Midsummer 2007 @Gotland, Sweden
Featuring rolling green countryside, forest-lined roads, fine beaches and small fishing villages and the spectacular medieval town of Visby – you’ll find real charm in Gotland. No other area in Scandinavia can boast such a concentration of unspoiled medieval country churches. There are also hundreds – maybe even thousands – of prehistoric sites, including burial mounds, stone ship settings and hill-top fortresses across the island to explore.
This was where Olof and I celebrated Midsummer with his friends too... and some of this friend's friends... and his friend's cousins... and his friend's cousins' friends... quite a big group eh...
Midsummer holiday falls on the Friday of the week where the longest day of the year occurs. This year, it was on 25 Jun. In Stockholm, where we are at the South of the country, the sun rises at 2+am and sets at midnight. In the north, the sun doesn't set at all. Amazing, isn't it?! Midsummer, to me, is a paganish activity. People dance around a big cross decorated with flowers and two big rings of flowers and twigs hung on each end of the horizontal pole. Quite phallic looking actually. Well, Midsummer is a festival that celebrates fertility and good harvests in the summer. But of course, you can imagine the fertility here extends far beyond the crops planted in soil! Indeed, according to one of Olof's cousins, many people are born in Spring, which means their parents conceived them in summer!
Anyway, back to Gotland, the largest of the Baltic islands, was an important trading post from long before Viking times and became a major power base of the Hanseatic League in the 12th and 13th centuries. You can start your trip at Visby, the main port and town of the island, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk around the magnificent three-kilometre city wall, which dates from the end of the thirteenth century. It was built to isolate the city's foreign traders from the islanders and has over 40 towers.
Wander through narrow roads and lanes...
This was where Olof and I celebrated Midsummer with his friends too... and some of this friend's friends... and his friend's cousins... and his friend's cousins' friends... quite a big group eh... Midsummer holiday falls on the Friday of the week where the longest day of the year occurs. This year, it was on 25 Jun. In Stockholm, where we are at the South of the country, the sun rises at 2+am and sets at midnight. In the north, the sun doesn't set at all. Amazing, isn't it?! Midsummer, to me, is a paganish activity. People dance around a big cross decorated with flowers and two big rings of flowers and twigs hung on each end of the horizontal pole. Quite phallic looking actually. Well, Midsummer is a festival that celebrates fertility and good harvests in the summer. But of course, you can imagine the fertility here extends far beyond the crops planted in soil! Indeed, according to one of Olof's cousins, many people are born in Spring, which means their parents conceived them in summer!
Anyway, back to Gotland, the largest of the Baltic islands, was an important trading post from long before Viking times and became a major power base of the Hanseatic League in the 12th and 13th centuries. You can start your trip at Visby, the main port and town of the island, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk around the magnificent three-kilometre city wall, which dates from the end of the thirteenth century. It was built to isolate the city's foreign traders from the islanders and has over 40 towers. Wander through narrow roads and lanes...
posted by Bananakiller @ 1:46 PM
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