My Year 4 (4th grade) teacher started drawing some rings on the chalkboard and then asked us to guess what she was referring to. When she got to the second ring, I raised my hand and said "the Olympics." The 1994 Winter Olympics are the first Olympics of my memory, and when my teacher said they were going to be in Norway I assumed they were being held in Oslo. She replied and said "no, they're in a little place called Lillehammer." The other day, whilst still in Sweden, I sent requests to CouchSurfing hosts in Lillehammer, Bergen, and Alesund, and I decided wherever they accept me first is where I'm gonna go. A local named Hans in Lillehammer replied, saying I could stay with him so I put my internal compass on course for Lillehammer.
I didn't realise I'd be making it this far north as I originally planned to go back to Germany and then to Poland after getting back from the Faroes. Norway is regarded as one of the world's most expensive countries but I picked up another of the world's great travel bargains. At Circle K in Norway you can buy a mug for about 450 kr (about US$45) and you get unlimited coffee at Circle K for an entire year! If you're spending a lot of time camping, cycling, or hitchhiking, it will pay off very quickly. That, along with the Deutschland Ticket, is one of the best bargains I've ever encountered, and I'll be drinking heaps of coffee. It pays off after only about nine cups of coffee and in less than two days I've already had about five cups.
This morning Hans would wake me and give me all sorts of ideas. Gorgeous and sunny, it was a great day for a long walk. Lillehammer is like a northern hemisphere version of Queenstown with the setting to match.
Sadly, no Winter Olympics have ever been held in the southern hemisphere but I've always been an advocate for Queenstown and Wanaka to host the Games. Cross-country skiing is very popular in Norway but it's not possibe to ski all year long, so for the summer there is roller skiing.
Very fascinating, as this lovely lady and I would chat about it. Skiing, however, was invented in Norway and the local word for "ski" is exactly that: ski. Along with cross-country and alpine skiing and figure skating, other events that took place during the Olympics included speed skating, ice hockey, and ski jumping. My favourite Olympic event was figure skating, and my favourite skaters were Michelle Kwan and Kristi Yamaguchi. The Olympic logo in '94 was designed to look like the aurora borealis.
Whilst the Olympics placed Lillehammer on the map, the Games are not all there is to Lillehammer. Homes and buildings are painted in an array of colours.
Lillehammer is a fairly old town as it was founded in 1827. I just had to get into the spirit of this amazing country as I love the flag of Norway.
A summer visit to Norway was always a goal of mine. Norway is perhaps the only country where I've accepted that I would either have to spend several months or do two trips. My main purpose for coming to Norway in '18 was to photograph the aurora but with constant darkness there isn't much else to do if you don't ski. With some Olympic history and heritage under my belt, this was yet another unplanned detour as I'll be hitchhiking to Alesund tomorrow. My internal compass has its needle pointing north, and as far north as possible is where I'm planning to go!
