Breakfast in a good company at Bunge air base, before driving to Visby:
The weather was going to be nice, and therefore Flemming and I decided to spend the day in Visby, so that we could walk around the town as long as we wanted and without getting wet. We entered the town via Österport – The East Gate of the Visby City Wall that was built during 13th – 14th centuries:
The wall is 3.44 km long, and it is the strongest, most expensive, and best preserved medieval city wall in Scandinavia. Together with the old town of Visby, it is a part of Visby World Heritage Site. Visby is often called “the city of roses and ruins”: roses thrive on the limestone island, and the city is filled with medieval ruins. Parts of the town are located on the hills, and offer magnificent views:
Flemming wanted to have a tour around the city wall, and for me it wasn’t the first visit, so I went shopping. We agreed to meet later for lunch. I paid more attention to the small things this time, like cosy courtyards:
The Art Museum was closed due to COVID-19, but they have a small permanent exhibition in front of the museum. On the photo below is a work called “The watcher in the woods” otherwise known as “Flickan och Fågeln” in Swedish, by Jessica Lundeberg. I first saw the motives when I pointed my camera at the wall:
The artwork is intended to be seen as a fragmentary memory, a photo that has long been hidden in greenery, a “fairytale” in the middle of the forest, a meeting that can be both a little scary and enticing at the same time.
In Visby, the shops are mostly about art:
Often it is a combination of an art gallery together with a small cafe or a restaurant which I find delightful.
Old gates that survived the course of time:
We met for lunch at “Crêperie & Logi“, my favourite spot in Visby (a small building in the far center on the photo below). It is located on the Wallérs Plats, and has 2 terraces and a dining room.
Flemming and I had a couple of light summer cocktails:
And the galettes were mouthwatering:
We got a table on the back side terrace, where we were shielded from the wind:
I would go there again and again; they make excellent food.
After lunch, we walked to Visby Cathedral.
Visby Cathedral was built as a church for German traders in Visby. It was financed by a fee that every German trader arriving in Visby had to pay. Construction began at the end of the 12th century, and the church was inaugurated in 1225.
It is the only survived medieval church in Visby, though not much is left of the original interior. There are 400 graves under the church floor. We had a long walk, looking at the massive grave stones on the floor – many of them told stories about people buried under them.
Nowadays, many churches exhibit spiritual art, which was also the case in the cathedral. One of them, I liked very much:
After the church, we went for a stroll through Visby:
Those “sheep” were everywhere – a nice way to block a road:
The ruins of Saint Catherine’s church from 13th century:
We had a nice, long and lazy day in Visby. Coffee and ice-cream before going back to our hangar in Bunge:
We spent our evening in the hangar, walking around all those amazing aircraft and taking pictures of them from different angles. Draken in the sunlight:
