unfortunately, it was insult added to injury because that is the same foot that has been hurting with plantar fasciaitis. A bad thing to happen on a trip of discovery :(
Today we went to Porvoo, about 30 minutes away from Helsinki. Porvoo claims to be one of the oldest cities in Finland, although most of the old buildings were destroyed by fire in 1730 and what one sees is the rebuilt 1800's town. There is a small hill west of town, overlooking the Porvoo River, which was occupied by folks from the Iron Age as far back as 700 AD, and on the same hill one can see the ground where a fort stood. The fort was built by the Swedes in 1250, and expanded by the Germans in 1350, but in the many changing of hands was torn down and the only thing one can see are the levees that delineated two deep moats, and a platform at the very top where the fort presumably stood.
The walk along the river was very charming and full of flowers, and many of the old warehouses have been converted to residences without losing much of their character. The Lutheran cathedral occupies another high point in the town, and by it are the House of the Bishop and the Chapter House, but even though we went inside the yard we convinced ourselves that they were now private residences and left quietly.
Inside the cathedral there is a statue of Czar Alexander I, who came to Porvoo to talk to the elders with regard the annexation of Finland by Russia. He assured the Diet that Finland will keep all the rights it had enjoyed under Swedish rule, including considerable sovereignty as a Duchy. He must have been a convincing orator because the Diet accepted his assurances and offered him a ball, at which the Czar graciously danced with the daughter of the Burgermeister.
Lucas and I went into a couple of museums (one at the house of the richest merchant of the 1600's and the other at the old City Hall). Both buildings were burnt in the fire of 1730 and were later reconstructed in stone. They were odd collections of old furniture and utensils, and once again we wondered at how short these folks had been to fit in those old beds.
At about 1:30 pm we finished our visit, so we headed to Helsinki to visit the Rock Church. This church was excavated in the solid rock (basically they dug a cylindrical quarry) and was built in such a way that the walls are the bare rock, still with the traces of the drillholes used to split the stone. For a geologist is a great opportunity to look at high grade metamorphic rocks that are in the process of being partially melted to form a migmatite.
We criticized the fact that to visit the church you have to pay 8 euros per person! Géraldine told us that after the reconstruction of Notre Dame in Paris the government suggested a fee should be paid by tourists visiting the church, but the diocese categorically refused because a church is a place where anyone should be free to pray. Of course Lutheran churches might have a different opinion.
Géraldine then took us on a long walk back to the port, so we could stroll by the seaside. I would have been very enthusiastic about it, had it not been because I have been gimping all day on my twisted ankle and by then my foot was throbbing. I kept going on massive doses of Iboprufen.
On the way we saw a robotic box making food deliveries. It
was the size of a small refrigerator and was crossing streets like a pro. In
one instance where there was no traffic light it seems to have followed a
person as he or she crossed the street. Quite a show by the small box!
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