GOTLAND (SWEDEN)

Following my visit to Finland I headed south on the train to Oskarshamn, a rather small and uninteresting city where I spent a night camping on a patch of unlevel ground in the middle of a small forest just outside the city. After this most uncomfortable nights sleep, I took a ferry into the Baltic Sea, this time to one of Sweden's leading tourist attractions, the island of Gotland. Whilst the ferry trip to the island was fairly boring, given that I hadn't showered in 2 days I was most happy (and lucky) to find a cabin which had not been properly locked by the ships crew. Consequently I used the shower to clean myself and freshen up before grabbing a few hours shut-eye on a rather comfortable sofa.

Visby, the regional centre of Gotland was definately one of the most beautiful cities I visited both in Scandanavia and in South America. Undoubtedly the highlight of the city was stone wall surrounding the city centre, which had been errected hundreds of years previously to control people movements into and out of the city when Gotland had been an important trading centre for northern europe. After walking around the entire perimeter of the wall I ventured inside and found the buildings within the city to be equally as impressive. In particularly the characteristic orange terracotta rooves gave the city a colourful air similar to that of Bergen in Norway. A personal favourite of mine was the city cathedral, which towered above the other buildings and stood out noticeably with its pure white stonework and jet black towers. In addition the nearby monastery ruins provided an indication of the type of architecture present in the city hundreds of years earlier and further added to the mystic and erie feel given off as I wandered around the city.

One further thing I feel it necessary to mention is the way in which sunlight behaved on Gotland. Although this might sound odd, the sunsets and how the light illuminated everything on Gotland was amazing. It was so different to anything I had seen elsewhere during my travels and needless to say I found that it was almost impossible to take a poor photo.

After spending 2 interesting days in Visby I headed all the way to the north of Gotland to explore the island of Faro, another the region's exiciting attractions. Of particular interest for myself were a collection of limestone pillars formed by the sea over hundreds of years. I originally thought these geological features would be similar to the 12 apostles in Australia (and in some ways they were) however, given their setting above the waterline on a stony beach they were quite different to anything I had ever seen before. Despite once again being plagued by a lack of public transport on the island, I still managed to get a bus to the northernmost town of the main island before taking a ferry to Faro and subsequently walking along the main road until I was picked up by a kind old lady also staying on the island. Despite this being my first and only attempt at hitchiking in Sweden I discovered the Scandanavians weren't particularly fond of the practice and a great number of cars passed me without so much as blinking an eyelid before I managed to get a lift. Thankfully the old lady was also kind enough to give me a fully guided tour of parts of the island including a drive past some of the old fishing huts and of course the limestone pillars.

On her return to her rented cabin, my 'guide' decided it was time I enjoyed a half-decent meal and so stopped at a small restaurant in one of the small towns on the island. Despite it being closed for the low season, the owners were kind enough not only to serve us both but also to provide us a meal on the house before offering me a bed in one of their free cabins for the night. It was trully one of my most amazing experiences in Scandanavia and needless to say this act of kindness along with the amazing scenery I had witnessed over my 3 days on Gotland, meant that this destination was one of the highlights of my trip. On my last day I had a look around other parts of the island, including a short stroll along the first really sand beach I had seen in Sweden before I caught a lift to Visby to catch my ferry to Oskarshamn with Pieter, the Restaurant owner.

Photos 1&2: View of the stone walls surrounding Visby.
Photos 3&4: Shots of the city and walls at sunset.
Photos 5-9: Spectacular views of the beach and ocean at dusk.
Photos 10-12: Views of the cathedral and town.
Photo 13: Fishermans village on Faro.
Photos 14&15: Limestone pillars (Faro).