September 9, 2019

Exploring northern Gotland

On Wednesday we woke up to another beautiful morning on Gotland and after breakfast we jumped in the car and headed out to explore the areas north from Visby. First, we headed to see the biggest rauk on Gotland, Jungfrun. A rauk is a column-like landform in Sweden and Norway, often equivalent to a stack. The limestone rauks of Gotland in the Baltic Sea are among the best-known examples. In the same area (Lickershamn) where the rauk was located we also found some lovely fishing huts. Next, we visited Roma kloster och kungsgård (Roma abbey and crown estate manor). The ruined Cistercian abbey and a crown estate are located in Roma. The abbey was built in the 12th century. After the Reformation, its lands were confiscated by the Crown and subsequently turned into a crown estate. Apart from the ruined church, the estate includes a manor house built in 1733 for the crown estate.

I clearly need lens hood for taking pictures against the light

Our next stop was the Dunbobi general store museum. This general store located in Dalhem was built in 1903 and in 1922 it was extended with living quarters. The store was operational until 1974 and the last storekeeper moved out of the house in 1983. The building was renovated in 1986 to1988 and has since then been used as an apartment and museum. In 1986, the building became a protected building. The museum depicts what a general store in the countryside was like in the early 1900s. The museum is privately owned and when we visited, the old gentleman that owns the place was very enthusiastic to present some of the things the museum houses. The museum is filled to the brims with all things imaginable, and well worth a visit.

Our final stop for the afternoon was Lummelundagrottan. This cave hadn’t been explored more than 130 feet beyond the cave entrance until 1948, when three schoolboys discovered another entrance to what turned out to be one of the longest caverns in Sweden. The cave is a marvel of nature with magical halls, stunning stalactites and fossils. The explored part of the cave is around 4.5 km long, and exploration further into the cave continues. Before venturing into the cave, we had a late lunch at the café on the grounds. The cave was well worth a visit and the stories about the boys that first found and explored the cave were fascinating. While driving around the island we also visited a small delicacy store, Gotlands Delikatesser. It is a tiny farm shop with no actual service, you simply go in, collect what you want and pay for the products either in cash or with Swish mobile payment. I bought ramsons pesto, almond pesto, ramsons vinaigrette, ramsons salt and dewberry jam.