Days 47 & 48 from Nepal – Germany, Denmark and Deep into Sweden!
We woke up to the Dresden morning in mixed moods. Heikki and Misa had had a very warm night with plenty of sleep, while I had been cold in the early morning hours. My sleeping bag's zipper was bad, and my sleeping bag wasn't really meant for very cold conditions anyway. The morning temperature in Germany was probably about seven degrees.
Quickly, however, we perked up and after a shower went to the multinational gas station's café to enjoy breakfast. Two apple donuts for one and a half euros. It was time to press on again. Our turbo was working again, by the way, even though it had been acting up for a long stretch. In the end, it was probably just a loose electrical connection to the air mass meter.
Berlin
We slipped along the "Autobahn" to Berlin to explore the most significant German city in recent history. Heffalump zigzagged back and forth from East Germany to West Germany, just as if no wall had ever existed. At the Brandenburg Gate, Heffalump went to marvel at life. At the Jewish Memorial, we wandered around for a while. Many interesting sights were around us, but the city's atmosphere just didn't appeal.
Those city atmospheres are strange things. Even if we just briefly stop by somewhere, its architecture, people, and food quickly generate an opinion about the city. Berlin wasn't to my taste. The city was just too big a hodgepodge of styles.
Also, once again, we couldn't find any reasonably priced accommodation in Berlin. We started to consider whether we should be flexible with our budget or whether we'd find suitable options somewhere else. We set off to continue our journey towards Hamburg, where we found some nice-looking place with harbor views online.
A Place to Sleep
We drove along the dark Autobahn, occasionally switching drivers, until someone said - "By the way, we haven't seen Hamburg signs in a while!" And we hadn't, because we were almost in Rostock.
Before Rostock, however, we turned back towards Denmark and realized we were quite tired around Lübeck. We went looking for a similar excellent gas station, but of course there wasn't one in a city that isn't a stopover for truck drivers. However, we came up with a great solution when we parked the car in the parking lot of Lübeck's swimming hall. The swimming hall would open at eight in the morning, so we'd get to our morning wash conveniently.
To Denmark
The night in the car and morning washes went quite nicely, although this time Misa was cold during the night. In the morning, we went to explore Lübeck's old town and found a suburban bakery where we enjoyed a good breakfast.
Our journey through Denmark began with the same thought as it ended: It sure is flat and expensive here. Copenhagen was interesting with its thousands of bicycles and ridiculously wide streets. Similarly interesting were the two very long bridges we crossed (although the bridge tolls totaled 70 euros). In no time, however, we were on the Swedish side looking for accommodation, as Denmark didn't impress either. Or maybe it's just the proximity to home that takes away all the uniqueness of these cities for me. Everything feels a bit bland and secondary when you're so close to getting home.
We had to drive all the way to Jönköping before we found anything under sixty euros. It's strange how roadside motels with views only of the highway cost a hundred euros a night. In Jönköping, we enjoyed an overly warm cabin whose electric heater's thermostat was broken. Tomorrow we plan to explore Stockholm a bit and drive our car onto the ferry. So the next night will be on the familiar and safe Sweden ferry, and the one after that already at home!!!!!! You wouldn't believe how strange, odd, good, special, scary, strong, and concrete it feels to be this close to home.
What After the Trip!
The blog is worth following still, as videos from the trip will come throughout the winter. We also believe we have a lot of good news to share about Nepal before Christmas!
We will also publish the final party schedules on the blog and Facebook as soon as preparations are ready! There will be great additional material, good music, and all sorts of other nice things, so stay tuned!
It's worth becoming a fan of Store of Hope at https://www.facebook.com/StoreOfHope, just to get information about the newest jewelry from Nepal and also new products from other countries! Store of Hope is, after all, the part of the project that will continue to support Nepal in the long term in the coming years.
We will arrive on Wednesday, October 24th at 12:00 at Helsinki Cathedral. Although the moment is mainly intended for media and we will organize the aforementioned party at some point, you're welcome to come say hi! Also send messages to any journalist friends and newspaper tip columns so we can get as much media there as possible! Thank you for being with us on our journey so far!