August 2001  sweden

It was a week end trip the one in Gotland, but very intense. Reached Visby, I got struck by the beauty of such cute small medieval town with the wall skirting it, its cobblestone streets and the awesome ruins of the church. Me and my girlfriend decided to hanging around the island hitch hiking both since we didn't have much money and we were eager to test the local helpfulness. It was a pleasant surprise when we experienced people were so nice and helpful. We travelled two days in the north part of the island, and one half day we were taken by an old couple enthusiastic of driving us through the Gotland tourist highlights. For instance the rocks called ...... The sea erosion gave them funny shapes: like faces or like huge columns that seem to belong to the ruins of some ancient temple. This kind couple also took us to buy the smoked fish (in swedish: rok fisk), that we ate in front of our tent on the cost; it was delicious! My only regret was to have stayed in Gotland not enough to see the whole island, since I think it would have been worth; maybe next time!

Alby

TIPS:

• When I was there (17 august) it was really hot (28-30 C); I sweated a lot. Don't underrate it! In winter it's warmer than  the mainland but wholly desert

• In July and in the first two weeks of August Gotland is crowded of Sweds spending their vacations. I think it gets too much touristy. Fortunately I was there immediately after this period

• Gotland is perfect to be visited biking or you can rent a scooter in Visby. It's quite cheap, especially if you rent a big one and   share the expense with your fellow