Monthly Archives: August 2019

Notes On Gotland

Windmills: We saw many picturesque old windmills while driving around Gotland, and some newer ones too.  One day we drove out to an area where we saw many large new windmills. Sweden aims to be carbon neutral in 2045.  In … Continue reading

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Part 4: Gotland Stones

The sea stack known as the “coffee pot” or the “dog” in the nature preserve Gamle Hamn on Fårö. Natural rock formations, stone Viking ship graves, picture stones, city walls made of stone and stone houses.  Gotland has them all. … Continue reading

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Gotland Part 3: Farms old and new

Just up the main road 142 from our temporary home in Sundre, is Bottarve Museigård, in the Vamlingbo parish.  It is a very lovely 19th century farm. The morning we toured the farm a woman in period dress was getting the … Continue reading

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Gotland Part 2: Beaches, horseback riding, and wild ponies

Very near to where we are staying, we found a very nice beach.   The water wasn’t warm enough to swim, for me, but it was warmer than the Pacific Ocean on the Oregon Coast.  We did see some people in … Continue reading

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The Battle Of Visby 1361 (658 years later)

Walking through Gotland’s  Historical Museum (Fornsalen), besides experiencing the very dramatic room of picture stones, you learn about the people’s lives, the history of the Danish invasion of 1361 and see the remains of  medieval armour and some skeletons from … Continue reading

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Gotland Part 1: Churches, windmills, barns, rocks and sheep

At first I thought that I had made a mistake by renting a house in Sundre, the southern most part of Gotland, far from anywhere.   Then I realized it was perfect. We are on the southern tip of Gotland, about … Continue reading

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Visby, Gotland

From Stockholm, we took the short bus ride to Nynäshamn and the ferry to Visby, Gotland.  It is about a three hour ferry ride. Visby is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most picturesque little towns I’ve … Continue reading

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Stockholm

The view from the seventh floor of the First Reisin Hotel in Gamla Stan: Stockholm is one of my favorite places.  My travel companions, however, had not been there before.  So the big question was, what do you show someone … Continue reading

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Helsinki, Finland

We had just two days to explore Helsinki, which we did using the public transport systems.  The train from the airport got us to the main station downtown, and the rest we did by trolley and foot.  A one day … Continue reading

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