Did you ever fantasize about bicycling on a
country road in the glow of the setting sun at 10:30 at night?
In Scandinavia, summer days continue into long
" timeless" evenings which are perfect for bicycling ,
canoeing or hiking.
I invite you to come bicycling on the Swedish
island of Gotland! The island is also referred to as " the
Pearl of the Baltic Sea" and is, in my mind truly, a magical
place. It is the ideal place to explore by bicycle and has long been
a bicycle paradise for Scandinavians. Gotland is 75 miles long by 35
miles at its widest part and is almost entirely flat. The island
boasts of more sunny days than in other parts of Scandinavia and the
cooling waves of the sea are never too far away.
"Gotland was first discovered by a man named
Tjelvar. At that time Gotland was bewitched so that it sank into the
sea by day and rose again at night. But this man was the first to
bring fire to the land, since then it has never sunk".
This is the account of the Guta Saga, a history of
Gotland put down in writing in the 13th century. To this day, the
island of Gotland appears enchanted with its wealth of memories of
the past. The medieval wall around the city of Visby is a striking
remnant of a time in history when the city was a powerful Hanseatic
port and is one of Europe's best preserved structures from the
Middle Ages. It was put on UNESCO's World Heritage List as a unique
cultural treasure.
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