Visby ,Sweden

Visby, Gotland.

Our call today was at Visby, a pretty walled medieval town, on the Island of Gotland . Gotland belongs to Sweden, and over time has belonged to others Germany and Denmark. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site .It has a complete “Ring Wall” for defence in times of old ,and parts here relate to the Stone Age.
Several ruins of churches from the 12th and 13th Century, one pertaining to King Olaf, is in their Botanical Gardens ,not much remaining, but ivy covered and still an alter intact. Attractive gardens, with many different Salvia ,and the roses that are part of Visby. Higher up, many steps, other more majestic ones with little gardens and statues ,and a huge cathedral that is more recent, they have the wooden spire top parts ,unique to this part of the world.
We walked the outer walls along the sea front, calm ,cloudy ,few spots of rain ,but pleasant .Had a nice encounter with a friendly man and his huge St Bernard ,who was extra friendly, and when we patted him, he became all silly and excited ,and barked this enormous bark.! We do like the dogs , there are lots of the “Sausage Dogs”, around these parts…don’t seem so friendly, German like I think, with a gruff exterior, perhaps..
Cobbled streets ,tiny cottages ,and so ancient and pretty, most just the two windows and the door, but everyone had Roses, of every kind, their perfume filled in the air . Many known to us, and some great specimens of the David Austin’s ,but mainly the older kinds, grown over a long time, valerian ,and other things we knew as well, saw a large and gorgeous Handkerchief Tree, had not seen one completely in bloom . A lovely place with many streets to explore ,and we had time to see ,we think, it all. Once again very dry, and unsure that water would be readily available to use for gardens. Islands often have limits. Coffee in a local Café, some interesting inhabitants live here…
They have many wool crafts, because they have these special ,very woolly, grey sheep, large horned variety, and they have curly coats. So unusual. I need to research them, but it is what they are known for. It is summer holidays so it seemed to be very quiet ,but for us and the passengers from The Marco Polo, a British charter, cruise ship ,that was very old and had few of the nicety’s of cruising it seemed ,but a jolly band, enjoying themselves. Visited the museum and walked extensively ,from everywhere, great views to the sea ,over the rooftops. An easy day for us today…Read more