Gotland and Visby

The highlight of our Sweden trip was a trip out to the Island of Gotland. Situated out in the middle of the Baltic Sea, Gotland has been inhabited since the stone age. Geologically it is a large limestone block and the limestone is largely reponsible for the landscape. The island's capitol city is Visby, a small city whose old town is a world heritage site. The old town is encircled by a 1000 year old wall that still has its towers in tact. It is a marvelous and beautiful place.

To reach Gotland there is a 3 hour ferry ride, that arrives at midnight. we had fortunately booked a hotel in advance, so there was no mad search for one at so late a time. The next day we set out on foot to explore Visby. Aside from being a very important Hanseatic port, Visby has been an important port on the Island since the time of the vikings (middle ages). We followed two walking tours to see the sites, and ate well to have a very nice day.

visby

In the evening we ate at an "English" pub which was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It is run by an Englishman and an Australian, who are both married to Swedish women from Gotland. Additionally, all of the workers are ex-pat english speakers (another Aussie and an Irishman) who have Gottish girlfriends. Apparently the anglo-swedish connection is strong! But the place had good food, and also good beer, so there was much to enjoy.

The following day, we awoke to rain. Well, when your plan is to drive around the island of Gotland and do wlks through nature preserves and historic sites, rain is a downer. So we took a slow morning and then went to the Gotland museum. This is a remarkable museum detailing the many stages of human occupation of the island. It starts with stone age (and later) markers left across the island. Some of these are quite intricate and big (up to 2 m). It then shows some of the viking "loot' that has been found on the island. Coins from as far away as the eastern Caspian sea have been found in viking stashes. it is quite impressive.

Finally in the afternoon the weather cleared, and we headed north, so an island called Faro just off the tip of Gotland. What a beautiful, nowhere spot. We wandered on back roads until we came to an old fishing camp dating from the 17th century. Then we returned along the coast stopping to play around on sea stacks and also to look for fossils. It was an altogether different taste of Gotland from Visby, but no less interesting.

gotland

Our final day on Gotland was a slightly different repeat of the day before. We headed north, again found ourselves nowhere and near an old fishing camp. It was quite lovely, and remote. Later on we went to a small preserve north of Visby (only by a little) and walked down to the shore. This place had a little of everything, from oceanside fens to Limestone cliffs. There were also 4 old shorelines from the glacial period which included caves that were formed right at the shore. It was a great stop, and a great way to finish Gotland. We headed back to town to catch the ferry back to the mainland. A great time, Gotland, and a place I would recommend to anyone. There is one caveat though - go in the offseason. During the summer the place has got to be overun with tourist, and unless you like crowds, quite unpleasant.