Sweden, September, 2016

Beautiful Old Town Stockholm

Greetings from the medieval walled city of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland!

When I last posted I was in Bergen, Norway getting ready to go to the fjords, however, when a storm front rolled in, I fled to sunny Sweden.

The sunset outside the walled city of Visby

Art pen of me on Gustav's plane

I started my Swedish trip with a bang with the amazing generosity of Gustav.  He and I first met at the school of the world (SOTW) surfing camp in Jaco, Costa Rica almost two years ago.  When he saw I was near on Facebook, he offered to take me flying to the Swedish countryside on a four seat plane.  How could anyone refuse that invite???

Bikes on the honor system on a remote island

Gustav picked me up at 8am and informed me that I was the navigator for the trip, primarily because I was occupying the seat that he normally rested his maps on.  The preflight instructions were “learn how to unlatch the door in case we crash, wear this life preserver in case we end up in a lake, and don’t touch the foot pedals or we will die.”  He failed to mention to put my phone in airplane mode, but I was suitably terrified to do it on my own.

We flew to a tiny island of Visingsö on a tiny lake named Vättern.  The flight started with fuel visibly spilling out to the left wing just after takeoff.  Gustav informed me this should not be a problem.  Not really knowing what to do at this point, I confirmed my phone was in airplane mode.

Cycling the island with Gustav

When we approached the tiny island, Gustav asked if I could see the windsock at the airport.  I replied no, because I did not even see the airport.  He proceeded to land, and I realized why I did not see the sock.  It turns out the ‘airport’ was really just a grassy stretch on the coast.  When Gustav says, let's go to the countryside … he really means it!

Visby self portrait on the outer wall while cycling

On the island, we jumped on bikes that were parked next to a field with a painted sign of 20 crowns per day, which is around $2.  We road around white picket fences and frolicking horses.  At one point Gustav walked into a barn, talked to a local, and returned with 4 apples.  This place is a strait out of a movie fantasy sequence.

Upon our safe return to land, I began my exploration of Stockholm.  The weather was blue skies and 65F (18C).  This time of year, it should have been cold and rainy, but I hit the jackpot during my four day stay.

The highpoint of my visit to this gorgeous capital was of course the ABBA museum.  I have been whistling disco hits ever since.

On Visby I rented a bike and rode around the ancient walled city.  My life was in ruins and I could not be happier.

The opening view at the amazing ABBA museum