So, we’re talking to our friend Maria about our travels, and she says something like “After the ECJ I’m going with my whole family to the Visby Medieval Week; do you want to come?” And somehow the idea of attending a medieval fair on a Swedish island in the middle of the Baltic Sea sounded awesome, so we immediately said yes.
Then we realized that we’d be in transit for about 33 hours to get there. But that didn’t change our minds!
Maria was travelling back towards Stockholm with Staffan, who fortunately had room for two more in his ancient red Volvo station wagon. So, early on the morning of 6 August we loaded up and drove six hours to the port of Gdansk, on Poland’s north coast. (Pictures of the drive would look like almost any southern Ontario scenery viewed from a highway, except with the signs in Polish, and we didn’t take any pictures, so use your imagination for that part.)
There was a weather system blowing in to the Baltic that day, which had caused cancellation of the ferry immediately after ours from Gdansk to Nynäshamn (new-nus-ham-un, the port of Stockholm). This left us concerned that either (a) our ferry would also be cancelled, stranding us in Gdansk, or (b) our ferry would be running, but would hit rough seas and we’d all be tremendously uncomfortable, or (c) we’d make it to mainland Sweden but be unable to reach Gotland. In the event, none of those happened. The system you see here sat over the Baltic for about three days, rotating slowly clockwise. Visby (the blue dot) stayed right in the eye of the system and got a little wind and drizzle, but nothing serious.
The ferry from Gdansk to Nynäshamn takes about 18 hours, from 6 pm to noon the next day. Staffan and Maria had booked a four person cabin, so we were quite comfortable, if a bit cramped. Karen and I took the upper bunks. The cabin included a full bathroom with shower, all the necessary bedding, and towels. On the way to Lublin they’d also had Serkan with them, but he needed to be back to Stockholm sooner so he flew.
Once we’d settled in to our cabin and taken a short wander around the ferry we headed to the dining room for dinner. The ferry has a pretty reasonable self-service restaurant, but they also have a full-service dining room, which we decided to check out. The prices were Polish rather than Swedish, so not too expensive, and the food was excellent. This is the appetizer course; most of us were having borscht. And beer. And wine.
After dinner we took a stroll on the ferry deck. We also checked out the disco nightclub, which is under a dome on the top deck of the ferry. We were thinking about doing some club passing there (because what else do you do in a deserted disco nightclub on a Polish ferry?), but utimately decided not.
Pulling into Nynäshamn terminal we saw a Destination Gotland ferry, similar to the one we’d be taking in a few hours.
Staffan dropped the three of us near the Destination Gotland terminal and headed home to Stockholm. Unfortunately there was nowhere convenient to store our luggage, so we had to wait there about four hours until our ferry could be boarded. At least the conversation was good!
The transit to Visby was about three and a quarter hours, and we arrived about 7:40 pm after another quite-good ferry meal. Visby is the best-preserved medieval town in Sweden; even from the ferry terminal it looks cute. Maria’s father Gunnar and mother Lena were there to pick us up and drive us to our AirBnB. We were in one apartment, Maria and her brother Ted in another, and the rest of the family (fifteen of them!) in a large house that they’ve rented together for the last nine years running.
Once we’d settled in to our apartment we went for a stroll around Visby, partly to stretch our legs and partly to get a feel for the place. The sunset was magnificent. If you look closely you can see our ferry on its return voyage to Nyäshamn. The other two ships are liquid natural gas tankers.
Our apartment was just outside the old city walls and Maria’s was just inside. The next morning we headed into the city to meet with Maria for a walk around the fair. At the city gate we encountered this group of Medieval Week participants, who were on a tour of the city wall with a guide. Some participants are quite serious about wearing appropriate garb, some wear modern clothing, and there’s a “Pirate Week” splinter group that wears approximately-period pirate garb and seems to do a lot of drinking. If you look closely, you should be able to figure out what this group was.
Maria and her family have been coming to Medieval Week for about thirteen years and most of them are enthusiastically authentic, especially Maria, her three sisters, and her sisters’ husbands and children. Aside from her eyeglasses, Maria was dressed in complete period costume for the day, most of which she’d made herself from hand-woven fabrics produced from wool and linen by traditional means. Here we were visiting a fabric store, where Maria was considering whether to buy more fabric for another outfit – but ultimately decided not to as she doesn’t have enough time for complicated sewing projects these days (she’s an electrical engineer specializing in board design and layout).
There are two camping areas attached to Medieval Week, for those who would rather not pay the mildly-extortionate rates for in-city accommodation. One permits modern equipment, while the other has strict rules for medieval authenticity. This camp was separate from both, in the dry moat just outside the city walls. In their own words: “The camp before you belongs to the Stockholm Fähnlein - a non-profit organisation reenacting the landsknechts of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa. The historic 16th century Stockholm Fähnlein was a military unit which would be the start of the king’s own army. It participated in several important battles during 1521-1523 in what was later named the Gustav Vasa war of liberation. […] The camp here at the Lübeckerbräschen (the Lübeck breach) portrays the Stockholm Fahnlein on campaign. The torn down part of the city wall is supposedly the place where the soldiers of Gustav Vasa broke through in 1524 during their attack on Visborg castle. The attack failed and Gotland remained Danish until 1645.”
Just up the moat from the Fähnlein camp the Gyckel Bron jesters were putting on a show for children and their adults. Maria’s sisters and their families were all there, and we later waved to them from the bridge. We stayed and watched for a bit. Since we don’t speak Swedish, much of the performance was lost on us, but broad children’s humour is largely non-verbal and the jesters were quite good, so we got some solid laughs regardless. The performance was busker-style. Sweden is one the most cashless societies in the world, so tips and other payments are largely made by Swish. Swish is similar to Interac or PayPal or Venmo, but broader in scope and almost ubiquitous, having 8 million private users out of a Swedish population of about 10.5 million. The brown signs on the bridge and on the ground at right have the ten-digit Swish numbers for donations.
After the jester’s show we headed for the house where the rest of Maria’s family was staying, on the south western end of the Innerstaden or old city. On the way we passed the Stora torget (main square) which is bordered by S:ta Karins kyrkoruin (the ruined church of Saint Karin).
The reason we were headed for Maria’s family’s house was to join them all for fika – a Swedish tradition sort of like coffee break, but much more ingrained in the culture and featuring a delicious variety of Swedish treats. Karen’s favourite was the vacuum cleaner, a delightful marzipan and chocolate-covered cake. This picture shows all the adults in Maria’s family; there were also seven children ranging from toddlers to thirteen in other rooms of the house. Left to right are Thony (Malin’s husband), Ted (Maria’s brother), Ronja (sister), Erik (Ronja’s husband), Gunnar (father), Lena (mother), Linus (Emma’s husband), Maria, Malin (sister), and Emma (sister). They were all extremely welcoming and we felt privileged to have been invited to join their family time.
This photo was taken on our way back to our apartment, after fika. We’ve included it as an example of a Visby Innerstaden streetscape. Visby is incredibly charming! Fun fact: the town of Kokiro in the Studio Ghibli movie Kiki’s Delivery Service is mostly a mix of Visby and Stockholm, with a few other locations thrown in for good measure.
And here’s a cute selfie taken on the way back.
We stopped for groceries on the way back to our apartment. Potato chips appear to be universal, but flavours are regional. “Tryffel” is truffle, and “Byrnt smör & rödlök” is browned butter and red onion. “Snabb-bitsocker” is fast-dissolving sugar cubes, bought for Karen’s coffee. The bananas speak for themselves.
The next day (Wednesday), Greg had clearly come down with a cold. He wasn’t feeling up to leaving the apartment and averse to potentially sharing it with Maria and her family, so, he stayed behind while Karen went out with Maria. The two of them bought festival bracelets for the day, which let them visit the “official” festival sites. This is the performance stage in the festival’s main food area, which we’ll see again later. Once again, note the Swish payment numbers at the bottom right of the stage.
In the afternoon Karen and Maria attended a medieval sing-along. Of course it was in Swedish, but they distributed song books and introduced each song call-and-response style so it was possible to learn more or less phonetically. There was also a strong singer next to Karen, which helped. The sing-along took place in the ruined Saint Karin church, pictured above.
Just outside the city wall, near our apartment, was a daily children’s “battle school” where the kids could learn archery, sword fighting, and other important medieval arts. It seemed to be heavily supervised and carefully run, which would be very Swedish.
On Thursday, Greg still wasn’t feeling well and stayed behind again. Maria’s parents were heading to the north end of the island of Gotland to visit the Bunge Museet outdoor museum and had offered to take us along; Karen went. Established in 1908, the museum collects old buildings that are threatened with demolition and preserves them, to give a look at the lives of Gotlandic peasants of the past. This and the next several pictures are from the Museet. This one is of a reconstructed farmstead, arranged around a central yard.
This is a tar-burning pit, where fatty pine logs would be carefully burned to extract the tar. The tar melted into the centre of the pit (where the black lump is) and then flowed through a pipe that led to the structure at the left, for collection. Tar was essential for waterproofing boats and for other purposes, and tar-burning was a major source of income for many farmers.
This small shack housed a carpenter’s shop with wind-powered machine tools. The shack was mounted on an octagonal base so it could be turned to take best advantage of the prevailing wind.
These are reconstructions of prehistoric graves. The boat-shaped grave at the right would typically contain cremated remains and dates from 900 to 700 BCE. The cartwheel-shaped grave on the left was typical of Iron Age Gotland, around 400 BCE.
This is one of 570 picture stones to have been found on Gotland. Only about 60 have been found elsewhere in Sweden. This one is believed to date from the 8th century. There are multiple interpretations of the pictures, which may tell of a historical event or may recount a legend. There isn’t even consensus whether the stone should be read from top to bottom, or vice versa.
After the Museet, Gunnar drove to the small ferry that goes to the island of Fåro, just off Gotland’s north tip. Gotland is famous for its rauks, which are standing rock structures formed by wave erosion. These ones are just off the Fåro coast. Anyone who knows Karen knows she loves rocks; turns out she loves rauks too.
Greg did feel well enough to get out for a short walk in the afternoon and took this dramatic picture of the Visby wall.
On the Friday Greg was feeling better so we decided to dress in the best medieval garb we could muster and return to the fair for a walk around the paid-entry area. Karen’s hat and one of her dresses could more-or-less pass for period clothes. Greg made do with a wool cloak and a hat, both borrowed from Maria. Amazingly enough, it turns out the pink of Greg’s t-shirt is actually in a colour that would have been available in medieval Sweden, ’though the fabric is a definite anachronism. The hair and beard would have fit right in.
Although we weren’t looking to buy anything, we visited almost every shop in the extensive marketplace. Of course, you can’t keep Karen out of a fabric store, even a medieval one.
After the market we went to a story-teller show. Most of his sessions are in Swedish, of course, but he did have one each day in English. The story he told us was an elaborate and engaging version of Hans My Hedgehog, ’though with a plot slightly different than described on the linked page.
After story time we went to the food area, which includes the small performance stage. The group shown here was from Transylvania – and amusingly enough, that’s were we are right now, while writing this.
Karen was delighted to see that the Transylvanian group had two belly dancers performing with them.
There were over a dozen stalls in the food area, but most of them only accepted payment by Swish. We eventually found a place selling savoury crepes that also took credit cards. This is the stall beside the crepe stand, which was doing brisk business selling reindeer kebabs.
That evening we went with Maria to a fire show in the Saint Karin’s church ruin. I suppose that’s one advantage to a stone building with no roof.
The performance included chinese pole, juggling (Maria knows one of the jugglers), staff-spinning, poi swinging, rope skipping, and this maypole-like setup. Of course, everything was on fire. The cast also included three musician-singers, who were wonderful.
On the way back from the fire show the Visby walls were glowing.
The next day Maria’s parents again offered to take us on an excursion towards the north of Gotland. We both went, along with Maria and her brother Ted.
Our first destination was the fishing village of Lickershamn on Gotland’s north coast, home to Gotland’s largest rauk, the Jungfrun (“Maiden”).
Jungfrun stands 12 metres high, at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Baltic Sea.
After our visit to Jungfrun, Karen decided she needed to dip her toes in the Baltic. Then we went to a small cafe called Lickershamnskrogen (the Lickershamn Hull) for a delightful lunch, including the Gotland specialty of smoked shrimp.
On the way out of Lickershamn we stopped at a field of smaller rauks just to the south. Can’t get enough of them rauks!
On the way back to Visby we stopped at Krusmyntagården, which is a restaurant, food and gift shop. They grow many of their own products right on site and have a lovely garden at the edge of the Baltic.
That evening was our last in Visby, and Maria’s family invited us to join them for a crayfish party, which is a late-summer tradition in Sweden. Along with the crayfish were a selection of savoury cheese and mushroom pastries, cheese, and breads. Unfortunately we didn’t get a picture of the table, which looked amazing – and the food and company were both wonderful.
After dinner Emma decided we should all go outside and play Möllky while there was still some light. Möllky is a Finnish game where you score points by knocking over numbered pins with a throwing stick. Apparently the main family lawn game used to be Kubb, but someone decided that was “too boring”. (Greg disagrees.) Watching Maria’s father, Gunnar, scampering to retrieve the throwing stick, it was difficult to believe he’s 72. (Canadians of a certain age may recall the Participaction TV commercial that compared a thirty year-old Canadian to a sixty year-old Swede. There may have been some truth in that.) Behind us is the house Maria’s family stays in for Medieval Week.
The next morning Gunnar picked us and our luggage up from our apartment, and we joined them at their house to wait for the ferry. Before we left, we took a short drive down to the harbour so we could get ice cream at Glassmagasinet, which bills itself as Europe’s largest ice cream shop. While we didn’t sample all of the 260 flavours available that day, we can say it was very good. Apparently a visit to Glassmagasinet is a family ritual and there would have been much complaining from the children, plus both generations of parents, if we’d missed it. Almost everyone you can see in this picture is part of Maria’s family.
After ice cream we walked to the Almedalen park just outside the Visby city walls. Greg and Maria managed to get half an hour of passing in – the first time they’d juggled since arriving on the island. The pattern is 756 (aka Baby Dragon aka Holy Hand Grenade) for the jugglers out there. That’s Gunnar at the far right.
Then it was on to the Nyäshamn ferry and onwards to Stockholm! We can’t thank Maria, Gunnar, Lena, and all the rest of the Kjelldahl family for inviting us along and treating us so well during our time on Gotland.
