Gotland's Limestone Beaches

 On one of our first evenings in Gotland we went to a beach. Really, since it's an island, most of it is coast line. But, we're staying near the center of the island, so we had to make the arduous drive of 10-15 minutes...

The Baltic is supposedly a small, calm sea. But for a landlubber like myself the endless expanse to the horizon is impressive, and the small waves breaking are enough to make me wary of wandering out too far!

Also, that water? Fucking cold. Not like, nice on a hot day cool, simply freakin' cold.

But those waves, even if they aren't a pounding Pacific surf, have carved the cliffs and sea stacks around the island. Millenniums of ocean breezes and tides have shaped impressive drops and limestone pillars.

Further inland the old sea stacks are covered by moss and vines, and at a glance they might trick you into thinking that they are man made ruins.

Millions of years ago the stones of these cliffs were lain down in a shallow sea, layers of coral reef limestone and shale. As the sea slowly reclaims them she pulls out bit and pieces of old life - fossils. All over the beach were a mix of stones, the pale grey and white of limestone and fossils, dark stones from bands of contrasting stone, red granite bits dragged by glaciers from the far north and dropped on top of the island.

 More posts about our lovely trip here on Gotland are coming! (And no, I didn't forget about Iceland, that posts is just shaping up to be a little longer...)