Day 2 - Visby to Bungge

Slept fairly well though I forgot to draw the curtains, sure does get light early, so I woke at 4,6 and eventually just before 8. I had paid for breakfast so I had some museli and bread with a cup of tea. Popped next door to the tourist office and got a list of places to stay on the island, was on the road about 0930

Seems that I will be following the "Gotladen". Its very well marked both on my map and with lots of signposts. Headed North out of Visby and followed the coast with a few detours inland. Wonderful weather today. Blue skies and sun is shining though its not too hot. Put on some suntan lotion as you can burn on a day like this. Didn't have any luck finding lunch until I got to Farosund where I had a huge pytta panna. Lady who made it was all smiles and I think I got an extra large portion because she could see I was cycling.

Susie, Fredrik and I have been here before when we visited the open air museum at Bunge which is where I am staying tonight. Not the museum of course but the hostel. Dropped off most of the weight in my room before catching the ferry over to Faro. Didn't really give myself enough time to see the whole island as I underestimated the distances. Also there is nowhere to eat so I had to get back to the ICA supermarket before it closed. After the problems of today I must prioritize food and making sure I have all that I need. I'm also tired and have done 145km today so I feel I have done enough.

Made some pasta and read my book. It's forecast to rain tomorrow in the afternoon so I plan to make an early start.

Shared the "barracks" with a couple of other couples though niether of them were very communicative. One couple set themselves up in the kitchen and watched TV so I took my food back to the room. I had bought myself a drink and promptly spilt it all over tyhe bed. Spent ages cleaning it all up and needless to say the quilt cover was soaked so once again I had to sleep in my clothes!!

One funny thing happened earlier that I forgot to mention. I was bombing along the road on Faro when I was stopped by a young lady in a rental car who was lost. She showed me where she wanted to gp and I wipped out my map to show her were to go. So off I went confident that I had given her the correct directions only to come to a dead end!! So we both turned around and I looked again and gave her some new directions and off she went. 30 minutes later as I was cycling back towards the road to the ferry she came towards me, gave me a beep and a wave, and roared on past. No idea where she was going because she certainly wasnt going towards where she had asked me directions for!!

Day 1 - Stockholm to Visby

It seems strange to start a bike ride at a bus stop but thats exactly how this one was determined to start.

I had dropped in on Thursday to the bike shop and they did a quick fix on the brakes (I didnt really have any they said), however the mechanic was rather concerned about the chain as it was all looking rather worn out. Anywayhe suggested that I book the bike in for a proper service but sadly the next available wouldnt be until the 2nd week in June which didnt really help as I was planning on getting away next weekend. So he did some adjustments and and left it at that.

Not fully convinced I took the bike out for a spin and low and behold the chain jumped all over the place when I applied the least bit of pressure going uphill. So I took the bike back in on Saturday and threw myself at their feet and begged them to fix it as I was going to go away the next day. They came up trumps and replaced the back cogs but of course I didnt get to the shop in time to pick it up before it closed.

So Sunday morning I started the bike ride at the bus stop because I dont actually have a bike.

Picked up the bike and headed south. I had been to Nynashamn a couple of times and the ferry didnt go until 2000 so I had at least 6 hours to get there. Plenty of time to enjoy the ride through the countryside south of Stockholm except it drizzled and rained the whole time. Ended up arriving with over 2 hours to spare so I treated myself to a pizza (huge!, it didnt even fit on the plate) before finally going on board along with all the cars.

The trip over was very uneventful and arrived at just gone 2300. Found the Vandrahem quite easily as it is literally opposite the ferry terminal and is the old jail (that was in use until fairly recently). Took longer to locate my keys (had to ask a group of ladies on a horticultral trip who showed me where they had gotten theirs). Sadly though there was no linen even though I had requested some so I was forced to have a shower and then dry myself with my cycling shirt. Slept in my tracksuit and a t-shirt in an old cell.

Dont really know how much distance I did today because the computer packed in but I reckon about 70-80km