Monday 27 April 2009

Travel by Numbers 11 - Berlin - Oslo

Yes! I'm on the road again.
Being in one place for over two weeks has made me a bit jittery, so on a sunny Sunday, I drove to Kiel to find my boat.


If you click on the following picture, it will open up a bigger version of it and you'll be able to see the tiny little boats watching the massive big boat.



Driving distance: six hundred and sixty four kilometres
Driving time: eight hours
Sailing time: fourteen hours
Idiot drivers: one

The guys at the ferry on both sides (Germany and Sweden) found it very confusing that I was Belgian driving a Norwegian van from Germany to Sweden. They urgently need to develop a more European or even cosmopolitan mentality.
I passed the breathaliser test without difficulty and drove off.

In Oslo I visited the new NIE office in the centre of the city. It's very nice. I wouldn't mind living there, apart from the fact that I wouldn't want to live in an office. But if all the offices would move out, it would make a perfect home for me...
(centre of the city, garden, fire place, high ceilings, lots of light,...)
I had coffee with Iva and waited for Honza to get back from playing the Song in a school in Mysen (they're on tour as well).

Once Honza arrived, we both drove to the storage space to change the contents of my car for most of the content of the storage space. It was a race against the clock, because his Caravelle was being checked out at the garage which was closing at 6pm, and the storage place was also closing at 6pm and we had our weird collection of set all over the place.
We just made it and drove into the garage at 5.58pm.

At the garage they told us his car had the wrong tyres.
But the garage was closing, so all we could do was drive back to base (Moberg house). Once there, after many phone calls back and forth with the Viking in Stuttgart, it was decided that Honza would get the tyres that were supposed to go on my Caravelle (everyone should have his own Caravelle), and I would get new tyres in Germany.
So Honza set about changing tyres.




And as old tyres came off one Caravelle, they were fitted into the other Caravelle in order to be driven to Germany where they will be turned into the right tyres. (I don't fancy going into details about right and wrong tyres now. If you're desperate to know, write me an email and I'll see if I'm willing to elaborate then).



Eventually, all was fixed. So now both Honza and I are completely equipped to deal with our respective next bit of touring.



This last image is one I found posted on a wall in one of the Berlin metro stations. The tragedy of it struck me so strongly I had to post it here.
It just might help.
(Again, you may have to click on it to be able to read it. You may also need to know German to be able to understand it.)

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