Visby: On the Coast

I spent most of my Visby trip walking along the coast. Wind and hot sun meant I ended both days with a red face. I was "tomato faced Marilyn" again — a nickname given to me by a restaurant owner in Switzerland a few years ago. It seems funny to think of hot sun in Scandinavia at this time of year but it's balanced out by cold wind and Winter like shade temperatures. Worth me mentioning in case you had any illusions of a warm paradise!

I was sat on the beach, glanced down at my feet and happened to spot a fossil. And then another and another. The photo shows what I found in a single spot! I don't know a huge amount about fossils but I know the sorts of things to look for — my Mum collected fossils all her life and took me to Lyme Regis (good fossil destination) as a kid. Once your eye tunes into them, you start seeing more and more.

Trilobite tails were some of the most interesting fossils I found. That and one that looked like Salad Fingers...

I was by myself but I laughed out loud when I found it!! What are the chances! Massively less hilarious but no less impressive... a coral fossil.

It appears to be Rugose coral. Lots of these lay on the beach on like gnarly old fingers; some are worn smooth and others have a more defined pattern. Based on information I've found so far, each of the darker horizontal bands marks a year of growth.

My hands were a bit shrivelled from the cold (forgot to pack gloves). I came home with pockets full of sea glass. We usually find green but I got lucky this time because most of it was aqua, turquoise and blue.

I also shared a few photos of Visby's inner town in this post, from this trip.

If you are reading and can identify any of the fossils above, or improve my identification, please leave a comment below :)