Hello there! It’s me, Ikea!
like i said last week, the week before i went Sweden! it was gr8 fun. in fact, i travelled to check out this big ski marathon called Vasaloppet! Unfortunately, there were no tickets available (any more) for giraffes to take part. also, i did not have any skis with me, i’m afraid. so, instead i went to see it as a spectator. spectator, u know, is someone who goes to an event just to watch and not to take part – Leenu says. so, as a specator, i first read through the Vasaloppet paper of Vasaloppet news and other things, pa Svenska:
and then, we went (with other people who were actually going to ski) to check out the start area in Sälen. Here’s a fotograf of the sign with a track. more or less:
and then, here’s the starting line.
after this, u have to run 90km with skis attached. this is quite a bit, even for a giraffe, like me. my friends, Giraffes in Africa don’t ski, but they have running marathons there, as u may know. but none of them is exactly 90km, i’m afraid. maybe only over couple of days, i think..?
so here’s one of the gates to enter the race. in group 2, thats people (or giraffes, maybe) with numbers 1000-2000:
and here, as u can see, big red tractor doing some important work on the tracks, erasing them i think.
other things: flag of Estland, jei!
and the starting corridor, the inside look:
as u can see, nobody starting just yet. because it was Friday and the race only starts on Sunday. and, as u can see, the tractor has erased all the tracks. but guess what! there will be new ones, total of 54 side by side on Sunday morning!! that’s a lot of tracks!!
the reason we are there on Friday is simple, we had to go and get some starting numbers. here’s the starting number area, just about 2 minutes before they start giving out the numbers, just behind my back – check it out:
lycka till, hehe!
on Sunday, i did not go to the start, in fact. instead, i was watching the whole thing on TV! because there were very nice live pictures. here u see a fotograf of a drawing showing how it was all done.
and later, i went to the finish to check if they are a little bit tired of the race. most of them looked really fresh, i think. see for yourself:
later on i got even better position to watch the finish. (hint-hint. the big screen, hehe)
lots of people coming. also some people in fun costumes, like for example two bears, a knight. no giraffes. but i did not stay for the whole time, because it was getting a bit cold after 10 hours or so. so, instead i went to check out the sunset, which was also nice! i took actually many more fotografs, but they look pretty much the same, with lots and lots and lots of people skiing. so if u want, i can send u. just let me know!
but i could not find out this time, if there were any giraffes. perhaps u know? if u do, please let me know in comments! tack! also, it seems to me i’ve got to go now, so make sure u have some more fun and cu l8r!
