Gotland - Sweden

Very few Americans visit this island. I “discovered” Gotland while I was looking for information on beaches in Sweden, and came across an article on Gotland beaches on this web site for information on beaches.

During the Viking era, Gotland was a base for Viking exploration of Europe and Russia. More Vikinng artifacts have been found on Gotland than in any other part of Sweden. To this day, hordes of silver are still being discovered on Gotland. There is, on average, one find a year.

In the Middle Ages, Gotland became a trading center for the powerful Hanseatic League. The center of operations for this trading organization on Gotland was the town of Visby. The merchants of the League, primarily Germans, during the 12th century, built a defensive wall, with a moat, around the city. The wall is over 2 miles in length, Most of the wall is stil in tact. The wall, and the town it encircles is one of the b est representations of a Medieval walled city in Northern Europe. Unesco has declared the old town of Visby, and the walll, as a World Heritage site.

You can read the rest of this article by clicking on the link at the top of this post.

Italy and Croatia

This September we're going to Italy and Croatia. We want to do a farm stay in the Tuscan region, and stay in a villa near Dubrovnik in Croatia. We're like to hear from anyone who has done something similar.