Day 6 – Bergen Norway to Visby (Gotland) Sweden

The day began with another lovely buffet breakfast followed by a wonderful lecture by Charles Doherty, The Hanseatic League and the Baltic. Charles’ lecture was a great primer for our tour of the Hanseatic Museum where we had the close-up and personal view of the life of a Hanseatic apprentice. The bunks were so small where at least two-three apprentices were locked in their sleeping quarters until the master decided they needed to work. From the Hanseatic Museum we walked back to the hotel and boarded the bus to take us to Troldhaugen, home of a great Norwegian composer, Edvard Greig. Our group was honored by a private piano concert by Norway’s best pianist whose interpretation of Greig’s music was phenomenal.

From Troldhaugen, we went to the airport to board our jet and be off to Sweden. We landed at the small airport in Visby, on the island of Gotland. Our guides greeted us with bags of fruit and lead us on a short walking tour of the only walled town in Sweden. There are approximately 3000 people living in homes within the ancient fortress. Our tour took us to the ruins of a church where a choir filled the space with music and song. Swedes love to sing, so we’re told, and there are many who sing in local choirs. We continued on our walking tour of the town where our last stop was a wonderful hotel situated in a renovated medival warehouse. Our room is on floor 4 (the 5^th floor, as floor numbering begins with 0), with a lovely winding staircase up to the bedroom loft. Napped for a couple hours before gathering in the lobby to meet our host family. We were introduced to Mats Jansson who drove us to his home where we were presented with a feast. Most of the vegetables were grown by Greta his wife, who made both sesame bread and traditional Swedish flatbread from scratch. Dining with a local family was a very unique experience. Their 17 year old daughter is interested in dance. She and her dancing team are competing in world championships in Europe next October. Their neighbors also attended along with their 10 year old daughter, Ellen, who left her email address and picture with me to take to my 10 year old granddaughter. Mats took a few of us on a mini-tour of other parts of the city we had not seen as he guided us back to our hotel. I had forgotten the scarves that I brought for our host family, so he waited patiently in the lobby with Don while I retrieved them and offered my gifts in appreciation.