The visit at Gammalsvenskby today was a highlight for the whole trip so far. I had no more expectation than to see the sign and the church. Anything else would just be luck. After the short stop at the Cossack island I went on my way down. I programmed my gps to avoid the large roads this time. I wanted to see a bit of the countryside. It was a beautiful ride but now I see that the infrastructure beside the larger roads is way behind. It will probably take for ages before Ukraine can get to the roads in the villages. So I once again was happy that my bike handles bad roads very nicely. Much better than all the Ladas I overtook the whole time.

Gammalsvenskby is located next to the river and is actually a part of the village Zmiyivka. The same thing that happened to the Swedish settlement also happened to a German one. Therefore there are different languages at the first sign.

Former Svenska kyrkan in the village. Notice the tow towers, one protestant and one orthodox. 

My gps hasen’t even got the small roads the whole way down to the church. But I had got the coordinates from Google Earth so I could put in a waypoint even if there were no roads.

As I arrived at the church, there was no one around. So I strolled around a bit in the yard and took some pictures. After a while; there came a boy who took this photo of me.

The Norberg family

Then I asked a man next door. I knew from different websites that some Swedish relative families’ lives closed by the church. He was not one of them, but he understood what I wanted. Unfortunately no one of the oldest generation, those who speak ancient Swedish was there today.

I was instead  invited in to the family Norberg. So I met Viktor and Anna. Viktor speaks a little Swedish and understand even more. Anna don’t want to speak, but understands some. Also their son speaks and understands a bit Swedish.

Preparing for dinner

From now on this will be a moment I will remember for my whole life. The joy and hospitality the embraced me was stunning. At once the brought out a lot of photos and started to tell me all about their family, their visit to Sweden some years ago and what they are doing today. After a while Viktor says, “mat, du måste ha mat”. I really hadn’t planned that, it was just four o’clock. But I couldn’t turn down their offer. Ravioli was served a bit later.

Sitting in the south of the Ukraine, eating a very simple, but good dinner, together with people I just met, and speaking Swedish, that was memorable.

I got this movie from the site for Gammalsvenskby. It shows the oldest generation speaking old Swedish.

After more than an hour it was time for me to leave. I gladly paid for the dinner; I know they are poor people. Then I saw Viktor holding a paper with names and number on. I understood, it was telephone number to his relatives in Sweden. Of course, I handed over my phone to him and helped him dial. The first didn’t answer. But the second number was successful. And Viktor was so happy. That made my day!

My mind was full of thoughts as I left.