Visby, Sweden. Visby
is the largest city on the west coast of Gotland. Gotland is situated in the
middle of the Baltic Sea about 50 miles from mainland Sweden. Visby is
considered the best preserved medieval town in Scandinavia with a population of
58,000 residents. You must also have a job in order to live here. If you go off
to University on the mainland, you are not allowed to come back unless you have
employment. Our tour guide graduated with 22 in his class in the 60's and he is
the only one who currently lives in Gotland because the others could not find
work.
Like all of the countries we've visited thus far, American music is played everywhere you go. Mostly Bee gees, Queen, really a 50's, 60's, 70's variety - interesting to hear these familiar songs wherever we go.
Our first stop was at Almedalen which is a park where the actual medieval sea port was once located in Visby. When Visby was a trading partner with the Hanseatic League, the harbor was the trading center of the Baltic. Today, Almedelan is a peaceful park where a little child was trying valiantly to catch herself a duck.
We drove through the beautiful countryside and made a stop at a very old church. There are many old churches in Gotland, most with a very similar history and almost all of them were Lutheran. The alter was built in 722 and the cross was created in 1200. Most churches have the original building in the center with additions in the front and back. The church cemetery had water spigots and watering cans and gardening tools scattered around so people could maintain the graves. The graves were only 50 year leases then someone else was buried in that plot. The old headstones were placed against the wall.
Next we climbed a ladder over a fence (these ladders appear everywhere) to view a boat shaped grave. Graves of the Late Bronze Age were arranged in the shape of large ships, outlined by rocks. Bodies were cremated then the bones were crushed and cleaned and place in an earthenware urn and buried either in the boat or just outside. There have been 350 graves identified in Gotland.
We ventured down to a fishing station where bygone days Gotlanders gathered during a few intense weeks in spring and autumn to catch fish. There are many poles for drying nets and the village currently is used as summer houses near the sea. There were tiny huts where the fisherman stored their tackle and equipment and sometime slept. I found the wooden roofs very interesting, they are said to last for 50 years and are a common roofing material on the island.
Hogklint nature preserve was our next stop, this is basically a beautiful cliff side location with stunning views of Visby and the shore lines. We named the one rock formation bear head because, we'll, it’s a very obvious reason.
No beers here, the locals make their own beer for their own consumption. We didn't see any pubs, but maybe we didn't walk around the port city enough, ended up with homemade ice cream instead and it was wonderful!
Like all of the countries we've visited thus far, American music is played everywhere you go. Mostly Bee gees, Queen, really a 50's, 60's, 70's variety - interesting to hear these familiar songs wherever we go.
Our first stop was at Almedalen which is a park where the actual medieval sea port was once located in Visby. When Visby was a trading partner with the Hanseatic League, the harbor was the trading center of the Baltic. Today, Almedelan is a peaceful park where a little child was trying valiantly to catch herself a duck.
We drove through the beautiful countryside and made a stop at a very old church. There are many old churches in Gotland, most with a very similar history and almost all of them were Lutheran. The alter was built in 722 and the cross was created in 1200. Most churches have the original building in the center with additions in the front and back. The church cemetery had water spigots and watering cans and gardening tools scattered around so people could maintain the graves. The graves were only 50 year leases then someone else was buried in that plot. The old headstones were placed against the wall.
Next we climbed a ladder over a fence (these ladders appear everywhere) to view a boat shaped grave. Graves of the Late Bronze Age were arranged in the shape of large ships, outlined by rocks. Bodies were cremated then the bones were crushed and cleaned and place in an earthenware urn and buried either in the boat or just outside. There have been 350 graves identified in Gotland.
We ventured down to a fishing station where bygone days Gotlanders gathered during a few intense weeks in spring and autumn to catch fish. There are many poles for drying nets and the village currently is used as summer houses near the sea. There were tiny huts where the fisherman stored their tackle and equipment and sometime slept. I found the wooden roofs very interesting, they are said to last for 50 years and are a common roofing material on the island.
Hogklint nature preserve was our next stop, this is basically a beautiful cliff side location with stunning views of Visby and the shore lines. We named the one rock formation bear head because, we'll, it’s a very obvious reason.
No beers here, the locals make their own beer for their own consumption. We didn't see any pubs, but maybe we didn't walk around the port city enough, ended up with homemade ice cream instead and it was wonderful!
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