Olivier på vei

So, Anita and everyone at North Pole,

First, please forgive my English, every time I’m writing , it's the evening time and I’m kind of tired. Plus, I’m not really good in English, learned mostly from the movies and the pop music…Anyway, the journey continues… And this time, only good news. So I left you at that youth hostel in Hamburg. After cleaning up and writing, I went out to see all that cool places. And there were. Hamburg seems to be a really cool city, the sun was shining, everybody was outside having beers and watch at the football games. I drank two more beers and my head started to turn. I thought after all, I haven’t slept and no hot meal in two days…So I Had my warm meal and another beer, but the things didn’t goes better. For a moment, I was afraid, I Thought: “Stupid ! You stayed too long under the sun ! “. So I sat in a bench, watch at the football for a time and decided to rest at the youth hostel. It was 20h30 and I fell asleep, all

dressed up. But the next morning, I woke up at 6 o’clock for day Three. I had a shower and left the youth hostel. Then I thought: “Hamburg seems to be really nice and I didn’t spend even an evening there. So I went back to that place with all the bars and restaurants and had a breakfast. I met a painter, he was French and boring. Ruined my breakfast. Hamburg may not be that cool after all. Just joking, you can meet this kind of guys everywhere, they are just lonely. In fact, it reminded me of Brussels.

So I Took the Cityrail to the place where the very-cool-and-good-looking-guy who drove me to Hamburg said it should be good for me to Hitchhike. I waited for an hour and a kind of businessman driving a Mercedes took me to the first Gas Station on the Highway. It was already Noon, but I felt good and took it really easy. Then the dream started. The dream looked like a White Volkswagen Van. That Van was carrying a family, a Deutsch Family, going on vacation in Danmark. The guy was approximately 45 years old and was wearing the kind of short jeans  I'll never wear, even if somebody pays me. But he was so nice and did a lot of hitchhiking when he was younger. So that couple, and their three kids dropped me in Denmark, just after crossing the first bridge, 50 kilometers from Odense. Can you figure it out?  Something like 300 kilometers. It was my biggest step. Then it was my first hitchhike in Denmark. In the middle of the country, a very green and quiet place. After 20 minuts, a very nice woman, speaking a real good French, took me to the last way out of the Highway before Odense. She gave me fruits before saying goodbye. So nice. The apple she gave me was the sweetest I had ever taste.

I waited another 20 minuts and met Soren (with a crossed “o” that I can’t do with my keyboard). Soren was my guide to Scandinavia. He had this cool name, he is really white skinned, really blonde hair, almost white. Soren likes skiing, I mean, he really likes skiing. He just bought a new car and I was his first passenger. He was so happy of his new car, his wife is pregnant and they already have two children so he really needed it. We were discussing, I laughed a lot (he was really happy of his new car), and then I was hit. We crossed that bridge. That awesome bridge joining Fyn Island and the other one, where Copenhagen is.

I thought it was the most impressive architectural piece of work I have ever seen in my life. I was really impressed. Everybody should take this bridge once in their lives. Then I really felt going to Scandinavia. It wasn’t the same part of Europe. That bridge, was for me, the real gate to your part of the world, dear readers. Soren left me in the suburbs of Copenhagen. I took a train and joined the central station. Then I found a youth hostel, get a bed and had a city walk.

Goddamn, I didn’t know there were an amusement park in downtown Copenhagen! I really liked this City. Again, it’s a different feeling from western Europe. The light is different. The noise of the city is different, it’s kind of quieter. I’ve been in Helsinki for five days in 2007, by plane I mean, and I was astonished by the “quietness” of the city. On my way to North, step by step, I’m recovering  the same thing.

There is another very nice thing when you’re travelling that way. You see people slowly changing. As I go North, people getting taller, eyes getting blue more often and blonde girls are more familiar. That’s a really cool thing to watch by travelling that way. So back to Copenhagen, I had a meal and spend time by the harbor, it’s a really beautiful city. I even thought about having a city trip there with a girlfriend and it might be a good place for asking her to marry. Well i felt romantic.

(Tip for guys: girls are prettier in Copenhagen than in Hamburg).

Then… What about today: Shame on me: I took a bus. Yep, sorry everybody but I Thought it would be smarter to get a bus between Copenhagen and Malmö, Sweden. I was right, it was cheap and fast. In Malmö I stopped in a square downtown. The sun was shining, I felt really good, the city is nice, all these amazing colors, a little like in Copenhagen. I bought some fruits at the market and found a good spot for hitchhiking and… The dream continues. I had the kind of ride that you expect when you’re an hitchhiker. Three young Swedish, a guy and two girls, with tattoos, piercings and a dog, stopped for me after 20 minuts waiting. And they were going to Göteborg, my destination for today.

They were incredibly nice and beautiful. Living in a community in Malmö, they were really curious. So I talked about Trena and they were really interested. You might be seeing them sometime… We really had a good time, another 300 kilometers ride, listening to good music and talking naturally. Great time. I even discovered a song and a really funny band (have you ever heard of the Moldy Peaches ?). I took phone numbers and if I pass though Malmö while my way back, I have a place to sleep ! They left me at the central station, show me how to reach a youth hostel and we hugged. Nice. Sweden I love you.

So that will be my last words for today, from a youth hostel in Göteborg. I have a hard day tomorrow, I want to reach Oslo. Brussels / Oslo in five days. That’s not bad. Then I’ll have four days for the most difficult part. Oslo to Bodo (remember my keyboard). No highways, few people living. But the destination really worth it. And after all, if I’m too late, I can catch a train.

I’ll try to write tomorrow from Oslo.

See you in 6 days.

Olivier.

Mot nye høyder sammen med Sparebank1 Nord Norge

- Trænafestivalen har etablert seg som en av Norges mest eksotiske og eksklusive musikkfestivaler både for tilreisende til regionen og de som bor i landsdelen. Festivalen er også et naturlig høydepunkt om sommeren for bankens kunder og medarbeidere, sier banksjef Ingrid Walnum ved SpareBank 1 Nord-Norges kontor på Nesna.

- Vi er svært glade for at vi skal samarbeide med SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge de neste fem årene. Banken har kunder og kontorer spredt over hele landsdelen, dette gir oss mange spennende muligheter i forhold til markedsføring av festivalen til nye målgrupper, sier Anita Overelv, festivalsjef i Trænafestivalen.

- Kulturnæringen vil spille en større rolle i nyskapende og bærekraftig samfunnsutvikling i årene fremover og festivalnæringen skaper store ringvirkninger for våre lokalsamfunn, sier Ingrid Walnum. Trænafestivalen er et godt eksempel på at det er mulig å skape et unikt kulturarrangement i et av landets minste kommuner, beliggende 30 nautiske mil ute i havgapet. Folket som bor på Træna og de frivillige på festivalen skal derfor ha all ære for at de gir oss fantastiske kulturopplevelser i majestetiske naturomgivelser, fortsetter Ingrid Walnum.

- Våre to organisasjoner har sammenfallende verdier ved at vi tilbakefører deler av vårt overskudd til samfunnsnyttige formål i våre lokalsamfunn, sier Anita Overelv. Vi merker oss også at SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge har et stort hjerte for kulturlivet på Helgeland, og det betyr mye for oss at de støtter vårt arbeid i å videreutvikle Trænafestivalen i tiden fremover, sier Anita Overelv.