Off to Gotland

When we were planning this Swedish adventure we asked a number of people for suggestions of where we should “not miss” along the way. A few – including the family we are exchanged with – mentioned Gotland. Knowing that Stockholm was really an archipelago of connected islands, I suspected that Gotland would be one of the outliers in that grouping. Wrong. Shoulda looked at a map! Gotland sits in the middle of the Baltic Sea off the eastern coast of Sweden – about a three hour ferry ride – sitting opposite Latvia, with Poland off its southern-most point. So, a geography expert I’m not. As it turned out, Gotland is a world unto itself, with a pace and a culture apart from Stockholm – and that made for a lovely change of pace.

Our friends Kathy and Louis traveled with us to Gotland as the first part of their Swedish experience. We took our host family’s car on board a huge ferry – much like the passenger/car ferries in Seattle but much larger. We got up into the ferry lounge deck and assumed that as with our prior experience that you just find a seat, crack a book, and relax. We found some very comfy seats toward the front (or was it the back???) of the boat – tricked out with reclining option, power plugs, etc and were very pleased with ourselves as we settled in…until a nice Swedish woman indicated we were sitting in her family’s assigned seats! First class. With a bit of language barrier to overcome we figured out that we’d bought “steerage” class tickets – where finding seating was every person for him or herself. You learn something every day in a new country, right? Fortunately both couples found adjacent seating at tables with equally friendly Swedes on vacation who not only were willing to share space but were very interesting ride companions! One man was a school chef, two people were involved with IT in corporate settings, and I am hard pressed to recall what the other woman did – but they all were forthcoming with things we should do in Gotland. Two of them pulled out a map of the island and annotated all the key sights and recommended restaurants for us, and we actually followed their routing nearly to the letter with great results.

The Airbnb we booked was a delight! More than 100 years old and next door to one of 92 (yes, 92) churches on Gotland, the house was a wonderfully refurbished vicarage where priests first, then deployed soldiers, stayed during various historic periods. The grounds were expansive and landscaped beautifully with loads of places to sit and read, have a glass of wine, and take in the fresh air and wide fields of wheat surrounding the property. The current owners, Anette and Michael – she a Fin and he a Swede – have owned the place for about five years and had done a lot of renovating to make each room have a unique feel. Our room was up a narrow and steep set of stairs over the kitchen…with a slanted ceiling, window box overlooking the grounds, two cozy chairs in a reading alcove, and its own spacious bathroom, we loved the privacy and total quiet at night.

Kathy and Louis stayed in an upstairs room in the main part of the house that was lovely as well. The house was decorated with not only many antiques but paintings that Anette had done. She is a talented and brilliant woman – not only artistic but a professor of organizational and leadership development. Michael is a retired graphics designer and obviously the one responsible for the care and upkeep of the property.

Our other companion here was the family dog, Umbra, a sweet waterdog that loved to be wherever people were and keep accounting of guests as they come and go.

The church next door dates back many centuries and even has some ancient and fading drawings on the walls inside. There is also a fairly well-known façade that depicts Jesus in a way rarely seen elsewhere. See the picture below and decide for yourself…

One of the things Andrew and I love about staying in Airbnb’s and home exchanges is that we get to know the local people better than always staying in hotels. We got to know Anette and Michael as well as some friends and relatives of theirs who came to stay for part of the time we were there. Anette and Michael had to travel to both a wedding and a funeral so the complement of others took over management along with two of their kids. The children spoke no English but they enjoyed the “talking dog” app I showed them so we had a friendly connection there forward.