If you have read my last post, you probably wondered about the true reason for traveling alongside the Ligurian coast. Well, now is the time to find out 🙂
It all began few years back when I found out that I would be spending (living) some time in Oslo, Norway. When that decision became final, I started to explore a bit more about the city and the country I would be living in. I was reading about culture, history, interesting facts and men that influenced Norwegian heritage.

One of those men was Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer, most notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8 000 km across the Pacific Ocean in a man-built balsa raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia.

One of the purposes of the expedition was to demonstrate that the ancient people could have made long sea voyages, creating contacts between societies. The other was to prove Heyerdahls theory that the islands in French Polynesia were settled from the East (South America) and not the West (Oceania) as previously believed.

I kind of fell in love with this story and the rest of the Heyerdahl’s expeditions, so I watched Kon Tiki movie numerous times and I did a lot of digging to find and buy the Croatian translation of the written adventure. I also bought and read a couple of more of books dedicated to his life and exploration, visited the Kon Tiki museum several times, planed a trip to Easter islands, his birth place and his final resting place. I like planning, that’s all 🙂

Thor was born in Larvik some 135 km from Oslo on 6th of October in 1914 and died on 18th of April in 2002 on a family estate in Colla Micheri where his urn is placed as well. Oh yes, Colla Micheri is a half an hour walk up the hill from Laigueglia. So, you see that’s the link 🙂
Colla Micheri is a small village with few dozen houses, a restaurant and mainly summer inhabitants, so it was almost abandoned when we finally arrived up there.
It was kind of romantic and weird at the same time as we wandered through the empty village, but on the other hand we didn’t know where the grave was. Therefore, we ended up walking the small, narrow streets hoping to spot the place that I have only seen in photos until a local couple came from their morning shopping and pointed us to the grave site.


A 10 minute walk through the forest took us to the grave site and the nearby Torre Saracena, the 15th century tower used as a windmill from where we could enjoy the most beautiful view ever.
No wonder Thor decided to be buried here in the area. Who wouldn’t? 🙂



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COLLA MICHERI
Ako ste pročitali zadnji tekst, vjerojatno ste se u nekom trenutku zapitali koji je zapravo bio pravi razlog putovanja duž ligurske obale.

Sve je počelo prije nekoliko godina kad sam otkrila da ćemo živjeti u Oslu u Norveškoj. Kad je ta odluka konačno finalizirana i nešto malo prije nego sam se doista preselila ovdje, počela sam istraživati povijest i kulturu grada i sve zanimljive činjenice i bitne ljude norveškog nasljeđa.

Jedan od tih ljudi bio je Thor Heyerdahl, norveški avanturist i etnograf, najpoznatiji po kon Tiki ekspediciji iz 1947, kada je na ručno napravljenom splavi od balza dretva preplovio 8000 km od Južne Amerike do Francuske Polinezije.

Svrha putovanja bila je pokazati da su ljudi u drevna vremena mogli izvesti dulja morska putovanja stvarajući kontakte između društava. U isto vrijeme Thor je nastojao potvrditi svoju teoriju da su otoci Francuske Polinezije naseljeni s Istoka (Južna Amerika), a ne Zapada (Oceanija) kao što se to prije vjerovalo.

Ja sam se, zapravo, zaljubila u Kon Tiki avanturu baš kao i u ostale Thorove pothvate, tako da sam istoimeni film pogledala nekoliko puta, a da ne pričam o češljanju interneta da pronađem hrvatsko izdanje memoara s putovanja. Da bih ga konačno našla na štandu Autobusnog kolodvora u Zagrebu. Uz sve kupila sam i pročitala još par Thorovih knjiga s putovanja na Uskršnje otoke, isplanirala put do tamo, baš kao i put do Thorovog rodnog mjesta i posljednjeg počivališta.
Thor je rođen u Larviku, koji se nalazi nekih 130ak km od Osla, 6. listopada 1914., a umro je 18. travnja 2002. na obiteljskom imanju u Koli Mikeri (Colli Micheri). Kola je pola sata pješice uzbrdo od Lagvelje. I u tom grmu leži zeko peko 🙂
Kola Mikeri je seoce s nekih par desetaka kuća, restoranom i uglavnom ljetnim pučanstvom, tako da je bilo skroz napušteno kad smo ga mi posjetili u siječnju.
U isto vrijeme, bilo je jezovito i romantično lunjati malim, uskim uličicama praznog sela, no s druge strane nije bilo nikog za pitati gdje se nalazi Thorov grob. Sve dok nije, srećom jer smo skoro odustali, naišao par koji se taman vraćao iz jutarnje kupnje, pa smo ih upitali za smjer.

‘‘Skrenete lijevo na ulazu u selo, deset minuta kroz šumu i tamo ste” 🙂
Kratka šetnja kozjim putem odvela nas je tako do groba i obližnjeg Saracenskog tornja iz 15. stoljeća koji se originalno koristio kao mlin na vjetar gdje smo uživali u najljepšem pogledu ikad. Nije ni čudo što je Thor odlučio umrijeti i biti pokopan ovdje. Tko ne bi? 🙂

