LAxHEL - From Los Angeles to Helsinki and everything in between.

Is Santa from Finland?

by Audrey November 29, 2019

written by Audrey

It’s officially the holiday season! I’ve already started jamming my Spotify Christmas playlists. Rambo also got his first Christmas Calendar from Kimmo’s parents, so that will be a new tradition. He gets a treat every day in December until the big day. How cute is this?

The history of Santa

If you ask a Finn, they’ll probably tell you that Santa is from a town called Korvatunturi in Lapland. I know when Kimmo told me this, I almost believed him. But as any good partner would do, I questioned him and googled the facts. Haha!

St Nicholas, the generous medieval Christian saint believed to be the inspiration behind the modern-day Santa Claus, was bishop of the small Roman town of Myra in the 4th Century in what is now Turkey. Turkey, what? Then where did the stories of snow, reindeer, and northern lights come from?

Before Christianity and Santa came to Finland in the Middle Ages, Finns celebrated a pagan mid-winter festival called Yule where men dressed as Nuuttipukki wandered from house to house, came in, and demanded food, especially booze. Nuuttipukki was a scary character (like Krampus) dressed in fur jackets, birch bark masks and horns. The Nuuttipukki were evil spirits; if they didn’t get what they wanted, they would make loud noises and scare children.

When St. Nick came along during the 1800s, his image blended with Nuuttipukki to create Joulupukki (‘Yule Goat’). Joulupukki handed out gifts instead of demanding them. Unlike Santa Claus who climbs down the chimney, Joulupukki would knock on the door and ask “Onko täällä kilttejä lapsia?” (“Are there any well-behaved children here?”).

In November 2017, Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture approved Joulupukki (or Finnish Santa Claus tradition, as it is known today) to be included in the National Inventory of Living Heritage (part of Unesco). This was huge for Finland, and strengthened its position as the country where Santa Claus lives.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20171221-does-santa-claus-come-from-finland

Visiting Santa in Lapland

Okay now that you got the history lesson, let’s talk about meeting Santa and real reindeer! I might be a little partial to the fat man because I was a huge fan as a kid, so when Kimmo told me he was going to take me to Santa’s official home, I was pretty stoked. We visited two places in Rovaniemi last November, and I’ll give you the lowdown on both.

Santa’s Village

Santa’s Village is free to visit, but you pretty much have to pay for any activity you do there.

Picture with Santa – If you want your kiddos to meet the real Santa, the jolly man in the post office is as good as it gets. They take a high-quality video of your visit and he genuinely asks about you and what you wish for Christmas. When I went in 2018, I wished for Kimmo and I to finally be able to live together in the same country, and guess what? A few months later, Kimmo proposed to me and I got a job in Helsinki! The man made my Christmas wishes come true and I have a video from that day to remember it by =)
Real Reindeer – I just about freaked out when I got to see real reindeer doing sleigh rides! They’re adorable. The only thing disturbing was that there was a reindeer restaurant right next to it, so after you meet the reindeer, you can also eat reindeer. Santa should probably think about making these two things further apart from each other.
Husky Park – We didn’t actually go in here because we didn’t want to pay the extra entrance fees, but from what we could see when we peeked through the fence, there were tons of cute huskies excited to greet the guests.
Cross the Arctic Circle – The Arctic Circle is a circle of latitude that runs 66°33′45.9″ north of the Equator. It marks the southernmost latitude where the sun can stay continuously below or above the horizon for 24 hours – known as the Midnight Sun in the summer and the Polar Night (“Kaamos”) in the winter. In Rovaniemi, the Arctic Circle runs through Santa Claus Village, where it is clearly marked. You can even get a certificate confirming the feat.
Moomin Snowcastle – We didn’t get to see this because we went at the end of November, and there wasn’t enough snow yet. I would have loved to check this out though, so make sure you check what dates this is available.

Audrey and Kimmo with the real Santa Claus

Santa’s Park

Don’t let their cheesy website fool you, we actually enjoyed Santa’s Park more than Santa’s Village. You can think of it more like a theme park. Here are some highlights:

One ticket price to see everything
Ice Gallery – We wanted to visit the infamous Arctic Igloos, but you had to be a guest at the hotel to see them, so this was the next best thing!
Elf School – Yup, get your Elf Diploma!
Mrs. Gingerbread Bakery – Make your own gingerbread man or woman
Train Ride – Take a ride through Santa’s Workshop

Tips

Where to Stay – Hotels are pretty expensive. We stayed in an adorable Airbnb which was really affordable.
Transportation
- Train – From Helsinki we took an overnight train that left around 9pm and arrived at 7am in the morning. If you have the time to kill, I recommend taking a morning train so that you can see the sites along the way. At night it’s pretty hard to see anything, but we didn’t want to waste an entire day traveling, so it was convenient for us to be able to sleep on the train and arrive there in the morning. We got a private room which had 2 bunk beds, bathroom, and shower even.
- Fly – We flew back to Helsinki through the Rovaniemi airport. This was a quick, easy, and cheap flight!
- Santa Express Bus – Once you’re in Rovaniemi, there is a Santa Express bus that stops at Santa Claus Village, Santapark/Arctic Treehouse Hotel, Santa’s Igloos Arctic Circle and the the Airport. See timetable here.

But Rovaniemi is just the tip of Lapland. There is so much more to explore. For instance this snowboarding video of Sanni Oksanen was sent to me from two of my American friends and is going viral because sites like TheCoolHunter reposted it. When I went last year in November, there wasn’t enough snow yet, and when we tried to chase the Northern Lights, there was no such luck. I’ll be back for you Lapland and aurora borealis!

November 29, 2019 0 comment

Helsinki Los Angeles

Cost of Living in Helsinki vs Los Angeles

by Audrey November 23, 2019

written by Audrey

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be featured in an Ilta Sanomat article (the most read online newspaper in Finland). The article is in Finnish, so in case you’d like to read it, I’ve translated it on the LAxHEL Facebook page. The article came about because one of the journalists stumbled upon my blog through Facebook and wanted to interview me about my last blog post. It was a wonderful experience and I received a ton of positive feedback and “welcome to Finland” comments from people who read the article. I was so touched by all the kind words. I also have to mention that when I shared the story about complimenting a woman in a clothing store and she ignored me, many Finns explained to me that it was probably because she didn’t know how to take the compliment since Finns are known to be quite humble, which I totally agree with.

Almost free

Although I couldn’t quite understand all of the comments on the article since it was in Finnish (Google Translate isn’t super accurate), from what I could gather, there seemed to be quite a bit of discussion around the high taxes in Finland along with education and healthcare not really being “free” since you do incur some nominal fees. So maybe I misspoke, but compared to where I’m from, they are practically free. Our taxes in LA are also not low (I was paying 31.95%), yet it doesn’t go towards our personal healthcare or college tuition. In case you’re curious, this California tax calculator can give you an estimate of California tax rates. All of this got me thinking about what the cost of living in Helsinki vs. Los Angeles is.

It is true that Finland has one of the highest tax rates in the world, and the wages in Helsinki are not as high as in LA, but the cost of living is lower. The real question is, do you end up taking home more money, less money, or break even? In my case, my salary in Helsinki is about half of what it was in LA, yet somehow I found myself with more money left at the end of each month after all my expenses. How is that possible? Well I did some digging and I thought I would share what I discovered.

Cost of living comparison

I used this cost of living comparison website to get average salaries and expenses in Helsinki and Los Angeles. A few of the amounts were my exact personal expenses in LA (student loan, car payment, health insurance, auto insurance, and gas). Please note that everything is converted to euros to give you a better comparison and there are a few items are not an apples to apples comparison such as:

Student Loan – I put €0 for Helsinki because if I was a Finn and went to college in Finland, I wouldn’t have needed to pay for tuition. I spoke to a few Finns, and none of them needed to take out a student loan but mentioned that some people may take out a small bank loan for books and living expenses, but definitely not an $80,000 loan for tuition alone like I needed.
Transportation Costs – In LA, you pretty much need to have a car, while in Helsinki you can get away without having one, so I included my monthly car payment in LA vs. my monthly Helsinki metro pass cost. Since I don’t need to have a car in Helsinki, I also no longer have auto insurance and gas expenses.

So upon further inspection, even though I only make half of what I was making in LA, I actually have more money leftover after expenses. I also didn’t include expenses like food, but I find food costs to be pretty similar. Again, I can only speak for myself and my own situation, and I understand that this is not an exact comparison, since there are people who do own cars in Helsinki and incur those costs.

And now I’m feeling nostalgic, so here’s a few pics of my old apartment in Downtown LA and my old car, which I’ve given to my parents.

Cost of having a baby in LA vs Helsinki

Although you don’t need to pay for health insurance in Finland, several people commented in the article that they do incur some medical expenses (for things like medicine, hospital stays, etc). This got me curious about the out of pocket medical costs in LA even with health insurance. Kimmo’s big brother recently had a baby and he asked me what it cost to have a baby in Los Angeles. He shared with me that his final hospital bill came out to €440 total for the entire delivery plus 3 nights stay in their own room at the hospital for 2 adults with food.

Since I’m just a dog mom, I asked one of my best friends from LA what it cost her. She had one of the most premium insurance plans available, so other health insurance plans would not necessarily cover this much and the out of pocket costs can be much higher. In any case, with an excellent health insurance plan, this is what she had to pay out of pocket versus what the actual costs were.

*Note: These costs are from 4 years ago, so they might have changed since then.*

Even though you can easily look up cost of living comparisons between cities, it was really interesting to sit down and do the actual math for my own situation. It was actually very eye-opening and before moving to Helsinki, I had no concept of what it cost to live outside of LA. I always knew I could move somewhere cheaper, but I was never sure if anywhere else could live up to LA…

November 23, 2019 4 comments

Helsinki

My First Six Months Living in Helsinki

by Audrey October 29, 2019

written by Audrey

It has been about half a year now since I’ve moved to Helsinki. It’s my first time living somewhere with actual seasons, and the leaves turning is truly a beautiful thing to see during the autumn. Although I get super homesick and I miss the LA weather, it hasn’t been as hard to adjust as I had imagined. But then again, winter hasn’t come yet, so ask me again in a couple of months.

I think a few reasons why it hasn’t been terribly hard to adjust is because the architecture of Helsinki is really modern, it’s a small city that’s easy to get to know, everything works well, the quality of life here is really high, and most people speak English, so it doesn’t feel like such a foreign country. But don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been a walk in the park either. I miss my friends and family immensely and it took some time to make my own friends here. Also, just because people speak English, doesn’t mean anything is written or spoken in English. So let’s just say I have to rely on copying movements in gym classes and my grocery runs take extremely long, since I’m constantly using the Google translate app camera function. By the way, Google translate for Finnish – 60% of the time, it works every time.

Modern apartment buildings in our neighborhood
Leaves turning on Rambo

But in all seriousness, I feel so lucky to have the chance to live in another country and continent, actually. I’m learning so much and just trying to soak it all in and appreciate every new experience and learning. All I’ve ever known is my LA and Orange County bubble. The rest of the world is doing things differently but here’s what I’ve learned about Helsinki so far…

Top 10 Reasons I Enjoy Living in Helsinki

Free Healthcare – Basic healthcare is free, and even covers dental work. Most companies also provide additional private healthcare insurance at no cost to the employee. If health is wealth, then I’m set for life here.
Free Education – Meanwhile, I’m still paying for my grad school loan while Finns can get their PhD for FREE 99!
So Damn Safe – People even leave their €1000+ Bugaboo strollers outside WITH the baby inside, because apparently the cold air is good for babies and can often help them sleep. But more importantly, people don’t fear their children getting kidnapped. I couldn’t even walk home alone from school, which was only a few blocks away. Here you see elementary school kids on public transportation alone, it’s wild! Oh wait, I guess that’s the opposite of wild.
Public Transportation – Speaking of public transportation, there is no need to have a car in Helsinki. The public transportation here consists of trams, subways (called the Metro here), and busses. It costs €60/month for an unlimited pass, which my work paid for. So basically my transportation costs are €0, except the occasional Uber, taxi, or electric scooter. In LA with a car payment, gas, auto insurance, and tons of Ubers whenever I was having drinks, I’m sure I easily spent $1000/month just on transportation alone!
5 Weeks of Holiday (vacation) – It’s the law to get five weeks of vacation in Finland, no matter what company you work for. In California, an employer is not required to provide paid-time-off under California vacation law, although most companies provide at least 2 weeks as a job benefit. 2 weeks sounds like a joke to me now. No wonder Americans are so stressed and get burnt out easily.
Work Life Balance & Benefits – The generous vacation speaks to this, but in addition, I don’t often see Finns work overtime. At the company I worked for, they paid for my cell phone which can be used for personal use as well, but it wasn’t mandatory to answer any work related emails or calls outside of work hours. Most companies also provide a lunch card, where they cover 25% of your lunch (up to €10.50) which encourages employees to go out for lunch, especially with colleagues. Lastly, most companies also provide a sports and culture benefit of up to €400/year, which can be used for gym memberships, movie tickets, concerts, etc. So far I’ve used mine for an annual museum pass (€60), rock climbing, and pilates classes.
People are Smart – Everyone knows at least two languages. And the water cooler talk here is rarely about TV, the latest fashion trends, or celebrity gossip. Instead they’re about things like the “Third Industrial Revolution”. Sometimes I feel like Finns are more in tune with what’s going on politically in the US than the average American.
The Library is Cool – Finland is the most literate country in the world and publishes more books per capita than any other country, except Iceland. On average, every Finn buys 4 books and borrows a dozen from the library each year. So, yup it’s definitely cool to read and hang out at the library. I’ve started reading way more and have read about 1-2 books per month since I moved here. Also, how could you not want to hang out at Oodi, our central library? Besides the beautiful architecture of the building, this library holds concerts, has music studios and instruments that you can book, an urban workshop for the DIYers like me (soldering station, laser cutter, and sewing machines included) and even digital gaming rooms. It was also voted as 2019 World’s Best New Library.
Nature & Foraging – Finland has a concept called ‘Everyman’s right’. It allows everyone to roam freely in nature, eat, and pick berries and mushrooms anywhere in forests. Our fridge always has a supply of homemade berry juice, berry jelly, frozen berries & chanterelle mushrooms from Kimmo’s family forest. Also, you can camp out overnight in a tent, vehicle, or boat, as long as this causes no damage or disturbance to the landowner.
Island Hopping – I love that Finland is like one big forest surrounded by the Baltic Sea. Our apartment is along a canal, and I walk Rambo by the ocean every day. There’s something so calming about just staring into the waters and feeling that ocean breeze. Finland has over 180,000 lakes and almost as many islands! I can take a 10 minute ferry or cross a bridge and be on a new island. There’s even a Dog Island for Rambo and a Zoo on an island. It’s such a nice way to get out of the city, hike in a forest, have a picnic, and even go foraging!

Strollers with babies inside left outside in freezing temps
Foraging for lingonberries and bilberries
Island hopping
Bridge to an island with a Zoo
Daily walk along the canal and Baltic Sea

Top 5 Favorite Finnish Home Things

Magic Cupboard – In every kitchen, there’s a specific drying cupboard above the sink where you put clean dishes to dry. The water drops down to the sink. Ok so it’s not magical but it’s freaking genius!
Sauna – If you didn’t know, Finns invented the sauna, so it’s a big part of the culture here. We have one in our bathroom. Until I came to Finland, I always thought a sauna was basically an electrically heated wooden room. I was wrong! A real sauna should have stones (heated by a wood fire or electrically) that you throw water on to create steam. The more water you throw on the stones, the more steamy and intense it gets. I was on the fence about it at first, but now we have “Sauna Sundays” at home. There are so many benefits to the sauna. It helps you recover from an intense workout, flush out toxins, relieve stress, and get a good night’s sleep.
Butt Washers – Ok, they’re not called that, I made that up. I’m actually not sure what they’re really called, but I love them, and Americans need them! No more using baby wipes or wetting toilet paper, only so they can rip into shreds in your butt as you wipe.
Heating – Every time I step into our apartment, it always seems to be the perfect temperature, except on the rare occasion it gets really hot, because we don’t have AC, like most homes in Finland. Over 90% of Finnish apartments are connected to a district heating network, which is part of the rental agreement as a fixed cost. District heating supplies heat from a combined heat and power (CHP) plant directly to buildings through a network of pipes carrying hot water. This means the buildings do not need to generate their own heat on site. With CHP, Helsinki saves so much energy compared with separate property-specific heating produced by condensing electricity that it would heat up to 500,000 detached homes each year.
Own Blankets – I’m a little on the fence about this one because I love snuggling and playing footsies. But… not fighting over the blanket, not waking up to the blanket being pulled off of you, and Kimmo’s favorite, being able to wrap yourself like a burrito, are reasons why this one made the list.

Magic Cupboard
Sauna in our Bathroom

Spot the Butt Washer
District Heating

It may look like a normal bed but…
Underneath are 2 separate blankets

Finnish Things I’m still Getting Used to

Light (too much & too little) – During the longest summer nights, the sun doesn’t go down until almost midnight. But during the winter, there might only be a couple hours of daylight. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is definitely a thing here, so I’m loading up on Vitamin D pills and having coffee in front of my happy (aka SAD) light. If you’ve never heard of one, these therapy lamps mimic sunlight to enhance mood, energy, sleep, and focus – but without the UV rays
No tipping – Since I’ve worked in the food service business, it has always been ingrained in me to tip. In Finland, and most of Europe, it’s not customary to tip, unless you get exceptional service, and even then it’s not required.
How small it is – Although Helsinki is the capital and biggest city in Finland, it’s still pretty small. The population is about 630k (LA is 4 million) so even though I only know a handful of people here, I still run into people all the time. To give you some context, the day I moved here, I ran into 2 people I knew during the train and tram ride from the airport to the apartment. And at that time I knew like 10 people! Back home in LA, I could meet someone, and never see them again for the rest of my life.
The language – Like I mentioned earlier, everything is written in Finnish. The second official language of the country is actually Swedish. So most signs are in Finnish and Swedish, which doesn’t help me either way. I started taking a Finnish course twice a week, and boy is it hard. Besides the words being ridiculously long, and there being a hundred different ways to say something, I find it confusing that there is no intonation. The language sounds pretty monotone, since your tone should always go down at the end of a sentence, even if it’s a question or has an exclamation point at the end. You can imagine how hard this is for an animated speaker like myself.
No small talk – Finns don’t like small talk and I actually appreciate this. Meetings tend to start and end on time since you don’t spend the first 10 minutes small talking. And if you ask a Finn how they are, be careful because they might actually tell you.

My current fall & winter morning routine with a happy light, vitamin D pills, and my Finnish language course textbook.

So that’s what I’ve learned during my first six months living here. I’m not sure I agree that Finland is the happiest country in the world (more about Finns in a future post) but it probably has the highest quality of life. Stay tuned for the next six months…

October 29, 2019 14 comments

Travel

Croatia Travel Guide

by Audrey July 23, 2019

written by Audrey

Typically in Finland, you get 4 weeks of summer holiday (vacation) and 1 week off in winter. It’s common for businesses to shut down in July, and for Finns to take all of July off. I work for a company with international customers, so we stagger our vacations a bit. In any case, since I didn’t start my new job until close to May, I only had 1 week of holiday this year, so I wanted to make the most of it. That’s where Croatia came in.

I spent 9 days in Croatia with Kimmo. We flew into Split, then island hopped to Brač, Hvar, and Korčula, and ended in Dubrovnik. For me, it was the perfect mix of a beach and city vacation. One thing to note about the beaches in Croatia is that most of them are rocky. I managed to swim and walk around barefoot, but many people wore water shoes. Also, if you’re not renting a sunbed, be forewarned you’ll be laying your towel on rocks, and not sand. We found a couple sandy beaches in Korčula, although they were quite small. But, what the beaches lacked in sand, the Adriatic Sea made up for with the ocean. It was some of the most turquoise water I had ever seen. And it was the perfect temperature for a swim. My favorite thing to do was just float around in the ocean in complete peace. Besides the beaches, I was awe struck by the old architecture in Dubrovnik and Split. My mouth literally dropped open when I first walked into the Old City of Dubrovnik. It’s definitely a site to see, especially with the backdrop of the sea against it.

In the last several years, Croatia has become a much more popular vacation spot because of Game of Thrones and Yacht Week, which means it has also become much more expensive. It still wasn’t overly expensive, but definitely not as cheap as we were expecting. On average we spent about €100 per day for food, drinks, transportation, etc. Split and Dubrovnik are pretty good about accepting credit cards, but on the islands we mostly used cash in their local currency (Croatian Kuna HRK). Below is a guide of the things to do in Croatia, specifically Split, Brač, Hvar, Korčula, and Dubrovnik.

GETTING AROUND

Jadrolinja ferries to get to the islands
Uber in Split and Dubrovnik
Renting bikes or scooters are a great way to get around the islands
Taxi boats are good to get to nearby islands

Also, be aware of pickpocketers. We didn’t experience it, but heard about a few people who did while we were in Split and Dubrovnik.

SPLIT

We flew into Split and only stayed there for 1 night. It was enough to see the Old Town and Diocletian’s Palace, but my only regret was not staying for 1 more day to be able to see at least 1 of the national parks. Plitvice Lakes and Krka National Park are the two most well-known and from the pictures, both have awe-striking waterfalls and trails. Krka Park is smaller than Plitvice, but it’s closer to Split, and you can also swim in these lakes. If you only have time to see one, this site is a good reference to help you decide.

Hotel in Split

Villa Olea 1 – This was a no frills hotel, in the middle of Old Town. You can’t drive up to it, but it’s a short walk from the port. It had everything we needed for 1 night and a good location to see the town, yet not in a crowded area where it was too noisy.

Things to do in Split

Old Town & Diocletian Palace – The old stone architecture is beautiful. There are a few scenes from Game of Thrones filmed around this area as well.
Riva Seafront Promenade – This is where the ferries and yachts dock, but it’s a lovely promenade filled with restaurants facing the sea. The perfect place to people watch and catch the ocean breeze.

Restaurants and bars in Split

Villa Spiza – Hole in the wall that servers fresh, local Dalmatian food. Dalmatia is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, and all the places we went to in Croatia are part of Dalmatia.
Zinfandel – Even though California vineyards made the Zinfandel famous, the origins are from a Croatian grape. Zinfandel had several wine tasting options to showcase Croatian wine, along with local Dalmatian tapas, and to top it off, live music. We got the 3 tier platter for two, which was delicious, especially the hama ceviche.
Bokeria Kitchen & Wine – This was another great wine bar in Split that’s a little more upscale.
Academia Ghetto Club – Bohemian bar where the locals go. It has an outdoor terrace and DJ playing good music.

Bokeria Wine & Kitchen
Zinfandel
Academia Ghetto Club

Other things to do in Split – that we did not get to do

Restaurants & Wine Bars: Buffet Fife, Uje Oil Bar, Konoba Matejuska, Tavern Tri Volta (Zalogajnica Dioklecijan)
Bars: Wine & Cheese Bar Paradox, Charlie’s Bar, To Je To, Gaga

BRAČ

We wanted to start our holiday just chilling at the beach, doing a whole lot of nothing. So, we decided to stay in Brač (pronounced Bra-ch) for 3 nights, because we heard it had the best beaches, and we wanted to stay in one hotel for the first few days before hopping around. If I could do it all over again, I would have stayed in Brač for only 1-2 nights, but this is without seeing the other parts of the island. We stayed in Bol, and didn’t venture out to Supetar, Skrip, or Vidova Gora. The island did have the most beautiful beaches (all rocky), but I found the crowd to be mostly families.

Hotel in Brač

Bluesun Hotel Elaphusa – All of the hotels on the main strip seemed to be owned by the same company, Bluesun. The hotel did include a daily breakfast buffet, which was really convenient, but it felt a little bit like a cruise ship. They had a couple restaurants, swimming pool, wellness spa, bowling alley, night club, etc. Basically, if you didn’t want to leave the hotel, you didn’t have to, which makes it really convenient for families. One feature we really enjoyed though, was the wellness spa, because they had a few different saunas, jacuzzi, and heated swimming pool. After now getting used to the Finnish sauna culture, the sauna etiquette was a bit confusing here. In Finland, it is typical for men and women to have separate public saunas, but if it’s mixed, then people typically wear swimsuits. At this spa, it was one facility for both genders, and you were not allowed to wear clothes in the saunas, which was a bit awkward for me, and I could tell the other guests were confused too.

Beaches in Brač

Zlatni Rat is one of the most famous beaches in all of Croatia, and why we decided to start our vacation there. It is beautiful, with lots of areas to lay out and swim. You can rent sunbeds and umbrellas here. It’s also convenient because there are many restaurants and bars around. We rented bikes on the other days we were there, and visited Murvica Beach and Martinica Beach, which were smaller and less crowded. There was also a nudist beach nearby called Paklina (goodbye tan lines).

Restaurants and bars in Brač

Stina Winery – The island of Brač is unique for its white stone (Stina), which is also why it is an interesting place to cultivate grapes. This winery had a lovely wine tasting, which included a very informative tour of the facilities and process.
Restaurant Borak Beach – This restaurant was owned by the same group as our hotel, but we had a table for 2 right on the beach. You just can’t get more romantic than that! The black cuttlefish risotto was delicious as well.
Varadero – This is a cocktail bar, that’s good for day drinking or a night out. They were playing some good house music when I went. Probably one of the few places to go out at night.

Entrance of Stina Winery
Stina Winery Tour
Stina blank wine labels

Things to do in Brač – that we did not get to do

Areas: Vidova Gora, Skrip, Supetar
Restaurants: Palute and Vinotoka

HVAR

Hvar is known as the expensive, party island, so we only booked 1 night here because we were more on a mission to relax. As soon as you arrive at the port, you can see lines of extravagant yachts, with people partying on them. This island had the most night life of all the places we went in Croatia, along with a younger crowd. Although Hvar was all those things, I actually enjoyed the beach clubs during the day, so I wouldn’t have minded staying an extra day. Oh and there’s a short hike to the Spanish Fortress which has a gorgeous view of the city.

Hotel in Hvar

Pharos Hvar Bayhill Hotel – This was a very hip hotel with a younger crowd. There was a comic book theme, super modern amenities, but the rooms are a bit small. A breakfast buffet was also included with our stay. The hotel actually looked better than the pictures on hotels.com. I would definitely stay here again.

Beach clubs in Hvar

Hula Hula – Sunbeds here are 100 HRK (about €13) without service, and 200 HRK with bar service. We went earlier in the day around 11am, so it hadn’t turned into a day party yet. It was the perfect place to splurge and hang out at a beach club while getting served up. At night it turns into a wild night club that goes from 2am-6am.
Bonj Les Bains – This is a fancier beach club, that’s more chill than Hula Hula. It’s also a good place to get a drink and catch the sunset.

Restaurants and bars in Hvar

Giaxa – The traditional dish of Hvar is Gregada, a fish stew. This is one of the most popular places to try it. The restaurant is a bit more upscale, but the food was excellent and worth it. I loved the presentation of the food as well.
Odos – This was a hip restaurant with great cocktails and modern mediterranean cuisine. Good prices and also rated #1 on Trip Advisor.
Tri Pršuta – One of my favorite wine bars in Croatia! It’s a tiny bar, but good prices, and good wine. The son of the owner served us and he had an immense knowledge of wines. He let us try a bunch of different wines, while educating us about each of them.

Saffron Prawn Risotto at Giaxa
Gregada at Giaxa
Tri Pršuta Wine Bar

KORČULA

We spent 2 nights in Korčula (pronounced “core-chu-luh”) but could have stayed longer. It was our favorite island because it had some sandy beaches, wineries galore, relaxed night life, and a mixed crowd.

Hotel in Korčula

Hotel Liburna – This was our favorite hotel. We were pleasantly surprised getting a huge 2 story hotel room, with a large balcony overlooking the sea. Breakfast buffet was also included here, and had the best food.

Sunset view from our balcony
View from the hotel restaurant

Beaches in Korčula

Finally we found some sandy beaches! There are a few islands that make up Korčula, and you can take a boat taxi to hop around to them. I think the only one worth visiting is Lumbarda because that’s where most of the wineries and sandy beaches are.

Rocky: Banje and Zakrjan (both in Korcula Town)
Sandy: Vela Przina and Bilin Zal (both in Lumbarda)

Wineries and Bars in Korčula

In Korčula, you’ll find Grk, a native grape variety only cultivated on the sandy soils of Lumbarda. We learned that only around 50,000 bottles of Grk wine are produced per year in that area, with about 80% of it being sold in Croatia. So, that’s probably why we had never heard of it.

Bire Winery – This is the most well known winery in Korčula, and we got to try their Grk white wine and Plavac Mali red wine and rosé. Plavac Mali is a local grape of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. If you can’t make it to the wineries, many of the wine bars in Korcula Town serve Bire wine.
Popić Winery – This is a small family owned winery overlooking a beautiful landscape. They also served their own Grk white, Plavac Mali red wine and rosé with some light snack pairings. We really enjoyed this spot and the owner was really sweet and informative.
Winery Grk – Right next door to Popić, is Winery Grk. We didn’t spend too much time here because we wanted to check out Bire before it closed, but the Grk wine here was excellent.
Massimo Cocktail Bar – This is a bar on top of a 15th-century medieval tower. You have to climb up a ladder to get there, and your drinks come up via a pulley system from the bar downstairs. It was a bit chilly when we went, but no worries because there are blankets and a beautiful view to keep you warm. It might be a little hard getting down though when you’ve had a bit to drink.

Other things to do in Korčula – that we didn’t get to do

St. Mark’s Cathedral
Marco Polo House

DUBROVNIK

I was blown away when we first walked inside the walls of Old Town. You just can’t find any buildings that old and beautiful in the US. I love that you can find Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture all in one place.

Where to stay in Dubrovnik

Since Dubrovnik was our last stop, and we were going to be on the go, doing touristy things, we decided to skip the nice hotel, and get an Airbnb. A few friends had recommended to not stay in the Old Town because it is not accessible by car (so good luck lugging around your luggage), and can be quite noisy at night, with the old, thin walls. We found a convenient Airbnb for about €75, which was a 5 minute drive to Old Town, and close to the ferry port where we arrived.

Things to do in Dubrovnik

Game of Thrones Tour – We found this via Trip Advisor, and it was totally worth it! Our tour guide was a true GoT fan, and it made it all the worthwhile. You also learn some history about Dubrovnik along the way, while exploring the Old Town.
City Walls – I can’t believe that these defensive walls have survived since about the 14th century. Entrance to the city walls is not included in the GoT Tour, but you do get a discounted ticket from the entrance to the Red Keep/Fort Lovrijenac that is part of the tour, so if you do the GoT Tour, it might be a good idea to do this afterwards. It’s definitely worth it to walk along the walls. The views are spectacular.
Lukrom – This is a nature reserve island that is a 10 minute ferry from Dubrovnik. There are peacocks and rabbits roaming all around the island. There are also a few scenes from GoT filmed here, and the 1^st official HBO iron throne replica is here.
Cable Car – We didn’t have time to do this, but heard you can see stunning views of the city from here.

City Walls
GoT Tour
“Shame” steps from GoT
GoT Site
GoT Site
Ruins in Lukrom
Iron Throne at Lukrom
Peacock in Lukrom

Restaurants and bars in Dubrovnik

D’Vino Wine Bar – This was our favorite wine bar in Croatia, where we also found our favorite wine, a 2014 Matusko Postup Potomje. It was rich and tasted like chocolate!
D’Poets Live Bar – We stumbled upon this bar, upon hearing live music and trying to escape the rain. There is a cave inside, where a live band was playing both nights we stopped by. Yes, I liked it so much, I went twice!
Lady Pi Pi – We went to this spot right when it opened, because space is limited, and they cook all their food on a single outdoor grill. The tuna was exceptional!
Buzz Bar – This is a local pub, that played great music and had decent cocktails.

Lady Pi Pi
D’Poets Live Bar

Souvenirs from Croatia

Thought I’d end this guide with some cool things we took home with us:

Lavendar & Olive Oil – Croatia is filled with lavendar and olives, so we had to take home some lavendar essential oil and award winning olive oil.
Wine – We found our favorite wine from D’Vino Wine Bar at the duty free shop in the Dubrovnik airport.
Game of Thrones – Had to get a t-shirt of my favorite dude, and Kimmo got a Winter is Coming mug
Accessories – Coral and turquoise is pretty abundant in Croatia, so I found a cute turquoise necklace, along with a basketweave bag, and a Turkish towel which packs up nice and small for taking to the beach.

Now go plan your trip to Croatia!

July 23, 2019 3 comments

Travel

Exploring Copenhagen, Denmark – The 2nd Happiest Country in the World

by Audrey July 4, 2019

written by Audrey

When I decided to move to Finland, one of the things I was most excited about was getting to explore Europe. There are so many countries that are just a short flight or ferry away. For instance, in my past visits to Helsinki, I did a ferry ride to Estonia and cruise ship to Sweden. There’s also one that goes to St. Petersberg in Russia. In LA, you can take a ferry to Catalina island, and the only other short cruise ship would be to Baja, Mexico, which I have fond memories of!

Anyway, I had a girlfriend from back home who was staying in Brussels, so we decided to meet up in a country we’ve both never been to… Denmark, specifically Copenhagen. We are both really into art and design, so it was a no brainer. Denmark has consistently been rated the happiest country in the world, although they’ve fallen 2^nd to Finland the last two years (woot woot), so I was excited to see what it was like in another Nordic country. Sidenote, I almost said Scandinavian country, which is something I’ve been confused by since I moved here. Is Finland considered Scandinavian? Apparently Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are Scandinavian and Nordic countries, while Finland and Iceland are just Nordic, but I get mixed answers when I ask a Finn. This article has been helpful with this debate in case you’re interested.

Back to Copenhagen. I absolutely adored this city! I think we got to see it at its best, as the weather was perfection and it seemed like the entire city was outside. The primary mode of transportation here is cycling, so we rented bikes for the entire 3 days we were there. The city is small enough that you can get around on bikes alone, but there’s also metro, bus, train, uber, and electric scooters. We biked the heck out of that city and for me, everywhere I looked was drool worthy. I really liked the mix of old and modern architecture surrounded by the sea and forest.

I probably wasn’t there long enough to make an accurate conclusion, but the Danes truly did seem happy. Everywhere we went, people were laughing, hugging, and just having a good time. Whether it was laying out in the middle of a park reading a book, having a beer on a terrace, or jumping into the sea. It was intoxicating.

The Danes I met seemed to really love their city. Since I’m a bit afraid of my first winter in Finland, I asked one local what they did in the winter. She said that winter is a great time to be inside and not feel guilty about binging on Netflix, and doing all the cozy indoor things. She was talking about “Hygge” which I recently learned about from one of my friends back home ironically. Hygge encompasses a feeling of cozy contentment and well-being through enjoying the simple things in life. I loved her outlook on winter so much, that I decided to pick up this book on it. The author also wrote a book on Lykke, which is the Danish word for happiness.

Ok, enough of the happiness talk, here’s a rundown of what we saw, did, and ate. I also included a list of things we wanted to do, but didn’t get a chance to.

Things to do in Copenhagen

Designmuseum Danmark – I died and went to design heaven here. If there’s one thing the Danes are known for besides pastries, it’s their design and furniture. I just got lost in there and wanted to take home every vintage chair! They also had a Bauhaus exhibit which had a workshop that you can practice your own artistic skills in. Oh and don’t forget to stop by the gift shop. I wanted to buy everything from ceramics, books, and artwork to rings, scrunchies, and pantone water bottles. Highly highly recommended!

Nyhavn – The 17th century waterfront, canal, and entertainment district with the colorful buildings that you see in every picture of Copenhagen. It was super crowded and touristy, but still worth it to see. I wouldn’t recommend eating there.

Cisternerne – The Cisterns was a water reservoir that once contained the supply of drinking water for the Danish capital and today is an exhibition space for contemporary art. The current exhibit was by the Danish artist collective SUPERFLEX where they flooded the dripstone cave with water (don’t worry rain boots are provided) and portray how climate change has altered society drastically. This was also a must see for me. It was a bit creepy, but the most unique and interactive exhibit I’ve ever seen.

La Banchina – This place was highly recommended by our friend who lives in Copenhagen. This is one of the city’s best spots for sunbathing and jumping in the water when it’s warm. In the winter they have a wood-fired sauna (proper Finnish style) which is perfect after a cold dip in the harbor I’m told. I’m not sure I could brave that water in the winter, I could barely get in it in the summer.

Kastrup Sea Bath – On our last day in Copenhagen, we decided to skip all the touristy spots, and just enjoy the sun. Now that I’m living in the Nordics, when there’s sun, you must soak it all in as there aren’t too many days in the year that you get good weather. This was another local recommendation. The circular structure has seating around a seawater pool. It was an architectural pearl, and the perfect place to go for a swim and hang out at the public beach.

Dandy – This was a hip bar near our apartment with a 60’s art deco Hollywood feel. We went on a Thursday night so it was pretty quiet, but they had a mean tequila and mezcal cocktail which I have been craving since I moved to Helsinki. I haven’t been able to find any good tequila or mezcal since I’ve moved here (so if any of you Finns have tips, do share!). There’s a DJ and dance floor on the weekends, and I hear it can get quite busy.

Meatpacking District (Kødbyen) – Unlike New York city, which it was modeled after, the neighborhood is still home to butcheries and slaughterhouses. This is where the cool kids hang out and is a hub for nightlife, galleries, and restaurants. We just dropped in for a drink at one of the bars, but it seemed like a bit of a younger crowd to us. There is also a grittier side of the meatpacking district where they have supervised injection sites so the locals told us just to be careful around those areas, but that nobody would bother us. All in all, I never felt unsafe anywhere in Copenhagen, which is a similar feeling I get in Helsinki.

Jægersborggade – This is an adorable street in the Nørrebro neighborhood with art galleries, organic produce shops, vintage clothes, ceramics and jewelry designers, wine bars, coffee shops and restaurants. Here you’ll find Michelin-starred restaurant Relæ, Coffee Collective (some of the best coffee in town), and the only caramel cookery in Copenhagen.

Christiania (Free town) – Christiania is a community of about 900 people that has its own rules and regulations completely independent of the Danish government. At first when you enter on Pusher street, it appears to be all about weed, but that is just a minor part of the town. Once you go deeper, you’ll see the most interesting and artistic homes. The area is also known for delicious vegan restaurants and free concerts.

Arket – I didn’t get to go to one of their main locations, but I did stop by their shop in the airport. Arket is a fashion brand owned by H&M which started in Sweden. It has a Scandinavian aesthetic and aims to provide quality and sustainable basics, with a price point more similar to Cos than H&M.

Stilleben – A cute shop that sells interior design, ceramics, glass ware, textiles, accessories and jewelry by leading Danish and foreign designers.

What to eat in Copenhagen

Det Rene Brød – First order of business was to try the most typical Danish pastry which is the Wienerbrød. Interestingly enough, this translates to “Vienna bread” because the concept was brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers. In the US, we simply call these a “Danish”, so it came as a shock that it actually came from Austria. Well wherever it came from, it is damn delicious. This bakery has several locations and a great place to try one out.

Restaurant Koefoed – After much googling about what to eat in Copenhagen, the Smørrebrød came up as the traditional dish. It is an open-faced sandwich made typically made with a buttered rye bread and topped with meats, fish, cheese, spreads, or whatever your heart desires. Restaurant Koefoed is especially known for these, and I can testify that we picked the right spot to try these, delicious!

Conditori La Glace – The oldest confectionary in Denmark. My girlfriend and I have major sweet tooths, and this place did not disappoint. I am more into cakes and my friend was more into tarts, and both were to die for!

Sanchez – One of the things I miss most in Helsinki is good Mexican food. Since my friend also lived in California, we both were craving it. Finally, my Mexican cravings satisfied! The only disappointment was the price, as I’m used to my $1 Taco Tuesdays.

Tuna Tostada
Carnitas & Adobo Potato Tacos
Churro Ice Cream Sandwich
Octopus Ceviche

Coffee Collective – World Barista Champion and twice national champion Klaus Thomsen is behind this place. Their filtered coffee was incredible, probably the best cup of joe I’ve ever had. Not to mention the mushroom toast and Wienerbrød we had were also on point.

Torvehallerne – An indoor food market selling everything from fresh fish and meat to gourmet chocolate and exotic spices. Admittedly, we didn’t have time to buy anything or eat there, but all the smells and food gave me the feels. I would have loved to pick up a bunch of food from here and have a picnic.

Other things to do in Copenhagen (that we didn’t have time to do)

Museums
Louisiana Museum
Thorvaldsens Museum

Water Activities
Rent a Go Boat
Kalvebod Bølge

Landmarks / Streets to Walk
Superkilen
Værnedamsvej
Elmegade

Food
Leckerbaer
Reffen
Mad & Kaffe
Møller Kaffe & Køkken
Gasoline Grill
Paté Paté

Bars
Baby Baby
Jolene

Shopping
Acne Archive
Bloom & Bloom
Lot #29
Han Kjøbenhavn
I Blame Lulu
Retro Villa
Res-Res

Even though the city was small enough to bike through, I feel like I barely scratched the surface (as you can see from the list of things we didn’t get to do). I definitely want to come back. I would love for the opportunity to live in other European countries, and if the chance came up, this city would be on the list, along with Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin so far…

July 4, 2019 0 comment

Helsinki

Midsummer in Finland

by Audrey July 1, 2019

written by Audrey

Midsummer, or summer solstice as Americans might know it, is celebrated by the Northern European countries to mark the longest day of the year. In Finland, the sun never fully sets that day and that Friday is considered a holiday so double awesomeness to have a 3 day weekend to fully enjoy it.

Summer Party

The week leading into Midsummer, I had my company summer party. I’ve worked for several companies in California, and we only ever had a Christmas party, so I was pretty stoked that in Helsinki, it’s pretty typical to have both a summer and winter holiday party. I asked Kimmo what the summer parties were like, and he said lots of drinking and most likely offsite activities that eventually lead to after parties. Well, he wasn’t kidding. We started the party at 10:00am and took a bus out to the middle of nowhere to do paintballing, bubble football, and inflatable sumo wrestling. Oh and did I mention beer was available immediately?

If you know me, I’m not much of a competitive sports person, but I did partake in one activity…

After the sweaty activities, the party bus took us to another venue, where a sauna, dinner, DJ, and surf simulation (think mechanical bull riding) awaited. Then as if that wasn’t enough, for those who wanted to keep partying until the morning, we had some tables reserved at Butcher’s Bar for more drinks and dancing. I’m totally down with this summer party tradition as it allowed me to talk to all the co-workers I normally don’t get to interact with and see them in a really relaxed, and informal setting. I definitely think the company party culture is much looser in Helsinki, at least at the company I work at. I dig it. Oh and if you want to see some footage from the party, my co-worker made this rad drone video.

Sauna Boat

Another pre-midsummer activity we did was renting out a sauna boat with friends. The sauna culture is already something pretty new to me, so throw that on a boat, now I’m really a fish out of water. The boat came with a captain, so no driving was required. It was pretty darn fun, but I was too much of a wussy to jump into the cold lake for a swim. The sauna was a bit smaller than we all expected, but we managed to squeeze 5 girls inside, and then the guys went after us.

Summer Cottage

For the actual Midsummer holiday, most Finns head out to their summer cottage, so if you happen to be a tourist in Helsinki during this time, you’ll probably notice the city is dead, and tons of things are closed. Luckily for us, Kimmo’s family cottage is only about an hour away from Helsinki. A lot of the Finns I’ve met in Helsinki, have to drive way further out.

Our midsummer activities included grilling (with veggies picked straight from the garden), reading, laying out in the sun, a sauna, a hot tub, and a whole lot of doing nothing, which in my opinion was the best part. There’s definitely something wonderful to being out in nature, disconnected from the city. One thing that tripped me out was how the hot tub worked. Kimmo’s Dad brought out a water pump that used water from the lake behind the cottage to fill the tub, and then we had to burn wood logs to heat it up.

When the summer first started arriving, it was weird to me how late the sun would set (I’m talking like 11pm), but I really grew to love it. Although, you do need some heavy duty blackout curtains for sleeping. The long days makes me feel like my weeknights don’t end after getting off work, and I love that. With my imminent first winter coming, the days will be opposite (almost no sun), so I’m just embracing all that summer has to offer. Here’s what I mean about the sun not setting… this is what it looked like outside the cottage around 2am. So dreamy!

Also, apparently there’s a horror movie called Midsommar that just came out. Let’s see if there’s any correlation…

July 1, 2019 0 comment

Travel

Best Things to Do in Tulum

by Audrey May 27, 2019

written by Audrey

Why Go To Tulum?

I went to Tulum for the 2nd time for my bestie’s bachelorette party this past April. It was just as magical, if not more, than when I first went with Kimmo back in 2016. I highly recommend it for either a trip with your girls or a romantic getaway with your significant other.

I like to think of Tulum as the Bali of Mexico, but much smaller (although truth be told, I’ve never been to Bali, so take that with a grain of salt). Think of a little hippie beach town filled with bohemian, eco-friendly hotels and vegan options galore. Although Tulum is probably one of the more expensive areas of Mexico, it still won’t break the bank. If you’re looking for an unpretentious vibe, where you can dress down, find your chi, and leave the makeup off, then add Tulum to your bucket list. Nearby Cancun and Tulum are more for party-goers, while Tulum is more for recharging your soul.

How to Get There & Getting Around

The closest international airport to Tulum is the Cancun airport, so you’ll most likely want to fly into there. From the airport it’s about a 1 hour and 45 minute drive. I recommend renting a car so you do some exploring along the way or take day trips in nearby cities. Just make sure you get maximum insurance coverage on your rental because car rental companies there can be shady, and I’m speaking from experience there.

There is only one main road in Tulum, so it’s quite small. There are 2 main areas of Tulum: Downtown (aka Tulum Town) or along the beach (hotel area). If you’re staying along the beach, I recommend renting a bicycle to explore all the sites along the beach. Just be careful when it starts to get dark because the roads aren’t lit. The beach isn’t that close to the downtown area, so if you plan on staying in an Airbnb around downtown or the outskirts (in the jungle), then a car or taxi is the best way to get around. Although there is Uber in Cancun, there is no Uber in Tulum.

Best Places to Stay

Both times I’ve been to Tulum, I stayed in an Airbnb. For the bachelorette party, there were 8 of us, and we stayed at this dreamy Airbnb. We had our own pool and yoga shala. We had planned to have yoga sessions in the morning, because my other bestie teaches yoga, but that was a bit over ambitious after a night of drinking. But, we did have a lovely private dinner catered in the shala. The location was in the middle of the jungle where roads were not developed yet, so it was a bit difficult for taxis to find, but our Airbnb host was super helpful and provided us contacts to taxis who knew exactly where the Airbnb was.

Airbnb and one of my besties

Our Airbnb pool

If you’re willing to spend more, I highly recommend getting a hotel along the beach. That is where all the action is, and you won’t need a car since you can walk or bike around the long strip of the beach where all the beach clubs, boutiques, and tons of restaurants are. Although I haven’t stayed in any of these, here are a few that I looked into with highly rated reviews:

Azulik
Be Tulum
Casa Malca
Coco Hacidena
Coco Tulum
El Pez
Jashita
Nest Tulum
Nomade
Zamas

Activities & Historical Sites

Cenotes – Tulum is most known for its beautiful cenotes (natural sinkholes) and there are tons of them to see. Some of the most popular ones are Gran Cenote and Dos Ojos, but those can be really crowded. If you ask some of the locals or staff, they can tell you tons of others like Calavera, Cristal and Escondido. There’s usually a small cost to swim in it, and most have life vests you can rent if you need. Don’t forget to bring a towel!
Tulum Ruins – These Mayan ruins are a site to see, and there’s actually a nice beach at the bottom you can hang out at, but be forewarned that this is super touristy and the lines can be quite long. The entrance fee is about 65 pesos.
Azulik – You’ve probably seen pictures of this architectural masterpiece. It really is worth it to see, and I recommend going during sunset. You cannot just walk in though, and there can be a line to get in, so get there when it opens to the public (times change, so call ahead). When I went, they opened up at 4pm to the public and we had to pay a $30 entrance fee, but that price included $25 towards food and drinks. Worth it! Oh and the octopus taco was bomb diggity!
Casa Malca – This is one of Pablo Escobar’s old mansions, turned into a boutique hotel. There is this beautiful backdrop made of old wedding dresses. There’s also interesting artwork all around the property. When I called to see if we could just walk in, they told us no, but we did any way, and were let in when we said we were going to get get lunch there. Food is over priced and nothing great though, so maybe just grab some drinks.
Chichen Itza – These Mayan pyramids are about 2 hours away from Tulum. They are actually in a different state, so if you’re driving there yourself, make sure it’s ok to take your car rental there. We decided to do a private tour through www.mexicokantours.com which I recommend. Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and fun! We also stopped by Cenote Yokdzonot and the town of Valladolid. The whole thing took about 8 hours, but a great way to do all the touristy stuff in one day, and then reserve the rest of the trip for exploring Tulum.
Valladolid – We stopped by this colorful and old Spanish colonial little town during our tour. The city has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. Walk around the plaza and explore all the nooks and crannies. It’s a great spot to grab lunch.
Swim with Turtles in Akumal Beach – This beach is about 30 minutes away from Tulum, and is swimming with sea turtles! It can be a bit crowded, but I actually found that more locals hang out there. You can rent snorkeling gear there or bring your own. I saw at least 3 turtles while I was snorkeling.

Cenote Yokdzonot

Chichen Itza

Casa Mala
Casa Malca
Casa Malca
Casa Malca

Azulik

Things I didn’t get to do but plan to in the future:

Water Parks – There are tons of great ones like Xel-Ha and Xplor where you can do things like zip-lining, amphibious vehicles driving, explore cenotes, etc.
Yoga – Tulum is a haven for Yogis. There are tons of yoga retreat centers all over Tulum.
Spa Day – Tulum is known for Temazcal, which is a sweat lodge, or Mexico’s version of a sauna. This is something wonderful to try and I think my Finns would appreciate this. Tulum is also known for their Mayan Clay Spas, which is something unique to try. Here are a few Wellness Spas that are well known: Holistika, Leaf Luxury Spa, Yaan Wellness, and Mayan Clay Spa.
Swim in Lagoon Kaan Luum
Climb Coba Pyramids
Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve
Day trip to Cozumel

Best Places to Eat

Antojitos la Chiapaneca – Al pastor tacos. Need I say more?
Posada Margherita – Italian food in Tulum? I know that sounds weird, but it’s amazing, and a must! Plus the place is on the beach and is adorable.
Campanella Cremerie – Best place for ice cream
La Habichuela – Ok this one is in Cancun, not Tulum, but if you’re flying through there, it’s worth stopping by. Their Caribbean and Mayan menu definitely delivers.
Private Catered Dinner – There are tons of chefs who host private dinners, or if you have an Airbnb like we did, can come cook at your place. Our Airbnb host recommended www.chefpedrobermudez.com and he was fantastic. Very professional, reasonably priced, and probably our best meal in Tulum.

Private Dinner by Chef Pedro Bermudez

La Habichuela
La Habichuela

Places I didn’t get to try but wanted to:

Hartwood – Ok so both times I went to Tulum, I tried to eat here, but couldn’t get a ressie. They only take ressies the month before, so if you’re going in April, email for reservations on March 1st. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this place.
Chamicos – A bit of a drive from the main area, but I hear it is amazing for their fish (prepared whole, or the ceviche).
Arca
Casa Jaguar
Kitchen Table
Mezzanine

Best Beach Clubs

Most beach clubs require you to either pay a day entrance fee, or get a table with a minimum. It’s not that expensive, and I think it’s worth it to be able to have a place to hang out on the beach, since there aren’t really any public beaches in Tulum.

Habitas – This place is a dream! They have a DJ on Sundays playing relaxing deep house style music, so my girlfriends and I got a table here on the beach. They also have an infinity pool which is a plus, because the beach can have too much seaweed at times. The food and service is great, and we enjoyed just hanging here for hours.
Papaya Playa Project – This place is fun during the day and night. They’ve got tons of places to hang in front of the beach, but it is on the pricier side.

Here are a few others that were on my list, but we didn’t have enough time to check out.

Coco Tulum
Nomade
La Zebra
Ziggy’s
Tata Tulum

Nightlife

If you’re looking to go have drinks and dancing, below are the go to places that typically have DJs on these nights. My favorite spot is the full moon party at Papaya Playa Project on Saturdays. There is always a top notch DJ, with Burning Man type vibes and lots of dancing.

Thursdays – Gitano
Fridays – Casa Jaguar
Saturdays – Papaya Playa Project. There is a $30 entrance fee, and then has a prepaid model to buy drinks. You get a wristband and then you basically have to fill it up (they accept credit cards) and then when you go to the bar, you pay with your wristband credits. So be careful, because you lose whatever you don’t use that same night.

Hope this little guide helped you. I definitely plan on going back to Tulum, so when I do, I’ll make sure to update this again. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below.

May 27, 2019 2 comments

Helsinki Life

Introducing the Finn

by Kimmo May 9, 2019

written by Kimmo

Hello I’m Kimmo

Yes that’s me standing all naturally on top of a rooftop. And that’s Helsinki in the background. You might have recognised it from the iconic white church. No? Well there’s probably many other things you don’t know about the city. I will try to be your local guide and voice in this blog as we show Audrey the best things in Helsinki. Oh and Finland. We have a pretty peculiar little country. Let’s see how our LA girl finds things here. This should be fun!

Culture shock expected

Little did I know what kind of an adventure I was jumping into when I wandered off on my own at Burning Man. Almost three years later and we’re still enjoying the ride and ready to start a new chapter in our lives here in Helsinki.

I’ve tried to prepare Audrey for the culture shock she’s going to experience here, well in advanced. After our first year together, I even got her the book 101 Very Finnish Problems which was written by a British expat. It’s actually a fairly accurate description of our culture, except that NO, you don’t have to go to a sauna naked with my family! If you’re interested in some witty insights from Finland you should give it a read.

Books, wine, and..

I thought I’d also share something personal about myself so you can get to know me too. I tend to start obsessing about things when I get into something. It was Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for a decade. For the past few years it has been books and wine. Oh and the latest thing is… chess. Yes chess. Nerd alert!

May 9, 2019 3 comments

Helsinki Los Angeles Travel

How to Bring Your Pet to Europe

by Audrey April 29, 2019

written by Audrey

So, when I first decided to move to Finland, the first thing that came to mind was, how am I going to bring my Rambo with me? Let me start with, this is no easy task! So I thought I’d share the process and some tips.

Steps to bring your pet to Europe

Get IATA approved container for travel – I bought this SportsPet crate from Amazon along with this crate pad. (Make sure you follow the IATA instructions for taking measurements, if in doubt, get the bigger size!)
ISO Compliant Microchip
Rabies Vaccination & 21 Day Waiting Period – Make sure to bring original copies of vaccination certificates
Get an EU Health Certificate up to 10 days prior to arriving in Europe by USDA accredited veterinarian. The vet can provide this for you but make sure they fill out the one for the correct country. Mine filled out one for Portugal instead of Finland, so when I went to get it endorsed by the USDA, they noticed it was for the wrong country so I had to go back to my vet and get the correct one filled out.
Get EU Health Certificate endorsed by local APHIS (USDA) – Because of the tight schedule, if there’s not one near you, you’ll most likely need to mail it overnight and provide an overnight return envelope to get it back
Tapeworm Treatment 1-5 Days Prior – This is only for Finland, Malta, Norway, and Ireland. Any vet (doesn’t have to be USDA accredited) can provide this treatment which can be added to the EU health certificate after it is endorsed by APHIS USDA.

More Information: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/eu/eu-echinococcus/pet-travel-echinococcus-treatments

Additional European Commission Requirements

Just when I thought I had all the requirements down, I found out that Finland’s Food Authority (their equivalent of our USDA) had a few additional steps. Below are the additional requirements for importing an animal (dog, cat, ferret) from USA to EU (Finland specifically) that I obtained from the Finnish Food Authority. Note that the requirements are different if you are shipping your pet on a separate flight outside of 5 days within your own flight. By the way, if you email them at lentoasema@ruokavirasto.fi, they’ll respond quickly and are super helpful! Funny story, gmail labels that email as “Ruoka Lentoasema”, so I started with “Hi Ruoka”. I had copied Kimmo on the email and found out that translates to “Food Airport”, so I basically said “Hi Food”. Kimmo got a kick out of that, and I’m sure the rep did too!

Owner’s declaration on the non-commercial nature of the movement – Here’s the form
Border inspection in the first EU-country the animal enters EU territory.
- Here are contact details for the traveller’s border crossings: https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/pet-movement/eu-legislation/non-commercial-non-eu/tpe_en
- In Finland the border inspection of pet animals is done by customs. Take the red line at customs and show your pet and the required documents to the customs officer
They also recommend that you repeat the Tapeworm medication within 28 days of your arrival in Finland.

More Information: https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/pet-movement/eu-legislation/non-commercial-non-eu_en

Flight

Normally it costs 300 euros to bring your pet on board Finnair. In order for your pet to ride in the cabin the total weight of the pet and container cannot exceed 17 lbs (8 kg). If your pet is over that weight, then they go into an air-conditioned area of the hold of the aircraft. The hold area is basically a separate part of the baggage cargo that is air-conditioned, with no light, and personnel. Finnair only takes 1 pet per flight for this and keep in mind if your animal is in distress, there is no way to know. This can be dangerous for short-nosed breeds as they often have trouble breathing. If your pup is over a certain weight, or you won’t be on the same flight, then you’ll need to ship the dog via Cargo service, rather than a standard flight.

Rambo is my ESA animal, and in this case he is treated as a service dog who can remain in the cabin with me, without a pet carrier. There is also no fee for service animals, so the €300 cost does not apply here. Finnair recently started doing direct flights from LAX to Helsinki, which helped tremendously because LAX has pet relief stations. My vet recommended I give Rambo a Benadryl before the flight, which helped him sleep through most of the 10 hour flight. Finnair also gave me a row to myself since it was not a full flight, which gave Rambo more room to lay across the floor. Although Helsinki airport does not have a pet relief station, it is a smaller airport, and the customs check for Rambo’s paperwork was quick and easy, so as soon as we got outside of the airport, he was able to go potty outside. All in all it was a very smooth process.

More Finnair Pet Policy Info: https://www.finnair.com/ru/gb/information-services/baggage/pets/flying-with-pet

Important links

April 29, 2019 2 comments

Helsinki Life Los Angeles

Woke Up In Helsinki

by Rambo April 21, 2019

written by Rambo

Introducing Rambo

Hey dudes and dudettes, my name is Rambo. For the last 10 years, I’ve been the main man in my Mom’s life, but a couple years ago, another dude finally swept her off her feet. And I really dig him but it bummed me out that he could never stay for very long. But that’s finally changing!

My first plane ride

Took my first plane ride ever. Not sure why we weren’t in first class, but I’ll let that one slide, Mom. Finnair was cool enough to give us our own row so I got to sprawl out on the floor and Mom gave me some sleeping pills (aka Benadryl) so I pretty much knocked out the entire time and when I woke up, we were in another continent! I’ve never even left the state of California. When we arrived, boy was I happy to see my dude, Kimmo, I think I even peed a little. He hasn’t been home in a couple months, but now we’ll never have to be apart again. Ok, that sounded sappy, but he gives me the best walks and doesn’t know how to say “NO”.

Expat needs homies and recommendations

So, I guess I live in Helsinki now. My paws really don’t dig snow, so I’m going to need to find some good snow boots, maybe even a dope puffer jacket. If any of you fellow dawgs got any recommendations, that would be totally sweet! I’m going to need the 411 on all the good dog parks and where to get my grub and wardrobe at. Are there any Facebook groups out there for expat dogs or dating apps? It might finally be time for me to settle down and stop sleeping in my Mom’s room (ok fine, I still sleep in her bed).

My LA life

Anyway, I’ll be scouring Helsinki for all the best dog spots so watch out for my reviews and takes on the city. For my homies back in LA, I miss you and I’ll keep you posted about the bitches here in case you want to come visit. You know I make the best wingman. For my new Finnish dawgs, I’ll give you a peek into my life in LA as well in case you’re curious. Later for now bros!

Me and Mom taking a stroll in our new neighborhood, Jätkäsaari. I was still a bit jetlagged.

April 21, 2019 2 comments