Aperture: Scotts Sweden Blog

Today we left Visby and drove to the far north end of Gotland to an island called Fårö. Notable things about Fårö: Ingrid Bergman (model / actress) is from here and the island is surrounded by strange rock formations called Raukars. These rock formations are caused by erosion over history and little other is known about them (from what I can tell). So this was the topic for today. Travel to some of the less traveled spots of Gotland and find Raukars.

The conditions of todays travels were much like what we experienced in Iceland. Very windy, cold, and baron. The Baltic Sea coastline sustains a strong northern wind and it is very cold. We has some sunshine today while we traveled which has been a rarety on this trip so far.

While searching for Raukars we also saw a lot of traditional Swedish life. We found a small fishing village albeit abandoned, many old (and new) windmills and old ox pulled mills. Most roofs were covered in some sort of moss or organic material and all this was reachable only by ferry.

At the end of our day we traveled to the Fårö lighthouse which has many rocks with fossils in them. Jessica actually found a rock with a fossil! We also found a strange spiral rock formation in the woods near the lighthouse that has no description that we can find briefly. After leaving the lighthouse we traveled back to Visby by interior roads and saw some of Gotlands churches and farmlands.

Fårö is quit a desolate place in the winter but rest assured in the summer it is a huge local tourist trap. This
differentiates greatly from Iceland which is just desolate.

We arrived back in Visby a little after dusk and searched long and hard for Saffranspannkaka which is a popular Swedish saffron pancake. We were about to give up when a friendly tavern owner happened to find one in the freezer. The Bomb!

Tonight we are staying at a Bed & Breakfast right on the Baltic Sea and about a block from the Visby wall. We can see and hear the sea out our window.

Tomorrow we are heading back to Stockholm at 2:00pm and will spend an evening sampling traditional Swedish cuisine and shopping in the madd style driven streets of Stockholm's shopping district!

Here are a few pics from today:

Large Raukar Formation on
cliff with man-made structures on beach
Horses we saw and were interested in us.
Ferry to Fårö Island
Windmill on Fårö Island
Raukar Formations at
Dijerhuvud
Raukar Formations at
Dijerhuvud 2
Raukar Formations at
Dijerhuvud 3
Raukar Formations at
Langhammars
Raukar Formations at
Langhammars 2
Raukar Formations at
Langhammars 3
Raukar Formations at
Langhammars 4
Raukar with Scandinavian
Sky
A Small Fishing Village on
Baltic Sea
Strange Circular Rock Formation we
found. Dunno
Fårö Lighthouse
The Baltic Sea at North Fårö
Saffranspannkaka is the Bomb!

Date: 2008.02.22

-Scott