07.50 Well, here I am, writing in the travel journal yet another morning. We remain in our apartment here at City Stay. Today, the last things will be made here in Prague before we travel on towards new adventures in the third and final stop. Unfortunately, it rains out there. We hope for a change in the weather.

08.31 Now Christer and I have headed out for a minor last Prague adventure all on our own. The remaining two gentlemen have mentioned that they may also set off on a stroll in the surrounding area. The two of us shall make a short excursion to the historic area of Vyšehrad (upper castle) Christer visited it in 2003 but I have not yet visited it. Vyšehrad is a hill just south of Prague's centre where the Bohemian royal family lived until 1140.

09.03 This was not so nice! We have made a short trip with the metro. We had planned to do a small effective trip here to Prague's cradle but it's raining cats and dogs and it is not good at all. Right now we are under a roof at the metro station exit and curse the weather.

09.30 The weather has finally graciously turned to the better. The rain stopped and we could go from the metro station and towards the Vyšehrad area. It is a beautiful and peaceful neighbourhood. The view from here is not bad. There are school children/students of different ages on the way here too but we seem to be the first.

09.46 We have walked to the church Bazilika svatého Petra a Pavla, and from there admired the view over the river and towards the centre of Prague. Too bad we don't have more time and it is a pity that the weather isn't better. It is in all cases great that we got here, in spite of the earlier rain.

10.01 The time has come to begin the return voyage. I wonder what our friends have done in our absence.

10.15 Christer and I had planned to have a Czech sausage breakfast this morning. However, they were a bit hard to find so we went to Wenceslas square which is a safe bet when it comes to sausage. Here we are now having a quick meal by some plastic tables.

10.35 We are back in our apartment. During our absence from the room has Roberth and Björn charged their batteries, collected stamina. They have not been out at all. Now we will bring our bags and check out from City Stay.

The pigeons don´t like the rain either.

We will visit Vyšehrad during the last hours before checking out.

Vyšehrad

Some visitors gather to take a look at Bazilika svatého Petra a Pavla.

A view of Prague from Vyšehrad.

10.50 We just got gravel in the planning machinery. We wanted to check out, leave the card keys and get the deposit fee back. The reception is unmanned despite the fact that the check out time is at eleven o'clock. What will our next move be? Now a hygiene technician in a female form just appeared. We have talked to her and now she is calling someone.

10.58 The lady knew. We got an address where we can check out, Krakovská 3. Now Björn and Christer are on the way there with the key cards. Roberth, I and the bags are waiting by an intersection.

11.37 It went well to check out and get the deposit fee back. The venue, Joy Spot, was a place in itself. At the entrance there was a long hallway with water pipes and other bits and bobs. At the counter there was more debris and behind the counter an Asian girl who didn't remember how many key cards she had received. Now we are at the railway station Praha Hlavní Nádraží and its café Coffee Day. There will be coffee for Christer and me. There will be bread, juice and coffee for the others in the gang who didn't get any sausages earlier.

12.00 Before the payment we emptied pockets and wallets on Czech coins in all its forms, colours and denominations.

12.10 It was, in spite of all the coins, not enough money. Christer made the final payment. Now I am having a bench break while the others purchase something for the trip.

12.44 Today we went for an easier lunch. It will be a long journey today and he necessary meal was served at classic Burger King. Now we just rest before the over six hours long train ride to Munich.

13.07 We have now sat down on our places on the train. The vibes and feelings from our Interrail days come over us when we sit in this kind of compartment that Christer and I so often travelled in during the years 2000 to 2004.

Roberth is guarding our luggage during the long check-out procedures.

Joy Spot, a chaotic place where we had to go to check out from City Stay.

Heading towards Praha Hlavní Nádraží.

The oldest part of the railway station is the most beautiful.

Late breakfast and coffee at Coffee Stop.

Counting the remaining czech coins.

13.56 We four have enjoyed the beautiful landscape between Karlštejn and Beroun. Roberth and I have had coffee. Now, Roberth says, goodbye, farewell and auf wiedersehen to the platform here.

14.57 The locomotive, the train and even the passengers on board has reached Plzeň. We have once again crossed the old trail. Christer and I were here in 2003. Further away in the cart, we hear a small child. Björn is laughing and Roberth is sleeping.

16.01 It is time for the last stop in the Czech republic for our train. We are in Česká Kubice. Before the stop, we travelled through the enchanting Šumava, Bavarian forest. Before we entered the forest we passed a place called Babylon.

16.26 We are back in Germany. The landscape is similar to that which was on the other side of the border, hilly, wooded and beautiful. On this side the forest is known as Böhmerwald, Bohemian Forest.

17.36 The speed decreases and the birds are singing as we roll into Regensburg. We have just once again on our European train travels passed over the Danube. We travel through Bavaria, a part of Europe we previously kept away from during our travels.

17.59 Just as we had cancelled the plans to go to the bistro for coffee, the coffee came to us. The coffee man had an interesting and, for me, difficult to understand German accent. He probably had his origins in India, Pakistan or any nearby country. We may have paid too much for our cups of coffee. Now it sounds as if we have a sheep in the compartment next to ours.

18.14 Now the train is standing still due to work on the tracks. We are in the small community of Eggmühl. A short distance away is a football match being played. The players seem to be small, probably, children.

18.27 Now we roll again and leave Eggmühl. OK, stop again! The work on the track leaves only one track to run on. We kindly have to wait again. We can always look at the station house a short distance away and the back of a lion statue. Napoleon was here with his allies and fought on 22nd of April 1809. Now we are here and the drama is not as great.

18.41 Solar panels are whizzing past. We are back on track, the journey goes on towards Munich.

18.59 New anticipation, new stop, a new station. This time we are in Neufahrn in Niederbayern.

Preparing for this afternoon´s train trip.

Björn is waiting for the train.

Sleep and literature during our trip to Munich.

We have stopped in the capital of lager beer.

Roberth is having a light meal.

The train has stopped somewhere on the Bavarian countryside.

19.26 If all had gone according to plan we would have been in Munich by now. Things have not gone according to plan and the fact is that we stand still again. OK, it is worthwhile to complain. We roll again.

19.34 Around twenty-five minutes late we now leave Freising. In the city the ex-pope Benedict XVI studied and taught at the university. He was also a priest and arch bishop here. This was when he was called, Joseph Ratzinger.

20.00 We have finally arrived in Munich. It is time to take out the bearing for the hotel which will cost us 172 Euros in total for two nights.

20.28 We walked the short distance to the Pension Locarno (http://www.pensionlocarno.de) and got room 201. The price rose to 202 Euros, but that includes eight breakfasts. Now we will get settled and then familiarize ourselves with the neighbourhood. We live right by the railway station. This is great upon arrival and also when we take the train to the airport on Saturday.

21.03 We have, once again on our trips, received a weird phone call. The front desk called and asked if we were three or four here in the room. I counted and announced that we were four. We had only paid for breakfast for three people. Now we are going to pay 10 Euros extra as soon as we have the time.

21.54 We have walked around the main railway station, München Hauptbahnhof. There are, as at so many railway stations, a lot of interesting existences here, ranging from teenagers at-risk to drug users and uprooted refugees. Our walk here was simply a hunt for somewhere to eat. It all ended at the Münchner Stubn (http://www.muenchner-stubn.de on the other side of the station.

22.21 It is divine to be here. We enjoy life and are happy. It has been a long travel day and we begin to feel worn out.

23.08 We left tip in the form of a number of coins. The waiter seemed to not appreciate it all and just took the money for the bill. H left the tip behind. That is what we did as well. We got up and left. Here at home, I have been reached by the news that Leksand won with 5-4 against Modo. Now it is 3-3 in games in the quest for a spot in SHL.

Delicious burger at Münchner Stubn.

Münchner Stubn, this evening´s dinner place.

Friday 1st of April

07.58 A new month is here. We will start it here in Munich, Bavaria. In through the newly opened window come sounds of human activity. It is the noise from the cars and the tinkling of the trams. Today is the last day of this trip without any major transport. Tomorrow awaits a lot of vehicles before we reach our home.

09.58 Now we know that we have eaten breakfast. We hope that everything went well with the payment for the breakfast. There was some confusion between us and the lady who stood at the front desk. The money is in all cases handed over and we have as best we could, explained what the money was for.

10.17 It is now time to leave the room and go out and discover Munich. When we arrived yesterday evening, it was over 20 degrees warm, full summer. Today it is probably ten degrees colder and a little windy.

10.29 Yesterday evening we walked a bit towards the centre, and peaked at the Karlsplatz, with the gate Karlstor. This is where we start today's journey of discovery in Germany's third largest city.

10.46 We are now at the Frauenplatz by the magnificent Frauenkirche, also known as Der Münchner Dom. We have so far walked through a rather quiet neighbourhood. It is a cool and quiet day here in the capital of Freistaat Bavaria. Roberth and Björn snuck into the church through the entrance for worshippers and they have certified that it is beautiful inside. Christer and I investigated a restaurant that we might visit this evening. We will soon carry on.

A good breakfast is an important stay each day.

Pension Locarno, Munich.

We are walking through Karlstor and head towards the city centre.

Roberth is buying bread in yet another city.

Two fishermen and a fish.

Frauenkirche up close.

10.55 We've moved from the Frauenplatz to the nearby Weinstraße, where we among other things looked into in a souvenir shop. We are now very close to the heart of the city. There are plenty of people on the go.

11.07 We have come to a stop to admire and enjoying the carillon at Marienplatz. It is nice music and beautiful, moving figures in the tower of the town hall (Neues Rathaus). It has despite its name "New town hall" been standing here for a while. The building of it began in 1867.

11.19 We left the Marienplatz behind us, swung around the corner and have investigated a few shops with lots of sausage and other interesting meat products.

11.35 After having wandered around and examined various small market stalls we sat down in a Beer garden here at the Viktualienmarkt. Robert and Björn have a pretzel and a beer each. The beer can be fetched from a counter where lines of tapped beer are waiting for the next consumer. We have seen some really experienced beer drinkers in the pension age here. They know the drill after many years experience.

11.54 Christer and I have also purchased a beer each. We also eat a sausage that we have bought at the other end of the square. Life is good. We enjoy the continental lifestyle and discuss various deep questions and problems.

12.20 We left the Viktualienmarkt behind us. We looked briefly into the Heilig-Geist-Kirche, before we continued towards more sights.

12.43 We have made a quick visit, a look into the famous authentic beer hall Hofbräuhaus. The murmuring, the lack of seating and the loud music made us move ahead to a more tranquil place for the next beer. Now we are on the small square/street Am Kosttor and thinking out the next move.

12.53 We've moved to the Max-Joseph-Platz, which houses the Residenz museum, the City Opera and the Treasury. The Nazis passed here on the 9th of November 1923 on the way via Maximilianstraße and the Feldherrnhalle to the Odeonsplatz. There it was a confrontation with the police and the Beer Hall Putsch came to an abrupt end.

Bavarian souvenirs for sale.

Roberth is reaching Marienplatz.

Neues Rathaus, Munich.

The old town hall (Altes Rathaus) was destroyed in the war and later rebuilt.
Because of that the old town hall is actually the newest one.

The police in Munich have goodlooking cars.

13.02 Now we have sat down on a chair each in the middle of a lawn. We are on the big open place (square?) Marienhof. Here we are now and we discuss different matters.

13.19 There has been time to go into the caffeine depot at Starbucks Coffee at the small square Platzl. Björn continues to call himself Fritz at the time of ordering. This got the staff who prepared and set up the coffee to laugh a little timidly. It is strange to be called Fritz here?

13.35 During the coffee drinking, we have studied human social behaviour. Two beautiful girls stood in the square and tried to attract guests to the restaurant Schuhbecks Orlando. It was interesting to see who they selected as "victims" and how they reacted to the attention. Those who were most wager to get into, a bunch of drunk guys that seemed to be the least welcome.

14.12 Now a plaque hunt has begun. We are by the Feldherrnhalle. We are looking for mementos of the police officers who were shot by the Nazis in November 1923. It will, according to our guidebook and the internet, be here, but we can't find it. The military commanders who have their statues here is are general Johann Tilly, who led the Bavarian forces in the Thirty Years' War, and Karl Philipp von Wrede, who fought against Napoleon.

14.42 The plaque kept away, hid from us. We continued pass the square of the Victims of National Socialism. There was an eternal flame. Yet another city with an eternal flame for us. We carried on pass Karolinenplatz. Now we are at the grand Königsplatz. There have been parades and other things here through the years. The Nazis liked, for example, to practice the boots stamping here in the 1930s.

Björn is enjoying life at Viktualienmarkt Biergarten.

Viktualienmarkt, Munich.

Christer is having the good centraleuropean combination beer and sausage.

A man with experience has entered Viktualienmarkt.

We walked through Hofbräuhaus.

Max-Joseph-Platz, Munich.

Bayerische Staatsoper

14.51 This square has a special history. The Königsplatz, built after the order from king Ludwig I's in a acropolis style architecture and is one of the city's more unusual features. After the Nazis took over power they started the project to make Munich "Hauptstadt der Bewegung“ (operating capital). The Königsplatz grassy areas were covered with granite tiles, which symbolically were taken from all the corners of the German Reich. Two temples to the victims of the Beer Hall Puthc were built . The idea was that the old buildings would no longer dominate, but will be subordinate to the new Germany with the NS architecture. The site was then used by the party for various marches, rallies and announcements. 1933 the national socialist students organized a book-burning on Königsplatz. After the second world war the temples were blown up. In 1987/1988 the granite tiles were removed and the lawns were restored. Source: Backpacking.se

15.04 The long walk through the city have come to a small break now. We are temporarily back at home in our rooms at the Pension Locarno. We will put on warmer clothes and we need to think where we dine. Actually, we should already have eaten but we have not found any suitable place.

15.53 It is time for lunch at the Uyghur restaurant Taklamakan (http://www.taklamakan-restaurant.de). Christer is drinking the German soft drink Mezzo Mix, a Coca Cola product that is more or less cola and orange together. I have chosen a Franziskaner Weissbier. On the way here a worn man shouted to Roberth, "Halt, Criminal Polizei! The man might had a Bier in him and perhaps some other substances as well. Uyghur is a muslim area in western China. Uyghurs are found, except in China, also in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Well, also here in the restaurant of course.

17.05 It took some time to get into the food but the (shish kebabs) were worth the wait. The price was also quite ok for a restaurant in Germany.

Björn enters Marienhof square.

A few minutes of important discussions.

Feldherrnhalle

The victims of the Nazi regime are being remembered here.

Königsplatz, Munich.

17.42 After the late lunch we have once again walked towards the central parts. Once again, we have wandered into at the Hofbrauhaus, one of the reasons was the toilet you can use for free. We had intended to treat us to an afternoon beer, but it leans towards that we might save it for dinner instead.

18.07 After a lot of searching Christer has found yet a fridge magnet to his collecting Indonesian friend Patricia.

18.38 We continue to stroll around here in Munich. On the Marienplatz square, stood a few from the Islam hostile organization Pegida and chanted and marched. We kept on walking and basically said bye bye to the city. Before we went home we bought train tickets to the airport. These were bought in a vending machine in the Hauptbahnhof.

20.23 We start to lay out plans to go out for dinner. We hope it will be a worthy farewell dinner to this trip.

20.31 We will go to the Augustiner am Dom (http://www.augustineramdom.de), a restaurant we read about before we got here and the same as we took a close look at earlier today.

Uyghur food at Taklamakan Restaurant.

The second football in town, 1860 München, not as famous as the other one.

Peter is hypnotizing his beerglass at the restaurant Augustiner am Dom.

Peter is entering another dimension.

Björn is using magic.

20.56 It's time for food. We had no problem finding the restaurant. We intend to eat schnitzel here at the Augustiner am Dom. Modo leads right now in the seventh and decisive game by 3-1. There is ten minutes left of the match. This feels solid.

21.33 It was perhaps not the largest schnitzels but they were really tasty. We've been pampered earlier with the big schnitzels in both the Czech republic and Austria, so we had maybe too high expectations on the size. The restaurant was full with people and the atmosphere at the top. We noticed some tables marked Stammtisch (pre booked tables). I don't think we have them in Sweden. Apparently it's a tradition that some groups always meet at the same table at some restaurants.

21.49 We have looked at the two town halls in the evening darkness. The Neues Rathaus was beautifully lit. At the Altes Rathaus, we found a sign with a text that told us that it was precisely here that the Nazi minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels held the speech that started the Crystal night, the first major attack against the Jews in Germany in 1938.

22.37 We walked home in the night darkness. Roberth and I chose to go directly home. Björn and Christer are on the rail way station for some purchase and to check how we will act before tomorrow's train journey to the airport. Less fun is that Modo lost against Leksand over time and they are now out of the SHL.

23.06 The gang of four are now unified. The newly returned have been and found out how we shall validate our tickets tomorrow. It was not an easy thing to find these small boxes. Help from a information disk was needed.

Neues Rathaus is beautiful in the dark too.

Alter Peter.

Saturday 2nd of April

06.42 A small note in the early morning. 75 % of the travel group have woken up. In about two hours the journey home has begun.

08.05 We are ready when it comes to alertness and breakfast. Now we are about to soon check out and walk down to the München Hauptbahnhof.

08.36 The check-out was painless. Between Pension Locarno and the train to the airport we managed to meet a transexual person and we´ve seen an older gentleman who was holding a small teddy bear. Now the train roll to the airport, Franz Josef Strauss.

09.01 The surroundings start to get a rustic touch. We travel above as well as below ground. But, however, never at the same time. The train trip is estimated to take approximately 45 minutes.

Morning train to the airport.

Christer and Björn are waiting at Franz Josef Strauss airport.

About eleven o´clock it is time for the first beer of the day.

Time to fly home!

Christer is receiving the blueberry juice, typical for Finnair flights.

09.50 It went well to check in all our belongings. We had feared that we would have to pay for our bags here, as Christer had seen on our booking confirmation that only hand baggage was included on the trip home. Luckily, the airport computers had a different opinion. The security control was different depending on which queue you ended up in. In one you had to remove the shoes and place the properties after a definite pattern. Ahead of us is mostly waiting time now.

11.25 Now we have spent the remaining euro on a few things to eat and drink, a necessary intake of nutrients before the next two flights. Now we are going to get our things together and head towards the gate.

11.38 Without problems and queuing, we have made it on board the Finnair plane to Helsinki. The time has come to enter tranquility and peace.

12.26 We have just passed Regensburg. Now, the city has both been seen from the air and from the train window, but we have still not been there.

We are flying above Regensburg.

We could look down on the Pakri islands outside the coast of Estonia.

We are about to land at the airport in Helsinki.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

15.13 For a moment it is for the sake of order, Finnish time. We are approaching Helsinki airport, Vantaa. There it will be change of plan to Arlanda, Stockholm. During the beverage serving, an Asian with a mouth piece went through the plane. Why did he have a mouth piece here on the plane?

FINLAND

15.31 We have now landed at Vantaa airport. All that remains is to leave the plane and move towards the next gate. Christer who has a cold is more or less deaf after flying.

16.09 It was crowded during the long walk between the gates. Of course, our gate was as far away that was only possible. We arrived in time, queued up, got on the bus and now we have gone on board on the next plane. Now we shall fly to Stockholm with Finnair. This time, we are separated between different areas in the plane.

SWEDEN

CHANGING TIME ZONE

16.44 We are back in Sweden and Swedish time. We are also back on the bench where Christer and I sat on the 5th of January earlier this year. Björn has gone to the pharmacy and Roberth do a few other matters.

17.40 Once again there will be a departure meal at the restaurant Alfredo's. Björn chose cured salmon, myself a kebab, Christer Hawaii pizza and Roberth today's pizza, an España. It is the same kind of pizza that messed things up for me a few years ago.

17.55 It was new hassles with Today's pizza. Two Hawaii was carried to our table. Roberth pointed out that he ordered one Today's pizza. The result of it all, both the pizzas were carried off. The waiter suspected it might be a different order. The pizzas soon came back to our table where they were consumed.

18.46 Now we have left Roberth behind us. Christer, Björn and I have embarked on the train to Sundsvall. Roberth will go home at 23.00 and stays at Arlanda airport for a couple of hours. The places were booked separately by us three but Björn and Christer are sitting together anyway.

21.35 We will soon arrive in Sundsvall. There Björn will head home to his place. Christer and I'll go to his apartment. I will go home tomorrow. There is no snow out there, unusual for this time of year to say the least.

22.31 The end of the road is reached. A journey is completed. This idea to bring new blood to the company in the form of Björn and an old classic in the form of Roberth has given an experience of unprecedented kind. This quartet needs to make a comeback. When will it be?

Roberth bought a book. The title is "Surrounded by idiots".