Start of the summer holiday.

The girls, carrying their enormous rucksacks, hopped on a bus and headed to Väiski, a scout camp in Parainen forests with 1,800 kids. Stuart and I seized the opportunity, jumped on our bikes and headed for Porvoo. The plan is to cycle to Kotka over the weekend (about 130km in total).

We have cycled from Espoo to Porvoo before, and the route is not particularily interesting. So this time, we decided to take the J.L Runeberg, a museum ship that sails from Helsinki to Porvoo. Great weather, pleasant sailing, cool ship… but too many people.

Porvoo itself, is a picturesque little town with a cobbled old town, good restaurants, quaint shops and a few excellent museums, including the old home of Finland’s national poet, Runeberg.

We took it easy, wandered around, had lunch and a few drinks, and only set off on the 25km ride to the hotel in the evening. The hotel was in the middle of nowhere, with not even a restaurant nearby. Therefore, timing dinner at the last restaurant on the way required a bit of a balancing.

The last few kilometers, with the sun setting on our backs, were beautiful.

By the time we opened the last beers on the hotel garden, it felt like holiday.