My fellow Travellati,
Just a quick note to let you know that the Early Bird pricing for our Papa's Paris Tour ends February 28 – save $608 if you register now. You know you want to!
Upcoming Hemingway's Paris talks:
Wednesday, 2/15/17, 6:30:00 PM Tuckahoe Public Library
Thursday, 2/16/17, 7:00 PM Dobbs Ferry Public Library
Saturday, 2/18/17, 2:30 PM Pound Ridge Library
Thursday, 2/23/17, 6:30 PM North Castle Public Library
The medieval ramparts that surround the city of Visby, the capital of Gotland; a house and garden in Visby; its garden gate.
One of my favorite things about travel is when I later see a movie or TV show set in a place I have been and recognize certain streets or buildings – it makes the show that much more real and three dimensional for me.
A still from The Inspector and the Sea, a German TV series, taken in Visby's central square.
I was just thinking about this last night watching the pilot episode of the German blockbuster series, The Inspector and the Sea, shown on the France 24 channel (66-2 WNYJ2 in the NYC area). Although it is a German series and all the characters speak German, it is set on the Swedish island of Gotland, just south of Stockholm. Many of the scenes take place in Gotland’s charming and ancient capital, Visby.
Gotland Island, part of Sweden, sits in the middle of the Baltic Sea south of Stockholm.
I was in Visby a few years back and was quite charmed by the place, even though I arrived the same week as all the Stockholmers on their annual party pilgrimage. But even so, it wasn’t much busier than Tarrytown towards Halloween when the tourists come up from New York City. I just avoided the cafés by the waterfront with the throbbing, thumping noise they now call "music."
The first place I went was the library to check my emails – the place was flooded with a happy noise as kids and their parents picked out books for their stay on the island. A knitted scarf, several yards long, hung from the ceiling with a pair of knitting needles and a skein of yarn attached at its bottommost end, awaiting a bored or creative patron to continue it.
A knight takes his horse for a walk followed by an adoring damsel; a wooden statue in the Viking Museum; the iron scrollwork of the only operational church in Visby -- most are in ruins.
Of course, I noticed the knitting store on the island and couldn’t help but pick up a beautiful skein in heathery blues and greens reminiscent of the landscape. The island of Gotland has a large population of sheep and had been the center of a cottage industry of knitwear during the days of the Hanseatic league from the 13th to 15th centuries. The ladies of Gotland knitted up sweaters, bundles of which were then carried on ships to various cities on the Baltic Sea for the purposes of trade. Very fine examples of such knitting are on view at the Nordic Museum in Stockhom.
I remember sitting at the bar of an outdoor café on the main square protected by an awning as it drizzled and fantasized, as I always do when in a charming place, what it would be like to live there. Pretty dark and boring in the winter, I guess, but lovely in the summer.
Make your own photographic memories this June 17-25 as we travel into the past to visit Papa’s Paris, in which we run into Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and the Fitzgeralds. We eat, we drink, we dance, and generally make merry. Papa would have approved. Reserve your place by February 28 to take advantage of our Early Bird pricing.
All photos by Liz Kemble except the TV still.
As always, happy travels!
Liz
Elizabeth Kemble
Founder
Travellati Tours
be transported
1-914-909-5079
liz@travellati.com