We have received a report from our three delegates – Fredrik, Mattias and Ulrika – going to the CleanEquity conference in Monaco. This is their story of the 3700+ kilometers on the way down.
A: Luleå, B: Umeå, C: Sundsvall, D: Gävle, E: Sala, F: Alingsås, G: Trelleborg
Friday 26th of February
The journey south began after lunch when Baldos Ii was thoroughly lashed inside the minibus. The destination of the day was sort of a warm-up for distances to come – a relatively modest trip to Mattias’ parents south of Umeå. Once there, dinner was served with blueberry pie for dessert. The rest of the night was devoted to Death Metal as we were invited to the rehearsal hall of the band Daemonicus, to enjoy riffs of the heavier kind.
Saturday 27th of February
We had an early breakfast before takeoff towards our next destination; Sala. Sundsvall became the location of a smaller miracle as Ulrika finally found the button to turn off the front seat heating system. After a short coffee break in Gävle, Mattias made another fantastic discovery – the button to turn off the warm air flow on the driver’s feet – and the car was now optimized for a trip further south. As we arrived in Sala there was a delicate pie waiting for us in the refrigerator, and the rest of the night was spent on the thirty-year anniversary of one of Fredrik’s acquaintances.
Sunday 28th of February
Last day in Sweden started off with snowfall, and travelling further south it transformer into rain and tough winds. The appetizing lunch of the day was served by Ulrika’s parents in Alingsås. We also took the time to switch tires – studded tires, although essential in northern Sweden, are prohibited in Germany. Around 9 pm we arrived in Trelleborg harbor in the very south of Sweden, unfortunately appearing at its worst. The rain was pouring down and on the radio they were issuing warnings against a storm coming in. Well on board we were cradled to sleep by waves rapidly increasing in size. We weren’t awoken until sometime around 5 am, when a woman screamed something in an unidentifiable language on the ship speaker system – we were arriving in Rostock, Germany.
A lighthouse in Lindau
Monday 1st of March
Our hopes for a somewhat more pleasant weather was diminished when we struck a North German snowstorm of severe magnitude. Fortunately, the rest of the day was spent with high speeds on the Autobahn, and already early evening we arrived in Lindau – a beautiful town on the side of Lake Constance close to the Austrian border. After a stride in the old town we enjoyed a dinner in one of the many fine restaurants.
Tuesday 2nd of March
After a substantial Bavarian breakfast we crossed the border to Austria. Twenty minutes afterwards we arrived at the Swiss border, where the minibus immediately caught the attention of the custom officials. In a combination of German and somewhat defective English one of the officials managed to explain he wanted to see the papers of the bus and our passports. He disappeared with us patiently waiting in the bus, but reappeared after a while asking us to open the luggage compartment. His face looked quite surprised as he found a little red car inside. We were then ordered to move the minibus towards another building, with more guards, and show them all kinds of registrations of the Baldos II, before we were finally allowed to cross the Swiss border.
Baldos II in the alps
We were now travelling in the magnificent Alps. As we moved further into the mountainous regions the weather got better and we could even switch to T-shirt – something unthinkable in Luleå at this time of the year. We found a beautiful mountain village where we rolled out the Baldos II and took some photographs with some snow-cowered mountains in the background. We also tried out its roadholding ability in the steep descents (all documented on video) before heading towards the Italian border. This time the crossing went a lot smoother since one of the border guards recognized Baldos II (by name!) and waved us through.
On our way south through Italy, Mattias by coincidence noticed that we were close to the Monza motorsport race track northeast of Milan. After a short discussion we decided to go there, and luckily we pretty soon ended up on the right spot. We witnessed some kind of event going on with Ferraris, Porsches, Lamborghinis racing forth, and we just couldn’t resist rolling out Baldos II in the depot to take some photos together with the horse powered cousins of hers.
Baldos II at the Monza motorsport race track
After four hours of searching, and a few examples of substandard language from Ulrika’s side, we finally made our way out of Milan and could speed up on the Autostrada. After a few kilometers on the beautiful highway along Côte d’Azur we reached Nice. Mattias made a remarkable job zigzagging on the winding streets while following mine and Ulrika’s directions. After a few doubtful turns and crossings Hotel Boreal appeared before our eyes. Minutes later the three of us were checked in and lying in our beds, sleeping like babies.
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