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Thank you very much!

Sound like it would be a really authentic experience. I'd certainly like to see it!

Yes it is. I did look at it whilst planning but just couldn't fit it into my schedule.

@@MattWhitingsEurope Are you still up north? You could make it on your way back south. Meripäivät / Seadays are soon, the second biggest event in finland every year.

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😃

Thanks 👍

Always good to be back in Finland! Thanks for watching. 👍

Don't worry, I was aware of the rules and checked for flight restrictions before taking off. It may appear like I flew it in the border zone but I didn't. I really didn't want to be responsible for starting World War III 😬

@@MattWhitingsEurope Well we trade run away dogs, or hunting dogs that don't have read what the blue rope means, and lost people, over the border occasionally, so it might just been a international diplomatic indident.. :/

Best I keep that drone grounded hehe

@@MattWhitingsEurope Well as long as nothing bad happened to you, that is most important. :)

Thank you, glad you're enjoying the videos! I was super lucky to be invited inside the church and even luckier to hear that voice - wonderful experience. Very true about the memorials and historical places - I was pleased to be able to document it all so that others can learn from my experiences. Thanks for watching!

Interesting take...

Sounds like you had your own adventure all that time ago. Cool that not much has changed, was all the military equipment there?

Thanks so much!

You're welcome! Great experience driving all the way over to the border zone and looking out at Russia across the water. Great to get Finland in NATO!

@@MattWhitingsEurope ✅💯👍

😃

Thank you very much! I was surprised to find that little area with the military equipment and signs, and yes the view across the forest was wonderful.

Thank you, glad you're enjoying the videos! A couple of minutes earlier or later I probably wouldn't have bumped into them so luck was on my side that day. Great to see inside and the singing was beautiful.

Would love to read about the rules if you get a moment to post them. I haven't heard of taking your cap off before entering a graveyard before, however I have always removed it before entering a religious building or visiting a specific grave to pay my respects.

@@MattWhitingsEurope ill write them down for you tomorrow as i have an early morning work and should really be sleeping already 👍

Thank you, I look forward to seeing them. Sleep well.

Haha how comes I didn't see that when I was there! Perhaps I was still suffering from the knock to the head, that's my excuse anyway! 😊

It was amazing to hear her voice in the church, so glad I was invited inside. Most people don;t like appearing on the video so it was great that she embraced it! I wonder if she'll ever see the video!?

@@MattWhitingsEurope i am so glad that you got the experience.

Absolutely right. I had seen the flight restrictions over the border zone so was careful to only fly in an authorised area. I always try to follow local laws.

Yes it really was. So lucky that I bumped into them, a few minutes earlier or later and we'd have never met and that part of the video wouldn't exist. Most people I meet don't like being on camera so it was great that she embraced it. She was super friendly and her voice was incredible!

🇫🇮 🇺🇦 🇬🇧

Thank you! Much appreciated. It was a long but fascinating day with so much to see along the way. Sorry to hear that your parents lost their homes, what a terrifying time for all involved. Sadly not much has changed in regards to Russia invading countries around them.

@@MattWhitingsEurope as you know, about 10% of the population had to evacuate and later settle down elsewhere in the country, I guess majority of Finns today have family background that some of their relatives were affected. And yes, in the past 1000 years we have learned what kind of a neighbor we have. I am not sure if I mentioned in my previous comments on your videos that my mother lives in Imatra. Also my dad's ashes are buried there and many other relatives eg. my maternal grandparents. You have seen that town already :)

@@oh2mp Yes I stopped by Imatra on my way to finding the starting point for Route 62. This is the video --> ruclips.net/video/_SdOueZCWv4/видео.html - thanks for sharing that information & interesting to hear about your mother and father.

@@MattWhitingsEurope yeah I of course have seen that video. You may want to know that my parents' families settled down to Imatra after the war and they met there when they were teenagers. Later they studied to be teachers and got jobs from a small village school in Kitee, North Karelia, where I spent my childhood. In 2011 they moved back to Imatra after living "temporarily" 57 years in Kitee as my dad joked. Later my dad has passed away, but mom is still alive and she will be 92 years old in August!

@@oh2mp Very interesting to hear about your roots. So they moved away to pursue their careers in teaching? 57 years sounds like lifetime - it's nice that they moved back to Imatra, must have always been in their hearts. Sorry to hear about your Father but it sounds like both had rich and happy lives.

Very interesting. I've got to say I was really impressed by the road network throughout my road trip in Finnish Lakeland. I did come across a few gravel roads but if they're rarely used I can understand why the local government or council doesn't want to spend the money. For the most part though the roads were tarmacked and in great shape.

@@MattWhitingsEurope Pleased to hear that!

Thanks for the comment. I found the map on the first sign really interesting regarding former and current border zones, really made me think.

@@MattWhitingsEurope Russia always did this, btw. Already in the 1721 peace treaty after the Great Northern War the new border cut right through parishes and villages and even private farms.

Thanks so much, always good to read comments like this one - makes my day!

Enjoyed seeing it!

Hello Zoltán , glad to hear you've got the air conditioning putting in a shift - I take it the weather's still pretty hot over in your parts? The church visit was incredible, really got lucky to bump into them both and even luckier to hear her voice - what a star she is! The cemetery was unlike anything I've seen before, so wild and mysterious - there was a bench overlooking the lake and it all seemed so peaceful and calm. Great memories. I certainly have used Google Translate before, great app, I think I was just being lazy. Also, I didn't want to hand about too long as I knew I had a long day ahead of me. I will definitely be casting my vote on Thursday, I've always considered myself lucky to live in a country where I can vote so certainly don't want to waste it. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks as always for watching!

I haven't been to the easternmost point of Finland either, if I'm honest, and I'm Finnish

Haha you must go! It's a wonderful adventure and there's so much to see along the way. Looking at my analytics the majority of viewers are Finnish (about 75%) but the longer the video stays up the more viewers from other countries it gets.

Glad you like them!

My pleasure! Thanks for tuning in!

What? You can have whatever you want on your head in Finnish cemeteries 🙂

​@@wrzzz2132 You CAN, sure. But this is an old custom of ours. Just like you should remove your hat when dining; to show respect.

@@wrzzz2132 You probably wear a hat while the the Finnish flag passes by. Ignorance is nothing to brag about.

You can wear a hat anywhere outside. When you go inside, you remove your hat.

@@Mojova1 Surely you aren't that simple?

Did you ever hear the rumor, or "conspiracy theory", that Gorbatchov offered Karelia to Koivisto, and the Finnish president refused? I'm not saying it's true, but Gorbie was kind of cool though, and I think it's mildly credible.

​@@vandalfinnicus1507he himself has said that nothing like that happened. And I struggle to see how it could be credible, why would they return something they had to steal with such a cost

@@gyderian9435 Gorbatchov was different. He instigated the dissolution of the empire, and supposedly it was at that point the offer was made. I didn't say it's true. If I believed every theory or rumor, I'd have twenty different views about every stage of history I've ever read about.

​@@nami-3🤦

Fair point!

Kiitos kun katsoit! 🙂

You're welcome, it was nice to take a walk around and see the sights. That festival sounds like a great event, I will keep it in mind for the future. Thanks for watching!

Totally agree. I was very happy to pay my 40 Euros to get the help I needed - you can't put a price on health.

There's some crazy weather across Europe at the moment! Thanks for watching 😀

I'm sad to say that I didn't. I had planned to and researched some of the places you mentioned but unfortunately I ran short of time and something had to give. I was disappointed not to be able to squeeze it in - maybe next time?!

@@MattWhitingsEurope Hopefully next time! Beautiful summer city! Did you make it to Koli to see "The National View"?

I will leave it a surprise but make sure you tune in next week 😉

Lidl is not lower quality... the other stores are notoriously overpriced and are known for price fixing, especially before Lidl.

@@td6460 I personally disagree. The offbrand copies are worse in taste and nutritional values. Some things like vegetables are worth buying from LIDL though! 😊😊

@@TommiSRP That's called your own subjective opinion. Lidl products are not of lower quality. They win or rank highly in various tests all the time.

Thanks for the information. Very interesting! The shopping did cost a bit more than I thought so was surprised.

It shouldn't be allowed! 😂

Great day, I really enjoyed the experience! I just can't believe how quiet it was.

Glad you like them! Really enjoying my trip to Finland and am still amazed by how quiet the lake district is.

Don't mention of 'O' word 😟

You don't like it? I thought it was quite the landmark - intriguing outside & spectacular within.

I see, thanks for clearing that up. Always good to get a bit of local knowledge on the matter.

Not without a crash helmet on! Never argue with a wall, they're tougher than they look. I visited Pori on my last trip to Finland and enjoyed my day there, video is here if you're interested --> ruclips.net/video/tDGXZPkcbvI/видео.html

@@MattWhitingsEurope great thank you! Btw all Finns pay for healthcare, no freebies here!

Glad to hear it.

That church was humongous, it made me feel so small standing next to it. Fair point about Lapland, I think I always associate it with Father Christmas and sledging through the snow - sounds like there's a lot more to Lapland than that. Perhaps I should consider it for another road trip sometime, anywhere in particular you would recommend - maybe some interesting places off the beaten track?

The thing about Lapland is also that it has the only "mountains" of Finland. Tunturi/ tundra up to 550m ish vertical relief. Compared to max 250m of south, that have forests on their tops. They are not much compared to anywhere else around the world, but they hold unique spot for us. They aren't jagged like mountains usually are, but gentle and with spacious views, often some 200kms in a direction. Yeah I'm from Lapland, but I think s-finland has its own fine things as well.

@@i7Qp4rQ Thanks for the info, what's the weather like up there in Lapland during the summer? Do you have snow on those mountains and hills during July/August? It does sound like a cool area and worthy of a road trip some day.

@@i7Qp4rQ Thx. Koli is my favorite in the south.

@MattWhitingsEurope Lapland is the largest area in Finland, so it depends quite a bit. Kilpisjärvi region is special bco. it is the highest village, nearly half km from sea level. Also we have a saying: "years aren't brothers", one year its cold, the next rains, then is windy, then it's lots of mosquitoes, and then finally it's a sunny one, 2018 was very warm. 2020 march was one of the snowiest. Snows usually melt everywhere, but there are spots were they stay sometimes over the summer, specially at the highest region near Halti 1324m (1365). Southernmost spots of summersnows may be around east Lapland's polarcircle on highest tunturis. Sometimes it even snows a bit during summer months. For a tourist from abroad it probably is other things they may enjoy here more, like the midnightsun or reindeers. Personally I like hiking in national parks or other untouched forests, usually they are around those tunturis /tundra.