The Eastern coast of Gotland..

Shrimps so temptingly presented, boiled on one side of the wooden serving box and smoked on the other.

The opposite coast of Gotland (from where I live), to the east is called Östergarnslandet; has a lot to offer. Some days ago it was time for an excursion east together with a friend who has been living there for many summers in the past - and, of course was an excellent guide!

Starting off at Katthammarsvik with shrimps at their Smokehouse was an excellent launching point for the day.

Beautiful Gotland glass and with a view of the Baltic.

Gotland designs and the famous sheepskins of the island in the back.

Great designs!

The only real manor house in Gotland is to be found here in Katthammarsvik.

Annexes for rent.

Time for a walk in the woods and a peak at the various birds at Storsund.

The bird watching tower.

A visit to Ilses toy store in Kräklingbo is a must.

Ilse to the right. She stocks a lot a quality toys from Germany - mainly made of wood. Not much plastic here! She made a lovely package for me to send to Washington where someone is turning 3 years tomorrow!

Meanwhile, at home, some huge old ashtrees are felled in my backyard. Good stuff they have for equipment, those good humored Gotland farmers!
Well, now is time for cleaning up and burning. That part is mine! And my equipemnt is just great! A rake will do just fine (and some girl power)!

The island of the penguines of the North..

Yesterday, on the hottest day of this summer - with a cloudless sky and some 25 degrees C - I set out in a small ferry onto the heaving sea to visit an island I had never been to before.

I was heading for the famous bird island of Stora Karlsö in the Baltic close to the coast of Gotland.

This visit had been high on my agenda for years so finally:
"Stora Karlsö. Here we come!"

This little limestone island that rises from the sea like a rock in a storybook, is situated 30 minutes boat ride some 6 km west of Gotland. The island where I was going is a nature reserve, after Yellowstone National Park the oldest established protected nature area in the world.
Gotland, Sweden with the two islands: Stora and Lilla Karlsö

This fossil rich limestone island rising majestetically out of the sea is mostly known for its rich birdlife and flora.
En route, we had to pass the smaller sister island, Lilla (Minor) Karlsö, which can be spotted here through the spray made by the speeding the ferry.

Little Karlsö with its steep rocky slopes.

Norderhamn (The Northern harbor) of Stora (Major) Karlsö with its small museum and a resturant and café, is a fairly sheltered port with a jetty.

The pink marble of Karlsö.
There is evidence that Stora Karlsö has been inhabited since the stone age. During the Middle Ages there was a marble quarry, which provided material for a number of Gotland's churches.

Deep caves were used for storage in the old ages. Needless to say, many interesting findings..
..has been dug up here by archeologists through the years.

A cave with a view
- actually, certain parts of the island quite remainded me of Capri, Italy!

..and the smells of a Greek island in summertime..
The scents of the flora here is heavenly- especially on a sunbaked day like yesterday! Oh, how I want to bottle this feeling and take it back home with me !

Karlsö is mostly covered with alvar, with many juniper bushes and some small groves of deciduous trees. In spring, there is an extraordinary number of orchids-mostly elder-flowered orchid and early purple orchid. There are also several very rare plants for Sweden such as Adonis vernalis, Lactuca quercina (called 'Karlsösallat' in Swedish), hart's-tongue fern (actually depicted on the Swedish 100-crown bill!) and Corydalis gotlandica (the only endemic plant on Gotland).

The island is mostly known for its rich birdlife, however. It has large colonies of Common Guillemot - the penguines of the North - (about 7500 breeding pairs).
(Above:Wikipedia photo)
Here at the small museum you can get an idea of the mighty performance every year when the Guillemot chicks after hatching are beaconed by their fathers at sea to jump off the steep cliffs and land on the rocks 100´s of meters below (they bounce on their fat bellies and are presumably not hurt)

An impressive King´s eagle hanging from the museum ceiling with a nameplate between his claws: "May I introduce myself..!"

The Stora Karlsö lighthouse. The rooms here can be rented per night and is supposed to be a great stay - if its lady-teacher ghost lets you rest quietly, that is!

The smells, the humid spray from the sea, the wild thyme, well it all reminded me so
much of a Greek island! Just missed a chilled Retsina!
Limestone pebbles and fossils form a long beach. I couldn´t resist a dip in the clear water after a couple of hot hours guided walk across the island. Nice!

The island vehicle, alas!

The farewell committee acting up like an Hindu godess (Shiva?) waiving!
The 9.00am-3pm trip is about 300 Swedish crowns. (48 US dollars) The guided tour included.

More in English here!

Have you ever encountered Tuttivillius - the devil?

Today I made an extensive excursion to the eastern coast of Gotland (Östergarnslandet) and en route made a brief stop at the pretty parish church at Bäl. Luckily the church was open and I got a chance to view its many fresks recently unveiled, renovated and conserved. During the Enlightment era however, it was commonplace to try to cover and white wash the many old 1300-century fresks in churches to emphasize the theological purity of the places of worship.

Well, it is not difficult to realize why!
Now, here is one hell of a fresk that emerged and met the conservators: Say hello to Devil Tuttivillius! Just love that name!
Take a good look at his horrifying feet and bulging eyes!

Tuttivillius is sitting by the church entrance forever taking stock of people gossiping in church!
Note the angel trying to hit the devil on the head!

Here, some devilish gossiper has his tongue painfully pulled to the degree that he is involuntarily relieving himself! This poor fellow must really have been quite some blabbermouth!
They all are great proof of some 1300-century cartoons/graffiti styles with quite a bit of humour in their presumably deterring efforts!
( Painting by Johan Bartsch 1664.)
And, above the altar, this lovely apple cheeked and red nosed Jesus is happily enjoying
the Last Supper! Who is resting in his knee looking like he had a bit too much of the good wine from the calice and what kind of little strange animal is it on the plate ready to be devoured?

Who ever said that visiting old churches were boring?
A tuttivillius function was to collect in his sack any words omitted or stumbled over by a careless clerk, as well as to record the words of any who joked or gossiped in church.)
Tuttivillius to you all for now!
And remember to watch your tongues today and ever after!

Washington minutes after..

..the earthquake yesterday - 5.8 o in the Richter scale. People leaving buildings on Pennsylvania avenue - shaken but not stirred.
(Photo: Malcolm Ehrenpreis)

The spires of Washington National Cathedral snapped and broke in the quake. Thanks God no one was hurt or injured yesterday - according to preliminary reports..
(Photo: AP)

Young Obama..

I found these lovely photos of a very young Obama on the net.
But have no idea who snapped them on a happy day on Waikiki, Hawaii a long time ago. His grandma, perhaps?

Embrazing life and the whole world.. I sincerely hope and keep my fingers crossed that he will make it through these rocky times of global financial distress and he´ll be able to lead his huge country away from dreary, repulsive tea parties for another presidential round of global common sense.

Sitting by the dock of the bay..

Mid august morning on the Trouville jetty at Sandhamn, watching (as I have been doing ever since childhood) the clear water ripples..

..playing giddily over the sandy sea floor.
Same spot long ago - other ripples, primitive jetty, young, non-rippled sisters breakfasting on that same beach in their nighties ..