Outside the city wall.
Visby is the capital of Gotland.
The ancient medieval wall still stands and the city is rich with Viking Heritage.
Gotland is Sweden's largest island in the Baltic Sea.
It is between Sweden's mainland and Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Due south is Poland and Germany.
One of the main entrances to the city.
Visby's wall is approximately
4 kilometers long and 11 meters high.
There are three main gates to the city.
Visby became one the leading cities and ports in the
Baltic Region
in the
12th and
13th centuries.
The city's medieval architecture
is primarily Gothic
stone buildings, of which
almost 200 survive today.
There are many tunnels through the buildings
The original cathedral ruin, Helgeandsruinen
Overlooking Visby with the sea in the background is absolutely breath taking!
The streets are very narrow and the small European
cars zip through them perfectly!
And there are many
Bicycles also
A Fish Cafe
where we had lunch
The square with the Sankta Maria Cathedral
looming in the background
Sankta Maria Cathedral,
dating from the late 12th century, dominates the townscape.
It served as a guide to ships coming into the port.
The seamen would align their ships with the three steeples,
and safely dock in the city's harbour.
Besides many Bed and Breafasts and homes to lease,
Visby sports several extremely nice hotels.
Exculisve homes loverlooking Visby and the sea.
Other homes and apartments in Visby
Our hosts' Joakim
and
Veronica Aberg live in the village of Ala.
This is
their home
and were
we stayed
While on Gotland we could not help but notice its churches each
with deep roots in the Middle Ages.
The churches are Swedish protestant but because they have been kept to the medieval period they still retain much of the
ornate orthodox influences in style.
Primitive paintings adorn the stone walls.
This one depicts the 'Way of the Cross'
Infant Baptismal Fount
View of the road from the church yard
This is indicative of Gotlandic buildings
this is part of an old convent that is now an artist area with an outdoor theatre
This is Gotlandic fence
and one will see it everywhere on the island
This is the outdoor theatre where in the summer they perform Shakespearian plays in Swedish!
Gotland's countryside
is peppered with these beautiful
old grain windmills. Some
mainland folks have bought them
and
turned them into
summer houses!
This was our Icelandic Horse Day !
These wonderful creatures are actually only pony sized and are a breed indigineous to Iceland.
From left to right: Terry riding, Icelandic Susanne, Lisa, Veroncia
This is a typical Gotlandic barn.
The stone portion of this barn is probably 500-600 years old.
And this is where Susanne's Icelandic Horses live.
Besides fishing,
and dairy,
sheep are a
big industry
on this island.
These are
Gotlandic Sheep found no where else
but on Gotland.
They are black
and their
wool is gray.
One of the staples of Gotlandic people as well as all Swedes
is fresh fish.
The Baltic Sea is known for salmon, herring,
and shrimp.
Harvik was an especially lovely place with beautiful colours
And then there is
the majesty and mystery of the
ancient Baltic Sea
What stories are hidden in this Sea?
Limestone formations thousands of years old
View of Nynashamn from the ferry
There are ferrys that go from Gotland to several ports
on the mainland of Sweden.
We took the ferry from
Gotland to Nynashamn;
it was a beautiful 3 hour trip
and then drove to Stockholm
A view looking back out
at the Baltic Sea.
As the sea nears the mainland it becomes fresh water and this inland cove is called
Lake Melauren.
The Coast of Sweden's mainland is basically made-up
of many, many islands
There are residential homes
built on the water with
industrial boat traffic
going to and from.
Coming into Nynashamn
on the ferry
A chihuahua meet-up in Stockholm
A sample of the styles
of homes downtown
Sweden has a Royal Family
this is the Prince's Oriental Palace.
Fountain at the Royal Suburban Palace depicting St. George killing the dragon
This is the Royal Family's Palace located in a Suburb on Stockholm
(they also have one in downtown Stockholm)
The Royal Garden
'Tack, Veronica för danande våra drömmar kommer riktigt !"
Lisa & Terry
