Living in London

Life Boat / Tender	Tenders in the Water
Gotland Coastline	Muramaris Gardens

Today we visited Visby, Gotland, a place we had never heard of before this cruise. It was a beautiful day, and after St. Petersburg, the city looked extremely tidy and well kept. We left the ship in little boats called tenders. The tenders double as life rafts but there are not enough of them to hold all the passengers and crew. When Heather and I were poking around on a lower deck we found some big barrels that looked like they contained inflatable rafts, so I guess tenders are for the first few hundred lucky souls who make it to deck 5 and those crappy inflatable rafts are what they don’t tell you about until the “moment” comes so as not to panic you.

Anyway, the crew lowered the tenders from their suspended state, and pulled them up against a little loading area on deck 3 (at the water line) where about 50 of us boarded each one. Once into the city's dock area, we all dispensed to various tours. We took a bus out to the country and hiked back with about 20 of our fellow passengers. The coastline is wonderful, and the guide, a Swede who worked for the Swedish intelligence agency for 40 years during the cold war, really helped us understand what a great place Gotland is to live. We found ourselves thinking 'dacha in Visby' ... and hey it could happen.  After all, they have 22 flights in and out daily just between Sweden and the island.

The hike ended at Muramaris, the former home of a sculptor named Ellen Roosval that was an absolute inspiration. The house was small and cozy and had an amazing mantlepiece that she had designed, and fantastic gardens overlooking the Baltic. Again we could totally envision ourselves living there. Back in town, they were having their medieval week which seemed to involved a lot of dressing up and archery, but it wasn't really that interesting. This was a short visit to a memorable place.

The Independent has a wonderful article on the undiscovered island of Gotland:

"Many visitors never get beyond Visby, which is a pity, as the rest of the island is incredibly beautiful. Three miles north west of the city is Muramaris, an Italianate house with an incredibly romantic history. It was here where Ellen and Johnny Roosval fled early last century to avoid the scandal when Ellen, the wife of a Swedish diplomat, ran off with her son's young tutor. After roaming the world, they came to Gotland where they found this spectacular site overlooking the sea and immediately staked out their future house with champagne bottles. Contrary to expectations the love affair lasted all their lives. Ellen became a great sculptor and Johnny a professor of art history and Muramaris, which was built in 1917, a hub of artistic life. Now after a period of neglect (Ellen died in 1952) the house and garden are being lovingly restored and it is hoped that Muramaris will once again become an important arts centre."