...pictures hanging in the hallway...and the fragments of a song...

Certain things depress me- I don't know why- or I do know but I do not want to really explore or explain where the sentiment comes from.

Bad hotels are one of these things.  I can take a cheap, David Lynch hotel much better than I can take a fairly high priced hotel with no regard for its inhabitants.  By this I mean thin towels, worn out beds, cheap materials, windows that do not open, windows that look onto alleys, noise, bad carpeting, grout that looks mildewed, no ventilation- well I could go on and on. I believe I have stayed at some of the worst and also some of the best hotels.

Zok and I experienced both the good and the bad on our trip.

We also stayed at a friends summer home.  The house is a converted social hall.  So the space is open and the ceilings high.

There was coffee, good records, and a dvd collection.

I sort of just wanted to stay right there, but this was the beginning of our trip and I also needed to recognize that my wanting to stay stemmed from my feeling that I have not been home enough this year.

Perhaps I only have six months of the busy city living in me at a time.

Sometimes I wish I had friends nearby of the same age so I could check in and see if I am particularly lazy...

Or do I do too much?

Am I allowed to be tired when I am not a breeder?

 

...keys that jingle in your pocket...words that jangle in your head...

The island of Gotland is pretty small if you are driving.

We decided to just sleep in Visby though.

Zok and I were out of our element though, and I think we could not fully appreciate the island.  There are many ruins.  Visby itself is a walled city (not as pretty to my opinion as Chester).  The wall still has over forty towers, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The wall unlike Chester can not be walked upon.  The whole thing is about 4 kilometers.  The churches have parts that are from the 1200s, our hotel had parts from the 14th century.

The ruins are older than that.  This is not a time in history that I am knowledgeable of- so most of my reading ending in my thinking 'Gee that is old'.

As we were there at the very end of August, even the museums were closed.  We did stop as some Viking areas, stone markers, ring stones ala Stonehenge.  But Zok was really focused on his 'Loppis' quest.

No road sign was too small to go off road for a look.