The Next Time I’m In Town
In the end of January, I made a little one-week trip towards Aarhus in the north of Denmark. On Sunday 27th, the first step von Hörstel towards Hannover took me only 2,5 hours. Most time I needed was at the ramp Osnabrück-Nahne, because there I first decided to stand next to the car saler, but somehow it wasn’t such a good spot. Some meters down on the ramp I got a direct ramp to the central station in Hannover.
One day later I did the route Hannover towards Aarhus in 10 hours. Quite a long time, but with the stories inbetween amazing. First I easily got a ride from Hannover to Hamburg. There the service station was totally empty, with all people only going towards Hamburg City. After some time I decided to take a ride behind the Elbe river to a ramp of Hamburg, better than standing before the tunnel. There traffic was high, but no way to catch a ride without a sign. I decided to walk to the next ramp, which seemed to be more than just some kilometers, so I took the metro and a bus towards there. Till I was standing there, nearly 3 hours passed by, so I lost quite a lot of time. At the ramp I got a ride quite fast to a service station before Neumünster. This service station also was empty, and outside it began to become more and more dark. Happy birthday!
I already planned to maybe hitch towards Kiel instead of Aarhus that day and continue the other day, when a Danish driver stopped at the service station. I first don’t wanted to ask him because his passenger seat was full with stuff, but well I did and somehow he managed that I can sit between all the stuff. This guy just came from Strasbourg and was on his way to… Aarhus !!! Amazing 
In Flensburg he had to buy beer and wine for more than 350 Euro for his family, and this took him nearly more than 1 hour because he had to manage with his wife which beer to buy. Difficult decisions….! After crossing the border his mood got much better, and while driving through lonely Denmark we drank beer and laughed about slowly drivers on the road. Nice dude, we obviously need more people like him on our planet Finally he left me at the central station in Aarhus, driving more than 20 km more to let me out there.Aarhus was amazing, nice city, expensive beers, good friends, good times!
The way back home on Friday went much better. The weather forecast announced a big storm this day (and the day before it was already!), which much floodings in the west of Denmark. Nevertheless, I tried hitching. In the morning there was no rain, so lucky me.At 9 a.m. I started at the one and only Aarhus hitchhiking spot with getting 2 ride offers within 5 minutes. The 2nd I took towards the next service station, 20 km or something. There the first car (!) stopped. I opened the door, a friendly “Where do you want to go?” and the sound of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire came up to me. I felt like in hitchhiker’s heaven, and got my ride. This Danish guy thought that I might be crazy hitching during the storm, and while so it was raining heavily.Nevertheless, like it seemed I only had luck this week, the rain stopped when he got me out at the next service station. I walked to the end of the station, tried to open my umbrella on the way there, but somehow it was broken. No problem at all, because before I got to the end a German truck driver stopped and offered me a ride towards Neumünster. Wohuuu! FAN-TAS-TISCH !
Two hours with listening to his more or less boring stories about holidays in hotels and clubs in Turkey, but happy to sit in a warm cabin instead of standing in the storm outside. At 11.30 a.m. we already entered Germany, and some time later we said good-bye. At the next service station again as fast as I could image a car stopped by, a German living in Denmark, giving me a ride to the next gas station. Wouh. While driving the door to my right was going to open itself all the time, a little “oups” on the way, but well. I didn’t fell out of the car…The rest of the way passed along me like a dream. Next gas station, next car within 5 minutes. 2 soldiers going to their base. Then already a service station just before Hamburg. A German truck driver living in the Netherlands going to……. to….to…. Enschede !!! Wouh, but today my way was going towards Hörstel, so I went with him till Cloppenburg, he decided to go the land route through the Emsland, me the fast way along the A1 -> A30. Funny thing then, he stopped with his truck at the end of the service station, blocked the whole road, let me out, behind him a Mercedes 300D with a Dutch number plate had to wait and then decided to pick me up immediately.
He drove me till Dammer Berge, just before Osnabrück, because his destination was Maastricht. He was driving for more than 24 hours, from a snow storm 600 km north of Oslo till Maastricht, but had to take the land route via Sweden because the ferry was not going over because of the storm in the Northern Sea. Uhh.In Dammer Berge I waited the longest time this day, nearly 15 minutes(!). In this time a British car going to Cologne stopped, but well not my way. After 15 min a Danish car stopped which was going to Amsterdam. Great, that’s my way. The driver couldn’t speak that much English, but I guess he recognized my happyness to hear that he can left me out at the ramp of my village.What a great trip! Only 7 hours for nearly 600 km during a storm.
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