FIRST DAY

These are all photos taken on our first day in Visby. 

I've to talk a little about the photo above with the black cat. We were actually walking along the main street when we spotted the cat and as I wanted to pet it (I missed my own cat at home), we followed it into this narrow lane above. Just as we finally caught up with it and I was reaching down to tickle its cheek, somewhere from behind us came a friendly "hej hej" (hello in Swedish). We turned around and there was this nice smiley lady waving from an open window from the house behind us with her husband and golden retriever in toil. Then came a "You speak English? Where're you from?" and while we were busy smiling and leaning over her window making introductions, she added, "You like beer? Come, you must have some local beer", and she started pouring out plastic cups of beer which she handed to us over the window.

We chit-chatted and she told us that she had worked in the States for a long time and her health had suffered, so after she came back to Stockholm the doctor advised her to keep stress away so she moved to Visby and has been living there ever since. She ended up drawing out a whole walking itinerary of the town for us, "First you walk here, you'll get a fantastic view of the sea and the town... ...then turn in here to see the botanical garden, I like a stroll there in the evenings... ...then when you turn here towards the sea you stop right here and kiss, it's tradition, all wedding couples will kiss here... ..."

She also told us to take a shot of the black house (one above with the black cat) as it's one of the oldest houses in town, possibly as old as the ring wall itself. You can tell how old it is by the rainwater gutter (found just below where roof ends) which is made from pure wood, as compared to the modern metallic ones nowadays. 

She then waved us off with a "Bye bye, I hope you enjoy Visby!", and holding the map she's just drawn out for us, we felt so lucky and gleeful, as though we've been let in on a bit of local secret (or maybe it's just from the beer taking effect).

This is the restaurant where we finally stopped to have dinner. The Swedish lady actually recommended another local favourite but when we took a peep at the menu, the specialty was alas, fish! And worse still, the signature dish was thick fish broth with bread, which I could have fainted from (or puked). HC laughed his head off and suggested the restaurant next door, which was serving safer foods like pizza and pasta.

This must have been nearing 8pm, the evening sun made everything look so pretty.

All the restaurants in Sweden have these fleece blankets for alfresco diners, which I wrapped around myself like an Eskimo until food came.

Watching the sunset near the Visby harbour after dinner.

This is the cabin where we stayed, it was small but very cozy. HC's looking like a Pizza Hut delivery boy because the pizza for dinner was too huge and we couldn't finish it, so we tapao-ed(see "take-away").