The southeast - The Rough Guide to Sweden - page 226

Harry's Drottninggatan 63 T 011 10 80 80. One of the
busier spots for a drink with the usual array of signature
half-built brick walls, wooden wall panels, well-polished
floors - and well-oiled locals. The whole place mutates into
a nightclub on Fri & Sat which really draws the crowds.
Mon-Wed 3pm till late, Thurs 3pm-1am, Fri & Sat
noon-3am.
Highlander Inn St Persgatan 94 T 011 16 58 90.
Norrköping's answer to a real Scottish pub that's well known
for its large selection of beers and whiskies and is a popular
hangout with the locals. It also serves bar meals such as
Wiener schnitzel and pike-perch for 149-229kr. Mon-Thurs
noon-11pm, Fri & Sat noon-1am, Sun noon-10pm.

BARS
Bishops Arms Drottninggatan 2 T 011 36 41 20.
Undoubtedly the most popular pub in Norrköping, this
place has gone from strength to strength since opening in
1994 and boasts the biggest selection of beers and
whiskies in town. Outdoor seating in summer. Mon-Thurs
4pm-midnight, Fri & Sat 4pm-1am, Sun 4-10pm.
Cromwell House Kungsgatan 36 T 011 18 26 00. Dark,
faux-English pub full of stained glass and locals in a handy
location on the main street. Quite good-value grilled meat
dishes cost 139-239kr. There's also a busy nightclub here at
weekends. Mon 4-11pm, Tues-Thurs 4pm-midnight,
Fri 4pm-3am, Sat 1pm-3am, Sun 1-10pm.

6

Gotland
Tales of good times on GOTLAND are rife. Wherever you are in Sweden, one mention of
this ancient Baltic island 90km from the mainland will elicit a typical Swedish sigh,
followed by an anecdote about what a great place it is. You'll hear that the short
summer season is an exciting time to visit; that the place is hot, fun and lively. These
claims are largely true: the island has a distinctly youthful feel, with young, mobile
Stockholmers deserting the capital in summer for a boisterous time on its beaches. The
flower-power era still makes its presence felt with a smattering of elderly VW camper
vans lurching off the ferries, but shiny Saabs outnumber them fifty to one. During
summer, the bars, restaurants and campsites are packed, the streets swarm with revellers
and the sands are awash with bodies. It's not everyone's cup of tea: to avoid the hectic
summer altogether, come in late May or September when, depending on your level of
bravado, you might still manage to swim in the waters around the island. To experience
the setting at its most frenetic, come in August during Medieval Week (see p.233),
when people put a huge effort into dressing the part.

Brief history
Visby , Gotland's capital, has always been the scene of frenetic activity of some kind. Its
temperate climate and position attracted the Vikings as early as the sixth century, and
the lucrative trade routes they opened, from here through to Byzantium and western
Asia, guaranteed the island its prosperity. With the ending of Viking domination, a
“golden age” followed, with Gotland's inhabitants maintaining trading posts abroad
and signing treaties as equals with European and Asian leaders. However by the late
twelfth century, their autonomy had been undermined by the growing power of the
Hanseatic League . Under its influence, Visby became one of the great cities of medieval
Europe, as important as London or Paris, famed for its wealth and strategic power. A
contemporary ballad had it that “The Gotlanders weigh their gold with twenty-pound
weights. The pigs eat out of silver troughs and the women spin with golden distaffs.”

Gotland today
Today, all the revelry which keeps Visby buzzing from late June to the end of August
takes place against the spectacular backdrop of its medieval architecture; two hundred
or so Hanseatic warehouses are dotted among stone and wooden houses, the whole lot
nestled within its ancient walls.
There is a real charm to the rest of Gotland - rolling green countryside, forest-lined
roads, fine beaches and small fishing villages. Everywhere the rural skyline is dominated
by churches , the remnants of medieval settlements destroyed in the Danish invasion.
Nowhere else in Scandinavia holds such a concentration of medieval churches, and 93