Yesterday afternoon we arrived at our hotel in Falun, which, as you can see from the picture I stole from the Scandic Web site, has a ski jump facade. The rooms are small and pretty comfortable for two people. For three coaches, it's a little tight. Our room has a single bed, a bed that's underneath the cushions of the couch and a trundle bed that stores under the couch.

I think I'll put someone else in charge of describing the bathrooms. They are not what you find in America.

We skied this morning on the trails at Falun, where they held the 1974 and 1993 World Championships. I made a special point of skiing under the "Mal - Finish" line thing where Daehlie took the pursuit title from Smirnoff by a foot's length. The trails were fairly deserted and the grooming was nothing special. This is something we should recognize: The kids over here aren't training on Olympic-esque tracks or going out with their school to train in the daylight. They have to make do with the same issues we do.

Anyway, after a warm-up, most of the kids did two or three times five minutes at level three, and then finished up with some 55-5s and other speed work. I promised pictures yesterday, but in setting up benches, helping get skis scraped and kick-waxed and getting myself ready to ski -- I forgot the camera.

After we skied, we walked the 500m back to our hotel, got cleaned up and then ate lunch at the hotel. Again, potatoes and meat in sauce. We encountered our first Swedish pancakes, with were predictably delicious. After lunch we went into town to shop and see the sights. InterSport and Team Sportia had some cool clothing and semi-obscure wax brands (Briko and Vaughti klisters) but there weren't any absolute "must-have items." We saw some Rossignol skis (whatever the red and white top of the line ones are) for a steal -- something like 1500kr, which is $200.

More importantly, I found random candy:

 "Pizza Drink" -- some sort of sour melon-flavored syrup. Unpalatable.

 Some sort of strange Red Bull. It was uncarbonated and seemed to be more caffeinated than usual. Or maybe I was just excited to be drinking it.

 "Dragster 2000 Super Sura" -- Maybe the best of the bunch. Sort of like disks of Swedish fish, only a little sour. They also had "Super Salty," but I took a pass on that.

Skiing pictures tomorrow. I promise.

 Tad and I were not the only ones who felt the need to ride concrete Dala horses: Rosie Brennan from Park City

This trip is supported and funded by the National Cross-Country Ski Education Foundation.  Buy goods that support these trips or donate today at: www.nccsef.org