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So this is our first official little video here in Helsinki and we're just about to have
a simple picnic lunch. We got some smoked salmon. Oooh la lah! That looks tasty. We
go ourselves a nice baguette sandwich to enjoy in the park. A lovely pasta salad with feta
cheese and some fizzy drinks to go along. So we're just going to enjoy the view and
savor our dinner. Mmmmmm! The smoked salmon is easily my favorite
part of this little picnic. It's a wonderful cheap meal. We were able to get all of this
food for just roughly 10 Euro. So instead of going out for dining tonight we just decided
to hit up a local grocery store, pick out some things that look good and it's turned
into a fantastic little feast here on the park bench.
Hello bird! Music playing
More music playing Our first impression of Finland. One of the
things we've noticed the most is just how cool the temperature is. I'm loving it. I
can walk outside and I'm not sweating profusely. This city is definitely a lot quieter than
where we come from. We've been living in Thailand for a few months and we're used to tuk-tuk's,
motorbikes, honking, swirving and everything just.....yeah and meanwhile you can hear sirens
and motorbikes in the background. This totally disproves my point...hahaha
Music playing We've also noticed there is a
really big biking and fitness culture here. Everyone seems to be riding around on their
bikes, in-line skating and in this kind of weather who can blame them.
Music playing So this is a bit of a cool supermarket we
found right here. If you are too busy to go get your groceries all you need is your little
smart phone. You can the bar codes for milk, for meatballs, ravioli, whatever, and they
just deliver it to your place just like that. Wow!
Music playing So we just across a bridge with love locks
and that kind of reminded me of our love lock video that we made back in Korea. So it is
eight forty five PM right now but as you can see it is still daylight out and that's because
we are in the land of the midnight sun. So that's just a quick little intro into Helsinki
we're both really tired so we're going to go get caught up some sleep and we'll make
some more videos this week.
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Okay, we are with Raakel my Finnish Canadian friend who is showing us around and we're
going to an Island called Suomenlinna. Does that mean anything? It's like Finland. It's
kind of like a castle.
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So we've arrived here finally and we honestly have no idea what we're going to be doing.
There is no tourist information. We're just going to wander around. Looks like a village.
A cute village.
I think this looks like Anne of Green Gable in Finland. The cute little wooden houses,
right?
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We've just witnessed a lovely Finnish wedding on an island.
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And what are we doing? Enjoying some ice cream. Perfect way to cool down after a little walk
around the island. What flavors do you have? Pistachio. And I have raspberry sherbet. And
what is that in Finnish? Finnish answer.
And I'm having the one unique to Finland. Black licorice ice cream and it is delicious.
What is this called in Finnish? Speaking bad Finnish. Lemon and black licorice. Wow, this
is really really good. I don't believe it.
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Alright, tonight we've got a special Finnish treat to share you. This here is called Salmiakki
and it is black extremely salty licorice. So my sister Ashley has a been to Finland
before and she specifically told me to stay away from this nasty candy. She says it is
the worst tasting thing ever out there and that I will spit it out within seconds. So
I'm not really looking forward to eating a piece of it but Sam here is quite adamant
about it.
So this Salmiakki here, this black licorice has sometimes been referred to foreigners
as a kind of fear factor food that. The television show the Fear Factor where people are dared
to eat something that seems disgusting and really strange. What gives this the salty
taste is ammonia chloride and this is very popular in Nordic countries - especially in
Finland.
That doesn't sound edible. Alright, so here is a piece of the Salmiakki.
The black licorice. And I have to say that I've grown up eating licorice in Canada and
it is probably quite a bit sweeter than this one and I'm a big licorice fan, so I'm hopeful
that I am going to like this even thought it apparently exceptionally salty. So here
we go.
Eating noises and chewing Woah! Yeah! There is an explosion of flavors
going on and that is just...WoW! That is very salty but I like it. Here's another piece.
MMMMM!
I have a bar of milk chocolate handy over here because I know I'm probably going to
need to wash away the flavor of this nasty looking thing. I'm just taking a small bite
okay.
Eating noises
Yummy? Arrrrggggggh!!! Spitting noise!
Hahahahaha
Did you just spit it out?
I don't like licorice. I've never liked licorice and that's just foul.
Okay, where is your chocolate piece now?
Better? Good, because that means I get more (of the Salmiakki).
MMMMMMM
Two more pieces in my mouth here.
Eating noises...MMMM
I'm glad you don't like it because that means I get to eat the whole bag.
Okay, so today we're going to go Sea Kayaking and we're visiting some of the islands around
the Archipelago here in Kimito Island and I'm all suited up to go out in the water.
Hahaha! You sure are. Hello, I'm Benjamin. I work as a Sea Kayak
guide in the Archipelago sea. It's a natural park. We have a lot of people from abroad
who are coming here knowing about the Archipelago sea and want to see what it is like here.
And Sea kayaking is really a good way to experience the wilderness.
Background music playing. Meh! haha!
Bababha! Background music playing.
So how is the kayaking going so far? It's going great. We're just taking a short little
break and came across some sheep who are just grazing by the sea. I guess by the sea. And
my legs fell asleep so I had to get out for a while. But other than that it is going awesome.
No capsizing so far. No. Background music playing.
Very graceful. Hahaha! I got the video. You're still alive? Hello, I arrived. Still
dry. Background music playing.
Soaked little puppy. I am. I managed to make it the entire sea kayaking journey without
capsizing. At the very end I flipped the boat over when I was getting out.
So this was an awesome experience. We went sea kayaking and we were just paddling through
wilderness and these small little islands where we saw different kinds of wildlife.
All kinds of different birds. It was just awesome and it was a real workout too. We
did this for a few hours. I'm exhausted now but Ioved every minute of it.
Okay, so I was told that usually one in ten people capsize the kayak. I survived the whole
four hour journey. I am still dry so I think I did pretty good.
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Today we're in the little town of Kasnas and we are waiting to catch a ferry that is going
to take us to a very remote island, which apparently is home to one of the largest lighthouses
in the area.
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We are now visiting Rosala which is an island which is home to a Viking Center. So we enjoyed
a really hearty Viking feast that was a thick soup with potatoes and white fish and we also
had some black rye bread with butter and after that meal we've just been enjoying the island.
There is lots of games and activities for kids. You can try archery. You can try walking
on stilts. They have a maze. Rabbits that you can feed. So it's a nice place to spend
a sunny day.
Laughing.
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We've arrived at the lighthouse and it's just on a big rock out in the sea.
So to get here we had to take a boat. We've been traveling for about forty five minutes
and as we were approaching the island it started to get really choppy. The waves are pretty
high. So yeah, we're out here in the middle of the ocean. There is no land. It is just
a pile of rocks.
I don't know what is worse. Air turbulence or choppy waters.
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So right now we're making our way up the two hundred and fifty two steps that we have to
climb all the way up to get to the top of the lighthouse. And apparently there is a
couple of ladders too.
And here in the lighthouse they also have a very small chapel where people can get married.
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Live rock music.
So we are trying three different Finnish beers. We have lager, red ale and I have forgotten
the name of this one.
Verdict? That's nice. A nice light beer. Okay, next red ale. I like the flavor of this one
a little more. What does it taste like? It's just got more of a bite to it. This is a lighter
beer for sure. And the last one? My favorite. Really? It's all about the flavor.
Alright, your turn. I'm going to start off with the light one. Lager. It tastes like
a light beer. I don't know much about beer. Red ale. It has a nice aroma to it and it
is a bit stronger than the other one. I agree. This I'm not so sure I will like it just based
on the color. It looks really strong. Okay, what is your favorite of the three? I'm going
to go with the light girly beer. Surprise, surprise.
Rock music playing live.
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We're going to be eating Rudolph the Reindeer today! I'm a little sad about it but I'm in
Finland so I have to try reindeer.
Reindeer? Is it tasty or what? It really is. It has a very rich taste. It's must different
from the meatballs we had before the other day. This definitely has a real much stronger
taste to it. Wow.
if I had to compare it to something that tastes like a really strong seasoned roast beef.
I'm going to think of it as salami. Okay, it tastes like salami. There we go. I'm eating
Reindeer. It's a little sour. Right? Yeah. It's a little sour and salty. Okay. Do you
like it? Yeah. It's growing on you? Well, not growing on me but it's okay.
Live rock music playing.
So Sam has been talking about the reindeer ever since we landed in Finland, so I'm glad
he finally got to try it. It was a bit of a pricey appetizer I have to admit. It was
sixteen Euro. A bit steep but it was a good experience. I'd say it was worth it.
The reindeer cold cuts definitely had a distinct taste. Quite sour and it was certainly a lot
better than meatballs we had tried the other day.
So this is day two in Helsinki. It is chilly as ever and we are going to do some sightseeing
maybe visit a few churches and markets.
And if we can we want to have reindeer meat at some point in the day. Oh, you are eating
Santa's Helper! I'm going to be taking a bite out of Rudolph.
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We found a little dog park. Let's see how friendly these pups are.
Ruff. Bark. Bark. Let's go.
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And here we are introducing Uspenski Cathedral. This is one of the best known churches in
Helsinki and it is an Eastern Orthodox church.
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This particular vantage point on the walk is one of the most popular areas in the city
for people to have picnics. While we were walking here yesterday we saw about four or
five different groups over here just having their own little picnic and just watching
the city as things go by.
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Hello. What am I? I didn't see her body.
Music playing by street musicians.
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We are here in Harbor Market. It seems to be one of the bigger markets in Helsinki and
what we've found to eat. We've found reindeer meatballs. So we're going to go try those
right now.
Reindeer meatballs here we go. Hi, could we please try the reindeer meatballs? Yes, sure.
Those are big meatballs. I think those are potatoes.
Would you like some vegetables as well? Oh, sure, yeah. How about garlic sauce? Um, sure,
yeah, please.
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Oh no, I'm not ready but geez I don't have much of a choice. I'm filming. That seems
like a big enough chunk, right? It is! And what are you having? Reindeer meatballs. First
bite. Is it good? It tastes like a regular meatball. Okay. Yeah, it doesn't have a very
strong reindeer flavor. It's more garlic-y from all of the sauce we put over top.
And these have to be the biggest meatballs I have ever seen in my whole life.
Okay. Let's see what you think of it. Yeah, they don't have as distinct of a flavor as
I thought they may. But what I really like here is this garlic sauce that has been put
over top.
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We're back here at the market. This time we've got a salmon dish. Same price. About 10 Euros.
This is smothered in garlic sauce. I already know I'm going to like it. Oh, wow. that just
melts in your mouth.
While we've been exploring the archipelago region for the past week we've actually been
staying in this town. It has two names - the Swedish name is Dalsbruk and then the Finnish
name is Taalintehdas.
Most of the residents in this small community are Swedish native speakers and they also
speak Finnish fluently.
Some of the oldest ruins in town and they were used during the coal industry.
That is our abbreviated tour of Dalsbruk - a place many come to vacation in nice cottages
to go fishing, to go sailing - it is a very scenic place. We're going to miss it.
We're going to give you a little tour of a Finnish supermarket and we'll see what strange
food items we can find. So smoked salmon is very popular food over
here. You eat it with Rye bread. That's something we had almost everyday.
Background music playing. We're
also buying some Salmiakki, which is black salty licorice. I detested the taste of it
but Sam really like it and apparently so does his Dad, so this is for him. This is a present
for my Dad. For George. Background music playing.
So in Finland there are many different kinds of alcoholic beers and beverages to choose
from that you even have licorice flavored Salmiakki beer.
So chocolate is extremely popular in Finland and there is no brand more famous than Karl
Fazer. Background music playing.
Black rye bread is always a really popular. We've been eating this daily with butter and
cheese and smoked salmon on top. Canada represent. We've got some Maple Syrup.
And of course the lumberjack.