Four wheels to move your body, two wheels to move your soul...
Bilgrim... I used this term in a newsletter last year as well, but never was it as appropriate as now. "Bil" is the word for "car" in the whole of Scandinavia. Today is my last day in Norway and sat more hours in the car than I would like to admit. On a pilgrimage by car is already dubious to say the least. There are people who say that about pilgrimages by bicycle. The true pilgrim travels by foot! As if to say you don't suffer and endure enough when you don't travel by foot. In my presentation I always promise that they will get their share of suffering and enduring while pilgrimaging by bicycle. And by car? That too is suffering and enduring...
I'll come right out and admit that is a bit of en exaggeration. Walking or cycling the suffering is drugging through the mud, sweating, crying, get soaking wet by rain, stamping against a strong head wind. And then there is the merciless sun and the exhaustion. Drat, need to go up-hill again! But then, as you stand upon the top of that hill, you get wonderful views, and suddenly forget everything! A fox runs away suddenly or a deer. You're elated! And you all did it by yourself! And weeks after the journey, al those inconveniences become vague memories. The beautiful nature, the special encounters, the feeling of fulfilment. Those memories remain.
How different is is it in the car. The suffering and enduring consists of sighing, complaining, frustration, chagrin. Everything you see (through a glass window) shoots past you. You can't decide to stop on a whim. You don't feel the wind in your hair, no soft breeze that caresses your cheeks. No smell of the trees, flowers, heath, or the salty sea. You don't get to hear the buzz of a bumble bee, only the monotone sound of the engine. and behind the glass, it can get quite hot (I don't have air conditioning).
As you can hear, here is a grumbling bilgrim. But luckily I can look back on a couple of wonderful cycling trips en memorable encounters. And car driving in Norway, is very different from driving in the Netherlands. I stood in a traffic jam for the first time (in Norway)! This was around four o'clock as I wanted to drive out of Oslo. And driving a car in Norway is also this:
First of al, don't be in a hurry. And the travel time which is indicated by your navigation, add one-third extra. Highways are sometimes two lanes and suddenly go through a village. There the speed limit is 30 kph. B-roads are sometimes unpaved. Sometimes you get to share the road with sheep or even cows. This makes driving a lot more relaxing, despite I'm not fond of car driving, I like driving in Norway a hundred times more than in the Netherlands.
Today is the last day in Norway for me, but I'm not going home yet. There is a project waiting for me in Sweden. Ria Warmerdam and I are invited by the pilgrim centre Vadstena. Since medieval times the monastery of Vedstena is a place of pilgrimage for the 'S:t Birgitta Ways'. The S:t Birgitta Ways is the name for a collection of a number of pilgrim routes through Sweden that lead to Vadstena, where the relics of the Holy Birgitta are being kept. Saint Birgitta worked hard for peace and reconciliation in Europe and cared a lot for the poor.
And as true pilgrims, we'll be going to Vadstena by foot! My very first multi-day hiking experience...
Here are some photo's from the last couple of days.
After being waved goodbye by Joar and Magni, I drove to Hjerkinn. I slept one night and visited the Eysteinkirke. Here I am sitting in the doorway next to Halldis.
Trip by car through Rondane and Gudrandsdalen, and dropping by for a cup of coffee at Janke in Ringebu
An encounter on route with Glenn and Lisa, who are cycling through Europe (I stayed at their place earlier on this trip). And a night in Hamar at a pilgrim centre and going out for dinner with Tone, the manager of that pilgrim centre.
In Oslo I had a meeting with the writer of this book after which I had a lunch with Øyvind, visited the pilgrim centre in Olso and stayed the night at Louis and Pieter-Jan.
The day before yesterday, I drove from Oslo south and stayed with Trond-Otto and Torhild. Yesterday I arrived in Ørje, where I had my last appointment for Norway and tomorrow I leave Ørje.
In Ørje I was driven around the picturesque village in a small electric car by Grete of the tourist information there. An alternative route will pass though here, see Kristians route -> stage 6 Østfold
On the third photo: an Ørje boller from Bakergaarden Cafe, the most delicious ball-pastry I've ever had! The 'Zeeland Bolus' and the 'Bosch Bol' (both a Dutch pastry) doesn't even come close, so delicious! And the last two photos: a small hut was arranged for me on Camping Sukken.
