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THE BOOK OF TRAVEL TO NORWAY AND SWEDEN 6
Well, I'm going to write about the hotel in Falun this time.
Hisako found and arranged that cheap air tickets for us, so I arranged the
hotel booking.
In Norway, it was easy to find suitable hotel by the internet, but Sweden, it
was so difficult for me. You know, I had no information about Falun then.
So again I write "Please help me mail" to Maggane. She kindly booked a
hotel for us.
In that season before summer, there's a "week-end rate" in Norway and Sweden.
You can stay a hotel much cheaper in week-ends. It was incredible for us, for in
Japan, it's much more expensive in week-ends.
We planed to visit Norway in the week-end, but not in Sweden.
However, the rate Maggane told us was very cheap. "Why is it so cheap?"
We felt a little uneasy.
But it was a very nice hotel. We could stay in a lovely and clean room. When we checked
out, we were told that Maggane negotiated with the hotel to apply the week-end rate
for our stay. We really thanked her!
Thank you again, Maggane!
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THE BOOK OF TRAVEL TO NORWAY AND SWEDEN 7
The most interesting place we visited in Sweden was "Carl Larsson's House".
He was a famous Swedish artist. His wife was a great artist, too, and they made a
wonderful house by themselves.
Yes, the house was more than a house of a famous artist. It was an art itself.
Carl's wife gave up her carrier as an artist, and worked for Carl and their children.
But she didn't give up being an artist. Her works were everywhere in their house.
They painted the wall, and put a lot of beautiful furniture and tapestries made by
them. Of course, Carl's paintings were very beautiful, but I prefer his wife's handcrafts.
Her clear colors are really modern, and fresh even now.
I felt like to be talked by her "you can do anything if you want to and try
your best, even if you're a just a housewife!" Yes, that's right, thank you!
I'll do my best!
Carl was interested in Japan and Japanese art, and there were many Japanese arts
like
"Ukiyoe". One of his favorite color vermilion reminded me japanese.
In this house, a cute girl with a lovely old dress guided us. There're many travelers
from many countries.
By the way, we were surprised to see very small beds in this house. They looked like
baby beds. An active American lady asked to the guide, "Why, were they so small?
It's too small for an adult!" The guide smiled and answered, "No, they're
not so small. Of course, they're smaller than us now, but this bed is too small,
you're right. They didn't lie down. They just sit on the bed, and leaned on the wall.
They believed that their spirit would be stolen if they lie down and sleep."
"Wow!" We were surprised again. How could they sleep well?
I bought some post cards and calendars for me and my friends.
Well, you should visit "Carl Larsson's House" when you go to Sweden!
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THE BOOK OF TRAVEL TO NORWAY AND SWEDEN 8
We enjoyed watching cats and sightseeing, and of course shopping!
Where did we go? We went to a pet shop.
This pet shop was really nice.
There're so many kinds of things. I was surprised to see many saddles. In Japan,
horse riding is a special sports, but in Sweden, a lot of people enjoy it.
There're also many kinds of cat foods and supplementary food. I bought a box of vitamin
for my cats. They love it!
We visited many houses to see cats, and saw big neat cat toys where cats climb up
and stay in every house. I was eager to obtain one for my cats.
In this pet shop, I found them. And found they're much cheaper than that of Japan.
It seemed to be difficult to bring it to Japan, so I gave it up. But now, I really
want it. For I have a similar cat toy and both I and my cats love it, I want one
more toy.
I bought it at the pet shop near my house that imported that type of toys, but they
gave up importing for the toys had poor sale as they're too expensive. (I bought
it at the shop sale.)
So now I'm planning to import the toys by myself. Or maybe I'll go to Sweden again!
The owner of the pet shop was very nice. He was very kind to us strange Japanese
who came to his country only to see cats.
We asked him for some cats' magazines, and he kindly found out the back numbers,
too. We could have huge numbers of beautiful cats' magazines. Of course we can't
read Swedish, but we can see beautiful pictures, and that's what we want.
Moreover, he gave us many many premium goods! Lovely cans, towels, bags and so on.
This wonderful pet shop's name is "ZOOHORNAN".
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