last week.... Stockholm & Gotland

.....wonder if I can edit the date I posted this. Numerous (well at least three) readers have commented that they thought I had stayed in Sweden as the blog seemed incomplete.

I feel I need to make some comments re Gotland as it may be the only place I've been that you haven't. Therefore I can tell you something about it. So on the Friday night Sarah and I left Stockholm by train to catch the ferry to Gotland. Another cruise through the archipelago - but south of Stockholm this time and not north. Beautiful smooth trip. Fantastic sunset. Arrived quite late and our room was a bit like the cabins on the overnight ferries (bunks!)

Gotland is 150 kms long - and has over 100 medieval churches. It is the holiday place for the Swedes with lovely sandy beaches. It was the last weekend of the summer holidays and we expected the place to be overrun - and altho it was hard to find accommodation - the beaches were empty (well they were when we visited them). May of been something to do with the howling wind - except it was sunny - and I expected the Swedes to be a hardier bunch.

Anyway - all of those churches make it a very pretty place. Visby - main town - is a world heritage site - and all but one of the churches in the old town are ruins - very spectacular skeletons still standing. I imagine the weather in Gotland can be very fierce - so once they were abandoned during the Reformation - they quickly deteriorated. In contrast the churches scattered along the countryside are all still in use and quite gorgeous. They are still digging up hoards of silver - apparently it was a very wealthy little kingdom until land tax was raised 10 fold. (Is that a lesson I should write to John Key about?)

We hired a car and sped along the country roads to the top of the island - across on a wee ferry to Faro - where there are incredible limestone formations - big pillars scattered along the beach with remains of 400 million year old coral reefs - quaint fishing cottages - windmills. Faro is where Bergman went to film and loved the area so much - stayed on and lived there.

Sarah returned to Stockholm on the Sunday night and I stayed on and wandered the old town and surrounds - found gallows and windmills - and some art that captured the beautiful light in Gotland.

Ferry back to the mainland and trains back to Stockholm.

Tried to get to a few last minute churches/markets/ etc that had missed out earlier including an evening visit to Gruna Lund - the amusement park. We stood in the queue for "Insane" but as we got closer - Sarah seemed almost agitated - so decided if she was anxious about repeating an earlier ride - perhaps I didn't need the adrenaline rush. Couldn't decide if the name was because you had to be insane to consider doing it - or if that was the end result when you got off. Possibly best not to know... Lady Gaga was playing there that night - I did wonder if she had had a ride on the aforementioned ride?? But who am I to judge!

So there we have it - fantastic five weeks - all over far too soon - and hope to get back again while Sarah is still there. Malaysian Airlines have apparently stopped their flight Auckland/KL/Stockholm - which is very inconvenient - as it made it so easy. Had a longer stopover in KL on the way back - enough time to have lunch and a catch up with Sally - and a massage.