We had not much planned for the day today. Only an early lunch with my mother. Before we met her though, we had a big breakfast and then checked out of the hotel and moved all our bags to my father’s place where we would spend the late afternoon and night.

My mother works for Ossen in Gävle, an insurance broker. Their office is located in a building from the 19th century and very beautiful. Especially compared to Japanese type of offices. We met here there and walked to Bergrenska Gården where we had lunch.

Next stop was IKEA in Valbo, just a short drive outside of Gävle. At IKEA we experienced a miracle. We followed the arrowed route through IKEA without buying a thing 😀

Before leaving Valbo we stopped at Systembolaget. Chie bought some wine, especially wine from South Africa which is difficult if not impossible to find in Japan. And they were in paper “bottles”, which cannot be found in Japan. I bought a Mackmyra Whiskey.

Once the wine and Whiskey were in the car we drove to Mackmyra Distillery where the Mackmyra Whiskey is made. The factory was closed for visits for the day but that was OK.

Since my aunt lives 100 meters from the factory we payed here a visit. Only her husband were at home. She were about 250 meters away at the stables, preparing her horse Ebba for a ride.

Ebba is a 550 kg 19 years old horse. Big. But seemed friendly enough. At least Chie and Ebba became friends.