Categories: Updates

Wiebe Wakker

June 8, 2016

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Before I departed to Sweden I had one last meeting in Copenhagen, this time at the United Nations. They have their national headquarters in CPH and the building was finished just three years ago. It grabbed my attention because it won many awards and last week in Vejle I was introduced to the company who made the solar panels for this building.

The UN City building is located right next to a river which provides a natural divider, the building’s protection is high. There is a separate entrance for staff and visitors and all your belongings go through a x-ray scanner, just like a airport.

https://www.facebook.com/UNCityCPH/photos/a.382131165263366.1073741830.376734075803075/789187671224378/?type=3&theater

I was welcomed by Flemming Johanessen. He gave me a tour through the building. The building is based on the UN’s global goals for sustainable development. It’s 50% more sustainable then an average office and 30% of it’s electricity comes from the 1.400 solar panels on the roof which produces 297.000KWh annually. A more in-depth recap will follow later on this page.

After the meeting it was time to head to country number nine: Sweden. To get there you need to take a ferry or pass a bridge. Both cost around 50 Euro so the last days I was looking for a solution to get to the other side. Luckily Mads (where I was staying Saturday) had a great idea. He had the BroBizz pass, it’s a small scanner which you place on your window and when you near the tollbooth it scans it and lets you pass. Mads told me that the last time he wanted to cross the bridge it didn’t work, a woman had to come and would scan the pass manually and let him continue. Mads had the idea to give me the pass, when I would be on the other side he would call the operator and tell them he needs a new one. If they would send him a new pass I could keep the pass, if not I would have to send it back.

I crossed the bridge without any problems and arrived in Sweden, literally the first thing I saw when I passed the border was an IKEA, very typical. As they always have free charging spots and WiFi I decided to work there for a bit. Later I would go into Malmö.

Malmö is famous (at least to my knowledge) for only one thing: the birth- and living place of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. At the IKEA I googled his living address and it was very easy to find so I decided to have a look. It was a huge pink mansion right at the beach. According to his biography Zlatan and his wife liked this house so much that they needed to have it. He left a note for the owners “We want your house, you might think this is a joke but I am serious, we will make sure that you are happy”. They offered the 30 million Kronen, which was four times more then it originally cost and they agreed to that.
Unfortunately Zlatan was not at home, they told me he had to play some tournament in France? Haven’t heard about that.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGW-4S3Eiwj

My sleeping place for tonight was still unsure, I had the other days until Friday fixed but there was not really an offer in the area around Malmö. I posted a message on Facebook to get some help and was waiting for replies. I had one girl who offered me food in Helsingborg so I decided to go to her and make my plan from there.

Maria found me because of a friend in Holland, Annemieke shared a post about plug me in. Maria and Annemieke knew each other from Australia, where they travelled in 2010. Maria is an artist and author. Her paintings are actually really good. She hopes to make a living of this later but also plans to study for more certainty. Maria made chicken for me, chicken is always a good idea.

On the call on Facebook I received many reactions but all of them could either host me later this week or in a place which was not nearby. I had to look for a place where I could charge the car and sleep too. The IKEA seemed like a good option. It was quite and dark there but at 4am they turned on the lights which woke me up, which wasn’t bad as I had the interview with Radio 1 at 4.15am. I found out that I didn’t had service on my phone so I couldn’t receive the call, bad luck, I hope they found a replacement.