My parents are in Sweden! I traveled to meet them on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland (which means 'good land' in Swedish). There we visited some friends of the family who retired from the hustle and bustle (not) of Stockholm to become sheep farmers. The actual location was on the much smaller and more exotic island of Fårö (which means 'sheep island' in Swedish) located just off the north coast of Gotland.
Fårö is famous for being the home of Ingmar Bergman, probably tied with Bjorn Borg as the most famous living Swede. The family we stayed with are his neighbors. They say they have spoken on the phone with his estate but never actually seen him around. Apparently he is a better filmmaker than a neighbor.
We spent our days herding sheep, eating, drinking, and sightseeing. My especially mom loved the local dish saffron pancakes, made with local salmon berries which only grow on the island. Yum.
The last night we stayed in the old Hanseatic League walled city of Visby for a night as well. Visby is the capital of Gotland and is known as the city of "roses and ruins". Like most Swedish designations, it's not a very creative because it is full of roses and ruins. The Swedes call it like they see it.
My favorite part of Gotland is the rocky beaches with giant standing stones. It's worth the trip to see them alone.
I did a bad job of taking pictures of sheep and drinking on this trip. Next time I will do better. Promise.
4 comments:
Oh my god those pictures are so cool. Woah.
Hey listen, I've got a dilemma I need your help on. You're the only one I know that could give me sound advice on this. I'm trying to get in touch. Earth to Sloth. Come in Sloth.
Need to talk on the phone, hell with email. Phone, man. Phone.
Well I need to hear from you in some way at least before the weekend ends. Cheers. - Marky
Blog Owner A Proval...
HAHAHAHAHHAHA
Plog ownder Abrooval. Removal. Man. Hahah
You know in England it's called Removal Vans when you hire moving vans, I mean vans with which to move your stuff when you move. Did you know that? I've got a Happy Mondays era band that will prove it. Bahaahah.
dude, great picture!
Yeah, Bergman isn't known for being the most sociable person in the world... They actually made a funny joke about this on Swedish TV...
It was a Swedish comedy show called Parlamentet (funny back in the day, but shit nowadays...). The show host asked a "participant" "What has Ingmar bergamn written on a sign to scare people off his property?". The other guy on the show answered "Here lives Ingmar Bergman"...:P
By the way, what is salmon berries? Do you know the Swedish name?
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