And the News from Sweden...: Gratis På Mors Dag

The Mothers' Day greeting is either, "Gratis på mors dag," or "Glad mors dag." Congratulations on Mothers' Day or Happy Mothers' Day. Most words we capitalize, they do not and they never use an apostrophe to show possession because when the letter "s" is used it is almost always to show possessive form. Plural words end in "r" or sometimes "n."

In any case we hope you moms, grandmothers and future mothers had as nice a day as Olivia had. All four missionaries serving in Uppsala gave her cards with wonderful, heartfelt sentiments and an elder in Malmö even called her because she had been so kind when he lost the keys to his apartment and we had to relocate him and his companion until we could get a locksmith out to their apartment. She also got a little heart-shaped paper colored with red marker from Nandia, her little Mongolian friend to whom she gave a scripture case for her baptism. All the kids called, attempted to call or sent a gift card, so the day was quite complete.

Mothers' Day here is not for another couple of weeks, so she will get a double dose this month. Fathers' Day is in November and no one seems to care, so it passed by last year without our even noticing it.

What a busy week! We were able to help some of the missionaries whose apartments needed attention in one way or another and we ended the week in Gotland. The mission president asked the Clouses to take us to the island of Gotland before they go home and this was the best week for them. We have wanted to see the apartments on the island where the senior couple and the elders live, so this was a good opportunity for us.

Summer is rumored to be on its way which means very little darkness. Some of the apartments don't have blackout blinds or curtains, so we have been installing them. It's hard to be in bed by 10:00 when it still looks like 6:00 outside.

Elders Nielsen and Williams.
They would not have to wait a
billion years for something to
crawl out of the drain I cleaned!

Sisters Wilson and Wagner with their
blackout blind. We also exchanged an
old, beat up bed for a better one.

Elders Dean and Scott who got rid of their
old office chair which was stuffed in next
to the sisters' old bed. We got them a new one and cleaned out their closet. We contributed lots to the recycle dump that day!

Gotland (goat' lawnd) is situated off the east coast of Sweden and has been inhabited for thousands of years. It gets its name from the fact that the island has long been a refuge for wild goats that have long since been domesticated. We saw no goats, but lots of sheep in our travels. Gotland has been a major trading post for the inhabitants of the island as well as those who simply went there from their countries to trade and return. In Medieval times it was inhabited by Germans and was part of Sweden or Denmark, whichever had the most successful army at the time. It was also inhabited by the Vikings who brought treasure from all over the isles of Britain and the countries of Europe. Their hoards of treasure was incalculable. What is now known in the local museums and the Sweden Historical Museum in Stockholm would be worth millions of dollars just as precious metals. With the historical value, it would be impossible to calculate. Who knows how much more was possessed, but not now available?

To get to Gotland it is necessary to take a ferry ride of about 3 hours each way. We rode in the Clouse's car because it is smaller and cost less because it took up less room.

The ramp into the belly of the ferry

Our ferry, Destination Gotland

On the sun deck of the ferry. The wind was cold even though the sun was shining. We could have used more warm clothing. We are on the Baltic Sea, here.

The major city on the island is Visby. The old city is surrounded by a wall that was built in the mid 14th century and reinforced, added to, reconstructed, and rebuilt in various places over the centuries that followed. It is amazing to think that by the time Columbus sailed to the Americas, some of these structures were already old and crumbling.

A section of the wall in the center of the
city.

The main gate today is still
in use. A road large enough
for cars goes through it.

Another main gate still in use.

Along the wall are towers.
This one is built from the
ground up. Others are "hanging"
i.e. built onto the wall.

The Visby Dom Kyrka as seen from the wall.

One of the few towers visitors are allowed to go into.

A reinforced tower on the seaward side.
The holes are expanded to allow for cannons.

There are paths on the inside and on the outside of the wall.
This is inside, next to the botanical gardens.

This was once a major entry as
it enters from the port to what was
an open-air market and shops.

The Powder Tower is older
than the wall by 100+ years.
It was later incorporated into
the wall. It is so named because
in the 18th century it was a gun
powder magazine. Later it was a
Jail. The wall terminates here today.

These concrete goats are everywhere that the city does not want cars to drive. Some places have several to also keep out mopeds and motorcycles.

There are over 100 churches on the small island, most are still standing and still in use. We only visited the Visby Dom Kyrka, Stenkyrka, and Fårö. A dom kyrka (dome shirka) is the cathedral for the diocese and is usually massive and ornate. This one is both, though not as ornate inside as others we have visited. However, the stone images on the outside of the church are magnificent. Inside is artwork from the 12th and 13th centuries as well as the 18th century. The contrast is stark. The earlier pieces, both paint and wood carvings are almost childlike. The later pieces are much more representational. All are very European.

The Dom Kyrka from the old town square.
Behind the buildings on the right is the
wall of the old city. Note the heavy
German influence in the architecture.

The massive Dom Kyrka

Stone carving of St. Mary and
babe.

St. Anne, the mother of Mary.

One of the many gargoyles

Bas relief around one of the columns

Ancient wooden sculpture, painted and guilded.

Probably 12th century depiction
of Adam and Eve's expulsion from
the Garden of Eden

The organ built in 1599 is in the final stages
of being restored. A recital is scheduled later
this Spring.

The alter piece is carved and painted wood
sculpture of the Last Supper. To the sides
are the apostles who wrote the Gospels
and named angels such as Gabriel and
Michael.

A short distance from the Dom Kyrka is the Stora Torget (stora toryet meaning the stone tower). It is not a tower, but the ruins of a beautiful, monumental church. There are still gravestone markers, a baptismal font and some other original items, but mostly just the skeleton. The skill that went into these old buildings is amazing to me. It is all done by hand and yet the workmanship is not only beautiful, but absolutely precise.

From the outside

Inside

The speck at the end is Olivia with her hands outstretched.
Gives some perspective

By the baptismal font

The Stenkyrka (sten'-shirka meaning stone church) was built in the 12th century and has the oldest grave site in Gotland. Most of the churches in the northern part of the island are very similar in architecture. This one has a baptismal font for sprinkling babies from the 12th century. There are murals that are almost impossible to make out from the 13th and 14th centuries. The pulpit and pew paintings are from the 17th century.

Outside the Stenkyrka from different perspectives.

The organ and paintings in front of it.

Pews with paintings on the sides. It is
hard to see, but the walls have ancient
murals that are mostly faded.

Closer view of pews

Alter piece is classic 14th century.

Sister Clouse is preaching
about something of which I
don't wish to repent, it seems!

Some of the less faded murals

The arches are a work of art

Arches and murals

The sheep are horned and in need of shearing. This is just outside of the church.

Fårö Kyrka

North of the island of Gotland is a smaller island known as Fårö (fore'-uh). The Fårö kyrka was built during the 13th century, but fell into ruin. It was reconstructed in 1858 when a number of older structures were restored. It boasts of having the grave of the movie producer/director Ingmar Bergman and his 7th wife, Ingrid (not to be confused with the movie actress from Sweden who was also Ingrid Bergman). There is a Bergman museum across the street, but we didn't go inside it. The church also has art from different centuries, most notable are paintings, one from 1618 (close to the actual event) and the other from 1767(when the first one was discovered) depicting the tale of 15 seal hunters who were crossing the ice when it broke away. Three were able to jump off and went to a nearby village. The other 12 were rescued two weeks later in the archipelago of Stockholm. They apparently lived on the meat and blubber of the seals and water from the ice upon which they were floating.

This is the 1618 painting and narrative of the 15 seal hunters.

Throughout the Gotland churches there
are nautical depictions, such a angels
with anchors or other beings with boats
or sails. This has a ship in the middle
hanging from the ceiling.

Ingmar Bergman's grave

The island of Fårö is best known for its rock formations. They are called chalk, though they look like the formations you might see around Pyramid Lake or Mono Lake.

The most famous rock formation. To us
it looks like a dog peering over its left
shoulder.

Many of the formations are in layers

Look closely and you can find fossils
of shells and maybe snails or coral in
the limestone. This is a fossil collector's
dreamland.

This is called the virgin rock or sacrifice. The legend is
that the king's daughter fell in love with a peasant. The king
had the girl put on the top of the rock. Then he told the lad that if he
could carry his daughter from the top of the rock safely to the bottom
he could marry her. Part way down an arrow pierced the young man's
head and they both fell to their death. The arrow was from the king's bow.

This little island is also known for quaint fishing villages that are vacant until summer. We loved visiting this and one other on the island.

This little shop was open and featured
fresh salmon, shrimp and albacore as
well as smoked fish and shrimp. We
bought bottled water.

Olivia and Sister Clouse in a boat that
has seen better days

A farm house and out buildings with
thatched roofs.

Quaint little fishing village.

With the sea reflecting on the glass, the windows looked almost like
impressionist paintings

Back on the main island we enjoyed the sunset at the Högklint, a cliff where there is a ledge called Getsvelten (starving goat). The sunset was almost pastel as the wind died and the sunlight filtered through the clouds which reflected the obscured rays off the ocean. The ledge is so named because goats would jump down onto the ledge to get to the lush grass, but couldn't get back up, so they starved to death.

Of course, photos don't do it justice

At the edge of the Högklint

The pastel colors were beautiful

Get the picture?

More sunset. The banisters lead to the Getsvelten

I am walking on the Getsvelten

More of the Getsvelten

I think this was taken on the Navajo
Reservation. Not sure how it got here.

More beauty. Sunset's nice, too.

When the sun fell below the clouds.

In Visby we met with the senior couple there and looked over their apartment so we have an idea of what it is like. Very nice, by the way. We also visited the elders and brought them some bedding. While there, I repaired a light fixture. Later we took them to lunch and then to an ice cream shop that boasts over 300 flavors (alert: the Rocky Road has marshmallows, but not nuts. Try the cherry!).