Eke Petsarve 716

A Gotland Summer Dream in Southern Gotland

A rurally situated summer dream in southern Gotland, dating back to 1780, with a beautiful, well-preserved two-story house full of period details, nestled in a lush garden with a traditional Gotland bulhus.

I drive slowly through the early summer-green landscape of Gotland, and once I arrive, I step through the welcoming gate in the fence that surrounds the small homestead. Today, I’m alone here, and I immediately settle down to listen to the nightingale singing in the eastern corner of the garden, just behind the beautiful, characteristic bulhus with its thatched roof.

Today, on the 12th of May, the sun is out, showing itself after an unusually chilly spring. I sit on the limestone slab outside the front doors of the whitewashed main house and simply take it all in. A bumblebee buzzes in the rosebush that has just unfolded its leaves, and a swallow has chicks tucked under the roof tiles at the ridge of the red wing. The lilacs are about to bloom, heavy with purple and white buds. Now, summer stands at the doorstep, and warm winds fill the house with life after its winter slumber.