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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

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

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.

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 15 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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