Tuesday, July 15, 2008

A tiny place in a not so big sea...

I have been to this place, as has EH and our Dad... an island north of Gotland in the Baltic Sea all made out of sand and gravel, filled with pines and birds and with a light house on the northern end. Lots of ships got stranded on the sand barriers and many sailors died around this island, called Gotska Sandön. There was no store, only a camping place without electricity I think, and you could wash your body and hair in the sea. Sun, sand, and sea - everywhere.

Gotska Sandön island

This photo really brings back memories of my teenage years. Macaroni and ketchup for lunch, cooked in the Trangia, and hopefully not with too much spilled T-röd (cooking alcohol, tastes horrible) in it. Two loaves of bread for a week, cheese that turned into something else without refrigeration, sweaty mornings in hot tents with too little fresh air, the hunt for the elusive 'sommargylling' bird, and all the old stories about pirates and Madame Söderlund that tricked poor sailors and raided their boats. I have some old black and white photos of the trip in 1983 I think, I should dig some up and scan them.

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