According to two tales from Iceland, the first men to discover America were Vikings. Around the year 1000 AD a Christian turned Greenlander named Eriksson had heard about the lands in the far West from a trader who saw the distant shores, but did not set foot on land. Eriksson hired a crew of 35 men, bought the trader's ship and set sails to retrace the route. They settled for a winter in Newfoundland, as archeologists discovered in 1960, elevating Eriksson to be the first foreign discoverer of America around 500 years before Columbus arrived at the shores of a Caribbean island.


One is reminded to Eriksson's Viking voyage, when around 1000 years later a young 16 year-old Nordic teenager set sails once again to conquer America. This time not to explore its natural richness, but in order to protect America's nature and climate, so the claim.

Greta Thunberg, Swedish born climate activist, had a not unsimilar story to tell like Eriksson did back then. She started to demonstrate for climate change awareness in 2017 and began skipping school every Friday. Why her social media messages became viral very quickly remains a mystery, considering that many who try similar actions need years to accomplish half of Greta's social media reach. Soon, she became famous in Sweden, other countries in Europe had an eye on her as well. Greta was invited to the Climate Conference in Poland in December of 2018. Here she met with a person named Marie-Louise Neubauer, a poster child for Germany's political Green Party. Strangely and soon after, Greta's popularity began to skyrocket in Marie's home country Germany as well. Not by Greta's Swedish social media messages, but by rewarding her three months after the initial Germanic get together in Poland with a 'Golden Camera', one of the most prestigious media awards Germany has to offer.

Roughly another three month after receiving the golden German camera, Greta lead a group of modern Vikings to present the newly acquired German media award along with her frightening Fridays-School-Skipping-Fahrt to America, and potentially to the entire globe. She set sails to cross the Atlantic ocean on a boat in August of 2019 to avoid the carbon dioxide emissions of a transatlantic flight to a United Nations Climate Summit in New York. The ship that carried her was the high-tech carbon race yacht 'Malizia II'. Unlike Eriksson 1000 years earlier, Greta did not need to purchase the boat herself, nor hire a crew: powerful friends from Germany carried her over the waters.



The 'Malizia II' yacht was built in 2015 in Vannes, France by none other than Benjamin Rothschild, a member of the tremendously wealthy and global power peddling Rothschild family. Initially baptised 'Gitana 16', the super-light carbon race horse for the seas also ran as 'Edmond de Rothschild' for promotional reasons during various sailing contests. In 2017, a German real estate millionaire named Gerhard Senft from Stuttgart bought the yacht, he remodelled the carbon beauty and named it 'Malizia II'.


The yacht's name is meaningful as well. The boat was originally deisgned and built in Monaco. The Principality of Monaco, located in Southern France, was a colony of Genoa in nearby Italy when Monaco was conquered by Francesco Grimaldi for the first time in 1297. He and his group captured the fortress dressed and disguised as Franciscan monks, establishing the Grimaldi monarchy in Monaco over time. Grimaldi's invading army of fake monks were nicknamed 'Il Malizia', which can be translated as 'The Malicious Ones'.

Greta Thunberg sailed the Atlantic ocean with Senft's 'Malizia II' under the German flag. Upon arrival in New York on September 13, 2019, the Malizia team decided to hiss even more meaningful flags next to the German banner: that of the Principality of Monaco, of Sweden and of the European Union. Eriksson surely had fewer flags some 1000 years earlier, and certainly also fewer people awaiting him at America's shores.

Interesting to observe were Greta's hands, face and hair when she arrived in New York to make her first public appearance in America. Anyone who had ever sailed the Atlantic ocean can confirm that the ocean surface works like a mirror for the sun's UV rays. The salty ocean water also leaves clearly visible marks during the two weeks sailing trip, the most exposed body parts are hands, face and hair. Greta Thunberg's remain suspiciously pale and rather unexposed to salt water and wind, so much that one is almost tempted to dig into conspiracy theories about her sailing durations on or under Malizia II's deck.



A German TV channel did not shy away from overcoming the technical difficulties to arrange for a live interview at sea on August 21, 2019. When asked where Greta would be, skipper Boris Herrmann disappointed the TV audience with the blatant statement that "Greta is sleeping." A similar disappointment was transmitted only two days later in a video-session with a Northern German High School and whose students had to submit their questions via email in advance. They were answered by skipper Boris Herrmann as well, he stated suspiciously coincidental again that "Greta is asleep". Undoubtedly, Eriksson would have never arrived in Newfoundland some 1000 years earlier if he would had allowed his crew to be as much asleep as Greta.


German born 'Malizia II' skipper Boris Herrmann is a truly helping hand for Greta, not only on deck. He is the originator of the so-called 'Malizia Ocean Challenge', a blend of sailing, research and education for climate activism. He is supported in his endeavors by none other than Prince Albert of Monaco. The small Principality of Monaco is also where the 'Malizia II' yacht is home-harboured, both boat and team are part of the prestigious Yacht Club of Monaco. Head of the 'Malizia II' sailing team is Pierre Casiraghi, son of Grace Kelly daughter Caroline of Monaco, currently the Princess of Hanover in Germany by marriage. Very noteworthy is also that many German organisations are listed as official 'Malizia II' team sponsors, among them Bavarian car giant BMW:



Greta's Germanic connections do not end in Monaco. When younger, Greta was diagnosed with a rare form of autism. Crown Princess Victoria of Greta's home country Sweden runs a fund for children with disabilities. Princess Victoria's mother is Heidelberg, Germany born and raised Queen of Sweden Sylvia Sommerlath. Princess Victoria's not so secret is that she had received Germany's highest decoration the country has to offer, the Bundesverdienstkreuz.

Greta's Thunberg's team was much more careful when choosing a boat for her trip back to Europe in November. This time it's a charter boat named 'La Vagabonde', rather few information about what happened during the trip were transmitted. Greta arrived in Lisbon, Portugal on December 3, 2019 and was immediately chartered to another climate summit in Madrid, the capital of Spain.

On her way back to Sweden, Greta tweeted out that she and her luggage would be stuck in a crowded high-speed train transporting her though Germany, a rather dubious message considering Greta's high profile connections to various Green donors from that country. Interestingly, the German train company had sent out a response via social media, asking her to at least confirm that she was treated politely during her expensive and spacious first class train ride from Frankfurt to Kassel.


Once Greta touched ground on Europe's mainland again, the past-time famous Time magazine rewarded the conquerous climate attempt with naming Greta the 'Person of the Year 2019'. Coincidentally only a few days later, the Forbes magazine rewarded German Chancellor Angela Merkel with being 2019's 'most influential woman' on Earth.

By the way, some 1000 years before, Eriksson was quickly celebrated as Greenland's new King as well when returning. He had stayed for only one short Winter in America. It is told that he never went back.

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