h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I spent one of my most relaxing holidays here, on bicycle all over the island during two weeks. There are lots of places to see and visit, and if you come here in August I warmly recommend the Medieval Week.

We lived one day at the time, not planning for the future more than one day ahead at the most - sitting outside our tent in the evening, discussing where we would be going tomorrow. No timetables, no watches, no calendars.

The 'capital of Gotland; Hanseatic 'city of roses' (Visby) has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1995, and is surrounded by a city wall dating from the beginning of the 13th century.

The island itself is full of history; 92 medieval churches, farms, viking graves, rune stones, museums...

800 km of beaches - sand or rubble stones, where you'll often find fossils.

Wild horses, rare species of birds and flowers, several kinds of wild orchides.

The Gotland cuisine is quite different from the Swedish one - I think my favourite is saffron pancakes with dewberry jam and cream...

...and they speak a dialect so special that it's almost a language of it's own rather than a dialect - almost impossible to understand for a mainland Swede!

Events in July:
Chamber Music Festival
Sailing competition, one of the biggest in the world
The Gotland Olympics - Stångaspelen - that also attract Celts - very special medieval sports

Events in August:
The Medieval Week, with performances, concerts, shows - and many of the islanders dress up like medieval beggars, burghers and nobility

Events in November:
The Gotland Grand National, the world's biggest motorcycle competition

More info here:
http://www.gotland.se/internat/index.htm
http://gotland.net/english.asp

Hmmmmm... I need to write an entry on this, I think...