A Traveler's Photo Journal

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.

One day we took the drive north to Farosund, crossed the ferry and toured the island of Fårö.  It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the southernmost part of Gotland to Fårö.

The sea stacks at Langhammars.

Fårö is known for its sea stacks, natural limestone rock formations, known as rauks.  There are many places on Gotland to see rauks, but the most well known are on Fårö.

The “coffee pot” or the “dog” from the water side.

There are 350 stone viking ships on Gotland, the best one being the Ganarve stone ship near Fröjel on the west coast.

We also walked through Gålrum, which has 100 viking grave sites, seven are boat shaped.   The sign near the site dated it from 1500 BC to the birth of Christ.  There was also a picture stone dated from the 8th century AD, which had been moved there.  It  has eroded and the pictures are gone.

The largest picture stone we saw is in the Bunge Museet open air museum just south of Farosund.

Many of the homes are made of stone.  You can tell approximately which century they were built by the shape of the stones.  The oldest homes are built from shaped stones, in large blocks.  The “newer” homes from the 18th century and on were stones covered with mortar.

This ruin is the medieval farm called Fredarve.  It was abandoned in the 18th century.

From the sign post at the Fredarve medieval farm site:

The Gotland farmer was often both farmer and trader.  in the Viking Age and Medieval Period, huge fortunes were amassed on many farms through trade with foreign lands.  Skilled craftsmen were employed to build churches and houses of stone, chiefly storehouses for the merchandise.  About 200 of these houses still survive in the Gotland countryside.

The general economic decline on Gotland after 1350 put a stop to the building of churches and stone houses.  Wooden post-and-plank houses with roofs of boards or stone slabs became common.  The outbuildings were often thatched with sedge.

When wood became scarce in the eighteenth century, the state granted twenty years tax relief to those who built houses of stone.  In the stone houses that were subsequently built, the walls were no longer of finely hewn stone but of dry-walled stone, plastered both inside and outside.

The two farm museums we toured had the latter style stone construction, as well as the house we rented.

The wall around Visby, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, was started in the 12th century.

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 fire in the kitchen ready for baking bread.

The house was faithfully restored in 1920, tools and equipment collected for the museum.  It had been passed down from one generation to the next, until 1917.   It was sold in 1918 and purchased by Hoburgs hembygdsforening, a foundation created to preserve it as a typical Gotlandic farm.  The lovely gray-blue color in various shades, usually called Gotland blue, has become Bottarve’s mark.  It is made from linseed oil and Kimrök (carbon black) and zink white (oxide).  The sandstone slab roof weighs thirty tons.

To the right of the main entrance is the parlour.  All the furniture is original to the farm except the settee and the chest, from 1702.

The parlour was heated with this white tile stove.

The living room, next to the kitchen, is where the family ate, slept and carried out work during the winter.  The furniture is original to the farm.  The cabinet beds are the only two left on Gotland still situated on the original places.

The old folk’s room, downstairs on the main floor.  It has a green tile stove.

In the upstairs rooms is a collection of household and farm equipment, including these bells from a horse harness.

http://www.bottarve.se

It is as nice as anything you’d see at Skansen.

The barn is now a handmade craft shop.  The description below is how the roof is made.

We very much enjoyed touring the old farmhouse, and purchased two hand made rugs from the gift shop.  Continuing north on 142, we took the turnoff for 140.  Just a few kilometers up the road a sign points to Petes Farm Museum.  At first we thought it was Pete’s, but there is no apostrophe and does not sound the same.

From the Gotlands Museum website:

Mårten Peders, or Petes was first mentioned in the late 16th century.  Records of the farm and its different generations of owners can then be traced all the way down the centuries.

Another beautifully restored farm house from 1820, they had converted the barn just last year into a cafe.  We toured the house and had a wonderful lunch outside with a view of the water.

The downstairs room.

The wall cupboard is part of the original farm.

The West Room on the second floor, and Ada Block’s bedroom.

The view from Ada’s window.

The East Room.  The tile stove was made on Gotland.

This cupboard was made by the Gotlandic cabinet maker Olof Blomberg in 1790.

The grandfather clock was made by Peter Norsell, a clockmaker from Visby, in 1778.

The house was beautiful and the location wonderful.  The barn was converted to a cafe just last year.   We had a very good soup and sandwich.

https://www.petesgarden.se/

We toured both of the farm museums in one day.  It was quite delightful.  On another day, we toured the Bunge Museet, an open air folk museum.  It is on the north side of the island near Fårösund and has several examples of old houses.   What I like about the two in the south is that they are in their original locations.  The stories of the farm owners are in the museum pamphlets, and it seemed more personal.

http://www.bungemuseet.se

As we drove around Gotland, I took pictures of the every day working farms, of which there are many.  They are not museums, but still lovely in their own way.

This one is near Faludden and we believe has been converted into living spaces and is no longer a barn.

This is one of the few barns we saw that was falling down.  It is on the far eastern point of Gotland.

This used to be a barn and was converted into shops.  The shop on the left, Lin Living, sells only sustainably made linen goods.  The man holding the dog, Bella, is one of the creators/owners, along with his girlfriend.   The shop is in Ljugarn.  https://linliving.se/

On the inside of Lin Living, you can tell it was a barn.

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 the water, enjoying a sunny day by the sea.

Further up the coast, we took a two hour guided horseback ride at Änggårde B&B near Ronehamn.  The B&B offers rooms and horseback riding.

Brushing Pinjo before the ride.

Prepping Whatson.

It was quite pleasant.  I chose Pinjo as my ride for the day.  We rode through fields and a forest out to the Baltic.

Post ride hug, thanks Whatson.

Clean up after the ride.

Hem

We have seen many farms with horses, but it was a highlight for me to pass a field with Fjordling ponies.  I have seen these horses all over Norway, but they are not common in other areas.  These were mares and their babies.

When I first heard of the wild Gotland ponies, I thought they were all over the island.  It turns out that the wild ponies are in a protected area called Russpark.  Russ is the name of the specific Gotland pony breed.

From the website lojstahedrussen.se

The Gotland Pony is the only domestic living Swedish pony remaining and it has been classified as an endangered breed by the European Union. The breed is noted for its diligence and well rounded capacity. It’s used in several disciplines, both for riding and driving sports, especially in pony trotting, where it has become recognized for its natural talent. A grand total of approximately 6000 ponies exists world wide.

On Lojsta hed, Gotland, a Swedish island located in the Baltic Sea, a herd of wild Gotland Ponies lives, like their ancestors have done for centuries. The herd consists of approximately 50 mares, and when the foals are born in the spring, the population increases to approximately 80. During the breeding season only one stallion is used in the herd to control the breeding lines. The selected stallion is brought to the herd in May/June and removed in the fall.
The ponies in the herd are jointly owned by approximately 15 Gotland families and Gotlands hushallningssallskap (Gotland Agricultural Society). The aim and objective for the non profit organization is to demonstrate and maintain the breed in its natural habitat.
Historically these ponies were not domesticated and roamed free in the forest regions, which meant they had to find their food wherever they could. Findings/remnants, dating back to the Iron Age, have been discovered at Vallhagar, just a few kilometers from Lojsta, which confirms the early presence and tradition of the horse on the island. Prosperity of the wild ponies was present in the Gotland forests up until the middle of the 1800’s. After that the population was almost reduced to extinction in the beginning of the 1900’s. A group of local Gotland farmers took the initiative to preserve the lasting part of this ancient horse breed. In the beginning of the 1900th century they dedicated a specific area for them at Lojsta. The remaining wild pony population fragments were moved to Lojsta hed which now consists of 650 hectares of fenced-in land divided into three sectors. The ponies’ natural wild diet is supplemented with hay during the winter months, but it is sufficient during the rest of the year. Five times a year the ponies are rounded up using the old methods of searching lines, where people herd them up by foot. These are public events and are carried out at the following times during the year:
– In May/April and December for hoof care and management
– In May/June when the stallion of the season is released in the herd
– In July for the Studbook inspection and registration of the foals and mares
– In November when the foals are separated from the herd and sold. At this time the foals are chip marked and branded with numbers on their neck to verify that they are born at Lojsta hed. Selling the foals preserves the wealth of the remaining mares in the forest.

Our first attempt at finding the ponies was unsuccessful.  But we tried again, earlier in the morning.   We arrived at Russpark at 0920 am, and were the only car in the car park.

We walked into the reserve and spotted 6 ponies in an open area.  As we watched them, they headed into the more densely wooded area.  We followed, but it wasn’t easy.   We got a bit closer and could hear them better than see them.  We were happy just to have seen them at all.

One of the foals.

One of the mares.

Another website with Gotland pony information:

http://norsehorsepark.com/gotland.html

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 that battle.  It is a large part of the history of the island and a large part of the museum.

From the website ancient-origins.net:

The Battle of Visby was a violent Medieval battle near the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, fought between the inhabitants of Gotland and the Danes, with the latter emerging victorious. The battle left a lasting archaeological legacy; masses of slaughtered soldiers and citizens lay scattered across what was once a blood battle field. Slashed and broken bones, skeletons still in their chain mail and armor, and smashed skulls, some still with spears and knives protruding out of them.

In the summer of 1361, a Danish army set sail for Gotland. The inhabitants of Visby had been warned about the invading Danish force, and prepared themselves for the battle. In late July 1361, Valdermar’s army landed on the west coast of Gotland. The Danish army numbered between 2000 and 2500 men, and consisted mainly of experienced Danish and German mercenaries. The defending Gotlanders, on the other hand, numbered around 2000, and were militiamen with little or no experience of battle.

The Battle of Visby was fought before the walls of the town. Although the militiamen were fighting for their lives, and fought as best as they could, they were simply no match for the professional Danish army. As a result, the majority of the defenders were killed, and the town surrendered to Valdemar.

We toured the museum last week and read about the invasion.  This Saturday, we got to watch the battle live.  On the last day of Visby’s Medieval Week festival, participants reenacted the battle in front of the Visby Wall.  We paid our 150 SEK each and lined up behind the safety rope.

This was the first day we had a sprinkling of rain, and it made the entire production seem very realistic, with wet straw and mud on the ground, bedraggled looking dogs, and people huddled under long wool capes.

The flags are introduced.

Women, children, and dogs flee as the Danes approach.

The “battle” began just outside the Visby wall, which made a fantastic backdrop to the activity.  The narrator, a Swedish historian, spoke for about thirty minutes prior to the introduction of the flags.  A woman from Stockholm standing next to me kindly translated much of what he said during the introductions.  But when the battle got going, there was a lot of activity.  Many of the local Gotland spectators got emotional.  We thought we saw some tears.

Gotland archers behind their blue and yellow striped flag move into position.

Gotland arrows fly in support of the ground troops.

Without knowing who belonged to what flag, it was hard to tell who was a Dane and who was a Gotlander.  There were swordsmen, archers and horsemen as well and flag bearers with flags representing specific households.  There was one man playing the part of the Danish prince, and one playing the Danish king.  They mostly got heckled and booed by the audience.

Danish horsemen flank and surround the Gotland archers.

The horses were the best part in my opinion, but they were Danes.  There were about a dozen horses, my favorite being the big black horse.  We think at least half the horsemen were women, and one was riding without a saddle.  It seemed to me it would be hard enough to ride carrying a sword, so I gave the horsemen and women lots of credit.

Gotland archers regroup and continue the fight.

The Danish horsemen break through the Gotland defenses.

At one point the battle got very close to where we were standing, and the rope divider was knocked down as many participants fell to the sword (but no spectators).

At the end of the battle scene, one Gotlander challenged the prince and was taken down by another Dane from behind, and finished off with a hammer by the Prince.

The King of Denmark makes his entrance.

After the battle, townspeople attended to the dead and dying.   A processional of youths made their way out singing a cappella, and were quite good.  Then a priest made his way from body to body and carts were hauled out to remove the dead.  It was a devastating loss of life for the local people.  We read in the museum that half the men of the Gotland countryside were killed and it altered the future of the island and its people, creating a huge hardship.  Some farms were unable to continue working and producing.

After the “battle” all the participants lined up and were applauded by the crowd of  approximately 3,000 spectators.  They were introduced in groups of countrymen, some from as far away as Australia.  (No group stepped forward to represent the US, but we saw a group of Norwegians, Swedes and Finns).

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 1 1/2 to 2 hours drive south of Visby.  I found the house on Airbnb.  It is over 200 years old.  I was looking for peace and quiet, and we found it.

We have the house for ten days, with no big agenda.  I have a tendency to over schedule my vacation time, so this was a concerted effort to avoid that problem.

The church at Vamlingbo

So far, we have seen many churches, lots of cool looking barns, rocks for all uses, four types of windmills, and sheep. But don’t call them sheep.  One resident said “We don’t have sheep, we have lambs and lamb kids.”

We stopped at the local CO-OP and bought groceries, then followed the directions to our home for the next ten days.

Maria, the home owner, met us and gave us the tour, and strict recycling directions.  We have also temporarily adopted her dog Kia, and two cats.

Our aim is to casually explore the area, eat well, and relax.

There are 92 or 95 churches on the island of Gotland, depending upon your source.  Our small parish has a church, the Sundre Church, and we think that churches and parishes define each other.

We have also seen quite a few thatch roofed houses.

Rocks are a common theme on Gotland.  They are at the beach, many of the houses are made of stone, and the fences too.

This photo shows the interior construction of a restaurant where we stopped for lunch, Grå Gåsen.

Sheep are mostly in the fields, but some areas are open grazing, and signs warn of animals in the road.

Windmills are everywhere.   There are four types, but most of the ones we’ve seen are old and unused.  We did see a few newer ones, and there are quite a few large energy producing windmills along the coast.

This eight-sided cornerjointed windmill was built in 1794 and is on display at the Bungemuseet.

The area is very rural, with many working farms and old barns.  We visited the oldest farm on the island, Kattlunds.

There are many good looking barns with very nice windows.

The Oja Church.

We like having a house with a kitchen so we can make our own meals.

This is the view from our back yard.  The church spire is the Sundre Church.  We heard the bells ringing one evening.  At first I thought it was just the 8 pm bells, but they did not stop ringing.   We saw a smoke plume and realized the church bells must be a call to parish volunteers that help was needed.  It made me think that not much has really changed here.  The parish church was a way to communicate to the surrounding population.  No wonder there are so many churches.  There needed to be a church in bell ringing range to all the people.

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 ever seen.

We stayed at the Kalk Hotel, very nice, and built right on the wall.

The view from our third floor room at The Kalk Hotel

The Lilla Strandporten (small beach gate) was visible from our room’s patio.  When the old harbour was here, this gate was the way into the square and market place.

Visby is a walled city with a lot of history.  A walk through the Visby Gotland museum will enlighten you to the many struggles the people of Gotland had to survive.

Our visit to Visby happened to coincide with their annual Medieval Festival.  Where previously I had walked through a park area, we now walked through a Medieval Market.  It was fun, the stall owners dressed in period costume, but thankfully taking modern day credit cards.

I purchased some of the hand made pottery from this woman.  Her mother was the craftsman.

Finnish linens.  I bought two sauna towels.

On the trail of a great fish soup, I tracked down a restaurant I’d eaten at a few years back.  It was still there, and the soup was unchanged.

Visby can be summed up in one picture, flowers and ruins.

We walked around the town after dark, as the lights of the ruins came on.

Before heading out of town to our rental home in the south, we toured the very informative Gotland Museum.

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 with only two days in Stockholm?

The Storkyrkan:

My best answer for where to start was Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum.

From Skansen’s website:

At Skansen, you can discover Sweden’s history and find out how Swedes once lived according to the changing seasons, through the customs and traditions, work, celebrations and everyday life of times gone by.

We took the short ferry ride from Gamla Stan to Djurgården, where Skansen is located, and spent the morning walking around viewing the historic homes, Nordic animals and costumed staff.  Many of the historic homes have been moved to Skansen, a few were built there originally.  Period costumed staff members portray life in Sweden in years past, making cheese, tending stock and showing visitors how daily chores were performed.

Skansen – ENG START

The Nordic animal display features moose, reindeer, bears, wolves, lynx and wolverines.

It would be easy to spend the entire day at Skansen, but we had plans for the evening.

Our friends Jan and Dawne, winter St. Petersburg residents, and Rich (full time St. Petersburg resident) had invited us to dinner at their home just north of Stockholm.

Jan picked us up in Gamla Stan and took us on a scenic tour of neighborhoods I had not seen before.  Our private guided tour was delightful.  We drove past Björn Kristian Ulvaeus’ home, one of the original ABBA members, and through the beautiful Djursholm neighborhood.

Rich showed off his culinary skills with a delicious quiche.

Dinner was a wonderful smorgasbord of food and conversation.

Jan had us try the herring and potatoes first, on a separate plate, and also made us drink Norwegian schnapps, and sing Swedish drinking songs.   Jan knows the words, but we just add the sound effects.

A good time was had by all!

So my travel companions got a great first day impression of Stockholm.

For Day Two, a ferry trip to Vaxholm was a must see.  Much of Stockholm and the surrounding area is on the water.  A good choice for a first timer in the Stockholm  archipelago is a ferry ride to Vaxholm.  There are 30,000 islands in the Stockholm archipelago, and on the ferry we passed many of the small islands and pretty homes along the water.

Dogs are always welcome on the ferries.

We took the fast ferry out, walked the quaint streets and neighborhoods, did a little shopping and had a wonderful fika experience.

I had been to Vaxholm before, but not to this place.  Hembygdsgårds Café is a short walk from town, along the water, and a true fika heaven.   They sell sandwiches and a large selection of desserts.

Fika from heaven:

Attached to the cafe is a small museum, an example of a fisherman’s home from the 1800s, and displays of fishing equipment.

A farm stand near the Vaxholm hotel:

Returning to Gamla Stan we opted for the old steam powered ferry, a slower ride but a beautiful boat.

We had a few hours to tour Gamla Stan before our dinner plans.

We chose to tour The Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) and the royal armory (Livrustkammaren) with our remaining time.  The armory exhibit is in the lower levels of the palace, and is free.  It houses the royal weaponry, clothing and carriages, and even Streiff, Gustav II’s stallion from the battle of Lutzen in 1632.

In the funeral procession for King Karl X Gustav, in 1660, a “rider clad in gilded armour symbolised the dead king and the eternal kingdom.”  The small gold ceremonial dress, below the horse in the picture, was worn by the dead king’s 4 year old son Karl XI.

Silk wedding dresses:

After touring the armory, we walked through the palace, Kungliga Slottet.  The king and queen have offices in the palace, but spend most of their time at Drottningholm.

The Council Chamber, where cabinet meetings are held:

We had 6:15 dinner reservations at one of my favorite restaurants, Den Gyldene Freden (in English, The Golden Peace).  Owned by the Swedish Academy, who select the Nobel Prize for literature, it has been in business since 1722.  It is mostly unchanged since its opening and is a wonderful example of an 18th century tavern, and a favorite gathering place for Swedish writers, painters and composers.  Anders Zorn bought it in 1919 and saved it from destruction.

The group photo is by Jan Lagergren.