Day 96 & 97

Day 96 | Saturday June 18

So last night I arrived in the darkness and had no idea where I was. When I went outside this morning I was amazed by the beauty of this place. I stayed in a house right in the middle of a forrest with a view over valley with huge windmills on the other side.

Madde lived there with her husband Lennart, her parents stayed in a small house outside and Lennart’s parents stay here all summer in a caravan. Madde works as a paramedic and already has big plans when she will retire. She hopes to have the house completely renovated by then so they can enjoy it to the fullest.

Being in this place made me feel very relaxed, I went for a short walk in their garden/ forest and the family was very nice. One of the grandparents kept speaking Swedish to me which was very sweet and funny. In the garden we also found a snake, the most venomous of Sweden. It was about 30cm and a bite will sting you and could kill you when in bad health. 

After lunch I departed for the next destination. Now I could see the roads I’ve driven through last night and it was gorgeous. What I didn’t notice on my way there is that I drove very close to a cliff and could have just fallen into that.

My next stop was Guesthouse Eleven in Arvika. Again a guesthouse run by Dutchies, home sweet home. Brenda and Michel bought on old school 11 years ago and renovated it all by themselves, it took them 2 years. The heating is provided by the warmth from the mountains. There are 2 pipes going 180 meters deep into the ground which pump up the warmth.

Brenda is the niece of an former football mate from me in Holland so through him they heard about Plug Me In.

When I arrived there they had some Dutch friends over and we sat there for a while and had some house brewed beers. Strong ones though, they had me in a few minutes. 

Michel and Brenda are world explorers too, they have a Land Rover and drove it around Africa and Europe. They had some crazy stories about their adventures.

Day 97 | Sunday June 19

This morning I enjoyed an excellent breakfast. I’m a sucker for buffets and at Guesthouse Eleven they had the perfect one: croissants, Swedish bread, jams, yoghurt and pie to finish. Around 11 I said goodbye to Brenda & Michel and left to Oslo, a 160km drive. When I passed to Norwegian border I already saw 3 Tesla’s. I already knew that I would see a lot of electric cars in this country. Because of incentives and tax profits they are cheaper then normal cars. Not only did I see Tesla’s but also Leaf’s, I3’s, Soul’s and even I-Mievs, that was a surprise as it’s a really small car and with the cold weather in the winter you can drive far in this one.

When I stopped in Norway for a short brake I found out I’ve forgotten to give the key from my room at the guesthouse return. Bad luck, I’ve got to send it back now.

I arrived in Oslo around 2 and was supposed to be at my host around 5 so I worked in the car. My host name is Øyvind and he lives close to Oslo’s city center. He is an EV driver and converted an old Citroen 2CV into fully electric, he is going to show me that later. I just spoke to Øyvind shortly as he had to go to the school closing of his son, he has 2. Around 8 he would return with his 2 children and wife. He left a bake-off pizza for me.

When they returned they gave me a lot of sightseeing tips for the country and explained me how it is to drive electric here. It seems like a party.