Help me find Olaf the Giraffe!!!

Hello there! It’s me, Ikea!

first of all, i have to tell u a big secret – i am not the only giraffe! well, of course there are lots of giraffes, like in africa or in zoos, but that’s not what i mean. there are, in fact many giraffes, like me – exactly. apparently the don’t exactly travel or blog or take fotografs, but what i mean is that they look like me. more or less. u could say we look alike. a little smaller than regular giraffes too, i’m afraid. we have, in fact the same name too, “the Giraffe”. i guess you could say it is a surname perhaps.

so, now that you know that, let me tell you another thing. the Giraffes (the one’s like me) family is originally from Netherlands. they lived in fact with an artist called Leendert Jan Vis. he is pretty good at drawing, so many cute animals hang around in his place. for example the Bono bears and sheep Jaap. so naturally, there were some giraffes too.

however, here’s another mystery – not all Giraffes have the same name everywhere they go.  for example only few of them are called Ikea. i’d have to say, only the Giraffes in Scandinavia are called Ikea in fact. in most other European countries, they are called – guess what? – Olaf! especially in Netherlands, Germany and UK. so, when i go to Germany, i can check into a hotel and say my name is Olaf the Giraffe and everything works out just fine.

hooh, this is probably the longest introduction i have written so far? well, i guess i have to write more this time because i only have one picture for u, hehe..

so, here’s the thing. me and my friend Sipsik (who is a great big fan of giraffes and Giraffes) have been thinking that we could in fact house more giraffes in Kadriorg. although we already have many friends living with me, there is always room for more giraffes, don’t you think? but here’s a little problem – i have no contacts to other Giraffes, like me, the Olafs. but also, when i have been travelling, i have not met the Olafs recently at all! so i tried searching on the Internet and found a few places they have been on sale, but not recently. so, a big problem, really.

that said, with all of you reading this blog, i hope we can find some Olafs, or maybe even Ikeas? so, let me post a little poster that i have made here:

and then, the last place that i know Olaf has been spotted was on CuddlyKingdom. if you see Olaf – please contact me immediately. or even better, get hold of them right away. i’m sure my friend Sipsik will compensate for you (i think) if it takes some money to bail ’em out. i think we can easily fit 3, maybe even 5-6 Olaf the Giraffe’s here.

what else could i say. hmm.. Olaf is not from plastic, u know. he is soft and cute, like me. he can be smaller than me, but he has big eyes and orange spots. he has been seen in bookstores and gift shops in many countries like Sweden or Germany to France and UK. he has been featuring on a bunch of really nice postcards, so he should be fairly well-known. so, if u read this PLEASE share and HELP us to FIND OLAF the Giraffe! please leave a comment or u can also write me directly – ikea[at]ikeathegiraffe.com if u find him or have any clues.

other than that, have fun and cu l8r!

.. where Ikea goes to Tartu Snow Town

Hello there! It’s me, Ikea! Couple of weeks ago I was visiting my friends Muzzy and Aura again in Tartu. I have been to Tartu before but this time i had to go and check the snow town they had built there. and here comes some fotografs:

i have to tell you, it was quite chilly, something like -24*C. so as you can see, not too many kids or even giraffes playing there that morning. you probably wonder why didn’t Muzzy or Aura come along with me. it’s because i was in snow town before my visit to them, which was actually a secret. i love secrets a lot, as u know.

apparently, this snow town had quite a few tubes and sliding slopes for a lot of fun for giraffes and the like. it was not so easy to understand the actual figures, because when i got there this snow town looked like ancient snow town for some reason. but there was a frog, which is this one on this fotograf and then i think there was aslo one huge dragon – for all my dragon-loving friends to know. no moose’ however.

many tubes and slides, jei! this one was probably the most fun for me. exactly the right size too! great fun. probably everyone should have a little snow town in their back yard, i think? so, if you are in the area, you can check it out! i have also heard there is this new snow town in Tallinn as well, maybe i will go check it out some day, before it melts, hehe.. anyways, please write a comment if you have some great experience or fotografs of you in snow towns!

next time, i plan to post some pics from my trip to Tartu Maraton ski tracks. how did they know i was going to go there and posted this Tartu Maraton sign also on the snow town? how very mysterious…