More Ven

Ven is a small island between Sweden and Denmark. To get there we have to drive about 20 minutes north from Lund and take the ferry across. I have a friend who owns a house on the beach and we are visiting him for a few days. The weather has been fantastic.

Things went bad at the end of the Gotland days as I came down with a bad flu. The whole day before the ship sailed for mainland I was feverish in bed and it got worse. During the passage I got a really bad headache. But somehow it lifted while the kids were eating junk food in Oskarshamn and I decided to attempt to drive to Lund. By the time we got to Växjö an hour and a half later I was pretty beat. But some apple pie and tea seemed to give me the little energy spark I needed to continue. Then heavy rain showers started to fall but I kind of sunk into the rythm of the road and plunged on. By 1.30 am we were finally home.

Yesterday was my mothers birthday so we bought her a cake and a gift. Played badminton, dart and kubb (a Gotland game?) at the house. In the late afternoon we went swimming in the nearby fishing harbor. It is actually a good spot for swimming but the water is not really that warm yet.

Today it was my parents' 50 yrs wedding anniversary so we had a small party at the house. Went for another swim in the harbor.

Today was the mandatory Kneippbyn Day. It's a combined amusement - swimming park just outside Visby. It's an intense day, and I'm glad when it's behind me. I'm waiting for the day when I can drop off the kids at the gate and pick them up 6 hrs later. In the evening we went for a slow walk through town. All the restaurants seemd to be full. Suddenly I heard the voice of an old band member performing in a bar. Some guys never give up... or move on.

The weather was not so good this morning so we stayed in town. Not much happened before lunch. In the afternoon we went to the local history museum. Looking at the exhibition is going through the motions every year. But upstairs they have a kind of science fair for kids, the most popular being animated film making. Afterwards we went to the botanical gardens at the sea front. In the evening the weather improved a lot and we went for a walk around the city.

My parents and sister's family live on Gotland. We try to visit them every summer. Gotland is a large island in the sea east of Sweden. It's a famous vacation spot with good beaches and a walled medieval city called Visby. Visby is on UN's world heritage list. To get there we have to drive across Sweden and take a ferry across. We stay in my parents' summer house in Själsö about ten minutes drive up the coast north of Visby. The house is situated on a ledge above the beach. No swimming beaches close by, only a small fishing harbor and a rocky sea front.

Arrived on Tuesday just after midnight. On Wednesday we went shopping and visited my sister. My parents are on mainland Sweden but will be back on Monday. On Thursday we went to a new beach place near the house and played some minigolf. The kids tried swimming in the sea. It was a bit windy, though. Today the weather was deteriorating so we decided to spend the night in my parents' apartment in Visby. They have just moved to a brand new complex opposite the city wall. Went with the kids to check out the sailing ship "Göteborg" that's visiting Visby. It's a new ship but built as a copy of an 18th century ship that sailed for the Swedish East India Company. It started to rain really hard but we took cover below deck.