Smagarde Hotell & Restaurant Visby

... and sunny, as my whole summer has been.

Visby has been around since the 900's at least, was a member of the Hanseatic League in the 1200's and still retains most of the city wall built in the 12 and 1300's. Lena lives inside the city wall and the houses are very beautiful and kept up nicely. There are also about 6 churches in the inner city which are left as ruins and are just part of the landscape.

A few things about Swedish people - they love coffee (any time of the day or ...

... off and filled with piles of peices of old parts of the decorations that used to hang, and another room what had a mix of picture stones, both leaned up against the wall and still imbedded into the ground.

After we started heading towards S:ta Maria dome church, a 13th century church that is still standing. The outside was very impressive, lots of detail and sitting just in front of a hill that gave some wonderful views of the church ...

... which was a quite small museum consisting of statues that were purchased by King Gustav III, most of them on a trip to Italy in the 1700's. It was very different from the rest of the museums in the palace, and a little far away from the rest of them. There was much less of a crowd in there, which really worked when you just wanted to wander around and look at the statues at whichever pace you wanted. It was really relaxing, and being the only person in there was a ...

... to enjoy Vattenland. The kids couldn't get enough of the water slides, especially Annie, was our little dare-devil for the day. It was also an interesting place to do some people watching. It was not uncommon to see men in tight speedos and briefs at the park, not something we're used to seeing in the States. Binnie thought this was quite funny, and tried desperately to get some pictures. After a full day of rides, water slides, ice cream ...

... It didn't take long and they were making their parents gasp and plead that they return to the safety of the beach. Once we left, we found a little restaurang (restaurant) just a few KM down the road. We hit the jackpot and had a great dinner.

Since Todd & I had so much time in the car today we, of course, discussed if the 70% income tax they pay here is worth it? Speaking strictly of what we've seen... the roads are rare, narrow, a ...

... everyone out for snacks and dessert around 9pm.Today was our last full day in Sweden. The kids seem to have had a great trip and some have already started talking about other trip they would like to go on and possible study abroad trips in the future. Tomorrow we head back out on a 2pm flight back to Boston. The kids will be free to call parents from the van and we will be back at the Met around 9pm.

... during summer. I have been told Gotland is to young Swedes what Ibiza is to Brits, but as it was out of season we didn't really see much of this party atmosphere. There were a heap of weird looking people though in overalls of different colours which were covered in patches. When we asked someone who they were all he said was 'students', well they looked strange. Visby was lovely, it is a mix of old and new, with ruins of 13th century churches next door to modern buildings, and ...

... the lake in the early afternoon and rode around until we could find a campsite in the woods that was far away from everyone. There are many areas to camp and we found a great one that was away from everything. We then walked through the bush to see if we could get to the lake but the long swampy field in front of us prevented us from getting too close. We then went back to the camp and had a small fire and some food before having some ...

... of glass art. The glass maker makes vases and bowls from glass and hand paints them... and he charges a fair amount too... the cheapest piece in his collection was 8000 SEK($1,100 CAD) and the most expensive over 20 000 SEK (approx. $3,000 CAD). If interested in seeing any or all of Gotlandic art visit: http://www.oppna-ateljeer.se (There is an english link) 2 of my favorites are: http://www.larssonochlarsson.se AND http://www.karlssonskrukor.se (No english)

... and apparently it helps to speak Swedish also. I keep lists of potential workplaces but as soon as I call and they hear me speak English, they quickly end it there. However, this week I am meeting with two people who own businesses around Ljugarn here, so I hope that something comes out of it!! Most jobs won't be available until tourist season in June, which you would think would give a person plenty of ...