Road to Norway

Motorbike travel in Norway and the Lofoten Islands

Explorer

It all began with a promise made to a friend, Davide, on the eve of his delicate heart transplant, which took place in November 2016.
We wanted to keep that promise at all costs and we were successful. We wanted to celebrate his new life but we also wanted to honour his Guardian Angel who allowed him to continue living, the family of this angel, all the doctors and nurses who work hard every single day to save lives with passion and dedication at the Policlinico S. Orsola of Bologna and at the Heart Transplant Association ATCOM, who followed and still follows our friend, Davide. (https://atcomonline.it).

It is an association that founded and created the TETTO AMICO (A FRIENDLY ROOF), the only facility in Italy that hosts patients and their families within the hospital free of charge, before, during and after surgery and they provide immense support.

Road to Norway taught us a great deal, it united us even more, thrilled us to experience the journey first hand, but even now it is emotional to see each other in this short film and know that we are conveying all our emotions to others, conveying from the very beginning, the positive message: “We all have the right and duty to live our life 100%, even after a delicate operation, honouring those who gave us this new opportunity, becoming messengers of the beauty of LIFE”. Giving is fundamental, giving is life.

7469 Km in 14 days, across 6 countries (AUSTRIA – GERMANY – DENMARK – NORWAY – SWEDEN – CZECH REPUBLIC), 4 capitals (VIENNA – OSLO – COPENAGHEN – PRAGUE), microclimates and different temperatures, forged us in spirit, strengthening us mentally. Davide has proved that nothing can stop us if mental strength and determination are completely synchronized with each other.

ROAD TO NORWAY: “HE WHO GIVES FROM THE HEART WILL NEVER LACK”.

The Journey

Norway has always graced us with breath-taking views; the roads that bypass the various fjords are beautiful. Road-users in the north are very well behaved; they helped us to overtake by moving aside or turning on their indicators to warn us that we could pass. The service stations were always very varied and we could find everything we needed; it really left me positively amazed. Norway is a very clean country, with people readily available to provide help, but the only “flaw” for us Italians is that it is a very expensive country with an American coffee costing about 4 euro.

I expected the petrol prices in Norway to be very high, but the price was less than here in Italy (from 1.5 euro/ltr up to 1.7 euro/ltr).Our arrival at the Lofoten Islands was a magical moment; we knew we had reached our destination within the scheduled timeframe (7 days). We were aware that we had kept our promise and that it was time to treat our friend, Davide, to a magical moment by giving him an engraved plaque inscribed with the words: “HE WHO GIVES FROM THE HEART WILL NEVER LACK”.

I was touched when Davide placed it in the ground, facing the most famous beach in Lofoten.

It was incredible to see the weather change so fast. We arrived with beautiful sunshine but after an hour the clouds were almost at street level.
I had heard of Lofoten as an earthly paradise, but I did not think the islands would be so beautiful. The mountains covered with greenery overlooking lagoons and gulfs of crystalline blue water were truly spectacular.

As far as I am concerned, another exciting moment was in Sweden; as soon as we crossed the border, we saw our first reindeer cross the road and I immediately got excited. Only 5 Km after our first sighting, we were lucky enough to travel 3/4 km with a reindeer that ran along with us, but in the middle of the road. The whole thing was recorded with a GoPro of course.

You can fully experience nature in these places, especially when riding a motorcycle. This means that you can live unique experiences that cannot be adequately conveyed or explained.

On the other hand, Sweden disappointed us. Throughout the journey, from the first kilometer to the last, the landscape is all the same, with the same vegetation. People are much less willing to lend a hand; buildings and cars are undoubtedly still under the influence of the former Cold War Soviet Union era. There is a noticeable difference between Norway and Sweden.

Along the way, we met many people who were on motorcycle trips, some were Italian and some were foreigners to us. We always exchanged a few words with anyone we encountered, because it is always pleasant to find out and learn something new, especially during a trip.

We conveyed our message around Europe.