After a more or elss good nights sleep (I woke up twice), time to get som breakfast befor they stop seving. It is 9 am and half an hour left for a good breakfast.
Then it is time to pack all stuff up again and check out. The walk to the ferry terminal is about 15 minutes. The ferry is just arriving when I get there. Check in was done by SMS and on the homepage. So the only thong I have to do is scan my ticket and wait.
My big luggage has to be checked in. No limits on pices of luggage as long as they are under 25 kg. On board only hand luggage/backpacks for safety reasons.
11:10 and they let everybody onboard. When booking you had to order a ticket for one part of the ferry. Depending on the placement, you payed more or less for a designated chair. I got a window seat and no neighbour, which is nice. More space to put stuff. I took a tour around the ferry, but the other seats were not really worth to pay more for.
The trip is about 3 hours long. There is really no anything you can do on the ferry. They have the standard food court and a souvenier shop. But the weather is nice, and you can enjoy being on deck.
Arriving in Visby at 15:15. From the terminal – where I had to wait some time for my luggage – it is a 900-meter walk to the Clarion Hotel Wisby. Cobblestone roads are not the best when you pull your luggage. The hotel is a nice old house, but most houses in Visby are old. I get a room in the newer part of the hotel.
After getting settled, the best thing to do is going out and explore the city. The weather is beautiful and warm. It is Midsommar day in Sweden, which is a holiday. But unfortunately I arrived too late on the island and all the festivities are already over. That would have been great, but there was no chance.
Walking through the parks and pass the old houses. This is definitely a place I can recommend visiting. I check out Almedalen, the botanical garden, take a walk along the city wall and the back into the city center.
A lot of church ruins in Visby. The biggest still standing church is Santa Maria cathedral. When I get there, it is closed. So logging the geocache there and walking to the Stora Torget (big marked), where most of the tourist trap restaurants are located. But that is true for every tourist destination. Last time I was in Visby was in January/February 2003, when I did a day trip from Stockholm, where I studied as an ERASMUS-student. Then, the city was cold and empty. Total opposite now.
I have arranged a Geocaching event close to my hotel, so time to get there. Everything set up. Unfortunately, I am sitting there alone for half an hour. Not the best idea to arrange a Geocaching event on one of the biggest holidays, where everybody is with family and friends.
After packing all up, I just have to find an open restaurant. One of the few is a pizza place “Strandgatans Café, Grill & Pizzeria”. A little bit of unorganized service, but the pizza was good.
Time to get back to the hotel and chill out before I explore the island tomorrow.