travelogue: gotland, sweden's gem part 1 (jakobs house and area)

i was so happy to return to gotland again.  maybe it's the beautiful wild beaches.  maybe it's the farm to table spots that populate the island, like prima gard and lilla bjers.  maybe it's the light.  whatever the reason, i am smitten with gotland and so are the rest of us.

jakobs

we stayed in a big house with good friends.  lazy mornings eating breakfast outdoors, dinners too. cooking for ourselves allowed us to pretend to be gotlanders, buying food at the farm shops and smokeries, and stocking up on booze (we had to be conscious of time, the boys often running in a hurry to get to the systembolaget before it closed at 3pm!).  sometimes a game of kubb (a swedish game involving woodblocks... and a stickler for rules but i won't say who ;)).  there was a bird we called charlie and a huge patch of poppies.

the kiddos were mostly outside, happy exploring the barn, ximena picking wildflowers to press.  i had much to photograph, such an incredible place.  we couldn't have been more happy with this holiday house.  a fully fitted kitchen, pantry and big dining room table. most of our meals, taken outdoors, involved the use of the barbecue.  bedrooms are spacious yet cozy, and with one bathroom two families is the right amount of people.  oh, and the sauna in the barn was used too, a treat for the swedes in our group.

kids made dessert one night :)

our neighbours included some horses and a shy little calf.  a few times, with our milk jug in hand, we wandered down the lane to visit with rune, a friendly dairy farmer. he showed us how to collect the milk and use the honesty box for payment... just 10kr for a litre, a country bargain.  

djupvik

down another lane from the house is the coast with places to swim.  at djupvik, there's little wooden huts, smoked fish and a sheepskin shop too.

and the djupvik hotel, the "local" hangout with an outdoor deck facing the ocean, we had front row seats to the sunset. with drinks in hand, of course, like gin and tonics and aperol spritz.  

gotland part 2, more of the western coast.