I took a FERRY from Estonia to Finland! (VERY Unexpected!)

Another fun fact. There were many countries in Europe that fought in WW2 but only 3 capitals were never occupied by foreign forces. LONDON and MOSCOW were two. HELSINKI was the other one.

The president's residence is actually few kilometers outside of the city center. The palace is only for official events etc

The Helsinki - Tallinn ferry route is one of the busiest ship routes in the world. Several different companies sail the route multiple times per day.

It's Eckerö with a hard K sound, like Ekkerö. Eckerö is a municipality on Åland which is where the company was founded and has its main base.

These Eckerö line express ferries aren't the most fun though, the overnight ferries between Helsinki&Tallinn or Helsinki&Stockholm are the party & tax free (alcohol) shopping ferries.

You got one of the oldest and smallest ferries, the Stocknolm route has the biggest ones :) The ferries to Estonia, Sweden, Germany are a big part of the infrastructure in Finland, carrying people and cargo, for some these are party boats. A lot of Estonians work/live in Finland, for them the ferries are vital.

"Scandinavian countries like Finland." Scandinavians: Oh, God, no! NOOOOO!!! Finland isn't Scandinavian! Finns: Damn right! And we don't want to be, either! Scandinavians: Yeah!!! (beat) What? Why not?

Never been on a cruise, I really need to get that arranged. Great vlog, really natural and enjoyable to watch! Look forward to seeing more! That Cathedral was lovely!

Back in the days Finns were very concerned what other people would think of us. Our culture, customs and the way live. Finland is similar but still very different from other nordic countries. Language is the biggest one. Other nordics can understand each others but they can’t understand us. So that has been kind of a point that has kept us apart from the other countries. Visitors are most welcomed but sometimes I wish visitors should go to north or eastern part of Finland. There are so many other things to see and explore, different customs and traditions outside Helsinki. That represents a small majority but not the whole of Finnish culture.

ive been on this particular route and ship so many times now that i know the layout of it by heart my uncle lives in Helsinki and i live in Tallinn so i tend to visit him atleast once every year

8:40 I think Canada has something like 2 million lakes. However, the percentage of area taken by lakes and rivers is higher in Finland.

Good morning, Ben ! That was the "mother of all ferries" !that can transport trucks ! You had s nice walk in what seemed to be a large garden !

I used to love the ferry to Stockholm from Turku or Helsinki, as a kid. Tax free candy, arcade games, and just the whole trip. Few decades later it's still something I like to do every now and then, but the tax free isn't that much cheaper anymore, novelty has sort of ran out. But with few friends, drinks dancing and good food at the buffet or a'la carte... it's pretty fun.

This particular type of ferry is called a cruiseferry. Since it bears similarities with both ferries and cruise ships.

Nice video! I once made this journey by ferry in the other direction 😂

Hi Ben, it is amazing in that in both Estonia and Finland how many brick streets and town squares they have. Must say that the architecture in the Scandinavia countries is very unique and beautiful. It was interesting hearing the facts you gave about boats from your Cruise Ship employment days. The engineering used to build and design large ferries or Cruise Ships is really remarkable. You mentioned that you teach English. Since you are traveling do you teach the English classes remotely online?

8:00 It's insane that one round in skywheel costs basically the same as ferry from Estonia to Finland!

I love all your educational tidbits!

Our president does not live in this presidents palace. But there we have Independence celebrations when president shakes hands with more than 2000 special guests every year. Also when foreign presidents/ministers etc. visit Finland then that's the place :) btw. Last year brand new TallinkMyStar-ferry began to operate between Helsinki and Tallinn :) I highly recommend that. EckeröLine or VikingLine is ok but they are for us just normal ferry's. MyStar has fancy design around the ship, garden bar etc :)

Fun fact about Finland it isn't in Scandinavia.