Lieske goes North

April - May 2022
A little roadtrip through Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
  • 17footprints
  • 5countries
  • 16days
  • 282photos
  • 2videos
  • 4.1kkilometers
  • Day 1

    Leaving home. Part I

    April 29, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    In a few minutes I will pack the last things, and try to wake up Lieske, as it is time to go.
    A last coffee, check the route to my son in Bilthoven ...and off we go!!

  • Day 1

    Waiting for some strangers. (Part II)

    April 29, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    As we wait for the "ketelbrug" were some strangers want to sail from the ketelmeer to the ijselmeer, I do a quick post. Lieske did her best. Getting together again. She still is stubborn girl. It will take some time to get used to each other...again.
    I picked up my son in Bilthoven. Again a goodbye. ...
    And now on our way to Oldemarkt.
    Wait for the surprise!
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  • Day 1

    Fallen for Lieske's charm.. part III

    April 29, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    As a surprise I arranged a meeting with the owner of a private Ambulance collection in Oldemarkt. Its owned by the son of the Dutch coachbuilder Visser, Leeuwarden.
    In my past I drove a lot of Visser Ambulances.
    I hoped to spark a fire.. ;)
    Now we arrived at a farmer in Aduard, who had no place for travelers like us..
    But one glance at Lieske.... and all doors opend, and we were allowed to park in front of his shed and stay for the night.
    Groningen city is 7 km away, the ferry less than 60km.
    And maybe.. maybe we go and visit a "longtimenoseen" friend.
    But for now... mission completed.
    Good night!
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  • Day 2

    Thoughts and silence..

    April 30, 2022, North Sea ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Although it was not a real task for Lieske to bring us safely to Eemshaven. It was nonetheless not as easy as many of you might think. But we made it safely on board of the MS Romantika.
    Enjoying the view over the sea, the turning turbines and the clouds slowly colouring, as the sun sets.
    This might be the time to say a few words about our concerns for the almost escalating war in the Oekraïne. Hopefully the people in power will understand that the path of war is never the path humanity should walk.
    Fear, death and destruction is not on our wishlist.
    It's almost a bit strange to be on holiday in these times.
    In 16 hours we hope to arrive in Kristiansand.
    Hopefully nothing irreversible will happen to this world as we are "off grid" in a few moments.
    Love you all.
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  • Day 3

    Hahaha....

    May 1, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Today we arrived at Kristiansand. And we made it our mission to reach the Preikestole. Or at least the startpoint for our hike early tomorrow morning.
    The plan is to get there 04.00h. We will see.
    Anyway. It was a fantastic tour getting here.
    We wanted to be safe and take the E39 all the way to stavanger. But an accident on the route, forced us to take a detour.
    Met some bikers who convinced us to take a different route as Google advised.
    And yes. However difficult driving conditions, it was great!!
    Lieske did well, sometimes second gear and crawling uphill with 30km/h but what a views.
    First of May. Seems to be a festive day in Norway too. Many people are having fun and we hope they will be sleeping in tomorrow. So we will have the Preikestole for ourselves.
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  • Day 4

    Small steps!!

    May 2, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C

    04.00h. Its was still pitch black outside. So we decided that it might be too dangerous to climb a "mountain " during darkness.
    Around 05.00 we got in front of Lieske and started the engine.
    We arrived at the downhill parking of the Preikestole 15min later. Had a quick breakfast and started the 4km, 2hours hike to the famous rock.
    And to be honest. This was the right time to do it. Not only in hours but also in age.
    It was not, and I repeat, it was not a "walk in the park"..
    As we set of, the first climb already got me. And there were a lot more to come. Some nicely prepared with boulders which created a stairway, sometimes a steep path through snow and ice.
    And every time you managed to conquer a steep hill, I got "disappointed" as it was for sure not the last one. Luckily we could enjoy the fantastic views and landscape. And.. we were all by ourselves.
    And finally...we made it.
    Pulpit rock, or Preikestole. Here we are.
    Father and son. We made it!!
    As we both are afraid of heights, I, as a father had no fear that Oscar would go too close to the edge. (That would have been different with Nika.)
    Anyway. We enjoyed the view. However misty and it starts snowing, it was worthwhile.
    Now... two hours back. .. and the worst fear waiting. Getting Lieske out of the steep valley we drove into. As she is very weak in climbing when the engine is cold, we decided to heat her up first, than pay the parking and hit the mountain. And... all went well. Back to the camping, had a quick shower and of we went. Into the direction of the upper main road to Oslo.
    This meant back to Stavanger, Haugesund and back. Or... taking the alternative.
    Oh yes. We did the alternative. Very, very steep climbs, unpaved roads! and of course a surprise around every corner.
    (Proud on our Lieske that she, however we hurt her,.. first gear, hauling engine.. she did it!
    It's not easy, as driver, owner and lover of this precious car. Is this what you want? Sometimes in fear - are we going to make it?- sometimes in doubt - is this what I want?-
    But every time as we arrived on our destination, and hide in her warm belly to get to sleep.. this is our, old lady. )
    Anyway. We made it to Røldal, we camped for the night, minus 5 degrees, but our bed was warm and comfy. Had a Viking Honour 12 years whisky to celebrate the achievements of the day and went to bed.
    Now....
    It's the morning of the 3th of May, had breakfast and getting ready for the jump to Oslo.
    Wish us luck!!
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  • Day 5

    Leaving the snow behind.

    May 3, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    Yes. We left Røldal. And we discovered soon why this is a place of snowfun. We climbed up the mountains and it looked as if winter was still around us. Nice slopes and steep hills covered with a thick white blanket of snow.
    Slowly but surely we are leaving the mountains and fjords to enter the more "Limburg" like part of the country.
    We want to reach the suburbs of Oslo today, so we have tomorrow all day in the capital of Norway.
    Found some great treasures on our way, like the famous old church of Heddal in Dutch called "staafkerk".
    Naturally we arrived safely.
    Thanks to Lieske and her driver ... ofcourse.
    ;)
    We even had some time left to spent the early evening in the city center of Oslo!
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  • Day 6

    OsloCityQuicky

    May 4, 2022 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Traveling along Scandinavia in less than 14days, and your main goal is Gamla Uppsala in Sweden, and not Oslo in Norway, you might understand that everything we encounter so far, is all a bonus.
    So visiting Oslo is one of them.
    As my travel companion is a Viking fan, we can't miss on the historic museum.
    And as I am a selective artlover, I wanted to see the "scream" in all its versions by Munch.
    Naturally in its own museum. The Munch museum.
    What I did not known, was that the three versions were not displayed continuously, due to the fragility. Once an hour, they rotate.
    As you can expect. We have seen them all. ;)
    Had a stroll around, lit a candle for the ones we dearly miss and those in need.
    And took the bus back to the parking were we left our patient Lieske.
    ..
    This afternoon we leave the city, nice struggle through rush-hour and a campsite at a farmer in Bästad.
    As a surprise for us he got his old Hillman out of the stable and took us on a moose hunt.
    Pffff how could we leave Norway without seeing a moose!!
    Now we can sleep. And tomorrow, (yeah yeah.. today.. as I am late posting) we leave for -as far as we can get- to Glam Uppsala..

    ..
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  • Day 7

    Only pinetrees

    May 5, 2022 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    As I always predicted. Sweden is pinetrees and rocks. And ... yes. I think that's the way it is.
    Pinetree forests, hills and wooden houses.
    Good for hiking. Lieske likes the roads. Fine tarmac and good maintained.
    We crossed the border. Had a coffee at Karlstad, wanted a forest sleep, but the God's decided we should go to Örebro and go glamping.
    Good we did. We otherwise would have missed out this city. And it's worthwhile a visit.
    Now sleep. And tomorrow Gamla Uppsala!
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  • Day 8

    The graves of Viking kings

    May 6, 2022 in Sweden ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Today, I think, it's the most important day of our journey for my son. He always wanted to see the graves of the Viking Kings in Gamla Uppsala. And it turned out to be a fantastic day, also for me. The weather was great , it was a nice drive and the site was quite impressive! We enjoyed the museum, a walk along the burial hills, and the old church, were -oh surprise- mister C° had his last resting place.
    As we were at it, we took the long way home and drove to Uppsala, a city worthwhile visiting. Had a quick look around, a coffee and headed for Stockholm!
    As always, perfectly timed, so we took the metro into the city center and had a nice evening at Gamla Stan.
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