07.29 After leaving the night's sleep we will soon resume something that was put to rest on August 3rd, 2007. It is time for the Caribbean again, Part II.

08.44 Now most things are done here. It's almost time to lock the door to Christer's apartment and begin the exodus from home.

08.53 A young lady is being interviewed on the regional radio. She believes that a good teacher should have a pronoun round at the beginning of the school year so that the students can tell whether they want to be regarded as a she, a he or whatever. Now it's time to leave. We leave the madness behind us.

09.50 Söderhamn, Gävle, Uppsala, Stockholm-Arlanda rolls on the display. We sit calm and secure in our seats in the train. How should this journey go? It's been a poor pre-season. When it come to fitness and tan, it could have been better.

11.49 The trip is going fine. We have indulged ourselves drinking coffee and something to chew on in the bistro. Now we will continue to read and relax.

13.26 We have arrived at Arlanda airport. Here I sit on a bench with the backpacks next to me. Christer is on a monetary walk.

14.36 Now the necessary things are mostly done. We have arranged with money. Christer has bought dollars and euros I have added the euros needed in Cuba. We have checked in and had good burgers at MAX. Now we'll just pass the security check and get to the right gate.

Peter prepares for yet another summer adventure.

We look down on the Danish island Bornholm.

15.15 Before the security check, I talked a while with our friend Shu Ming in Malaysia. She called me when we got to the queue. I wished her a happy birthday. It is tomorrow but still. We are now having coffee at Wayne's Coffee.

15.53 It is nice to sit down on the plane. Soon this year’s flight part will begin. We will first trave to Zürich with Swissair.

17.03 Just now we had the Danish island of Bornholm just below us. Before that, we were given a glass of juice and a tartlet. Thank you!

SWITZERLAND

18.03 Now we have landed at Zürich Airport and people have as usual been quick to take down their possessions from the luggage racks. Last time we were at this airport the luggage beat us to the luggage carousel. How is it now, today?

18.57 Today we were first, beating the luggage. Now we are on the other side of the arrival area. Now it is planned how we´ll get into downtown Zürich. In the World Cup game between Argentina and Switzerland it is 0-0, this after the first half.

19.18 Christer has bought round-trip tickets by train to Zürich. We had time on the way here to see some football. It was on a monitor when we went by the escalator. Now we are in the underworld, waiting for our train.

19.34 Now we are heading towards the city's main railway station, Zürich Hauptbahnhof. There we will arrange some kind of food. It's time for the first stop, we have reached Oerlikon. The train is fresh, modern and only a few passengers are on board. Maybe the rest are watching football?

19.58 0-0 seems to remain. We left the railway station and are now on a bridge near Rio Bar. Behind us pass a tram. We have taken aim at the hotel where a room is waiting for us.

We are waiting for the train to Zürich.

A determined Peter has arrived to Switzerland.

The Swiss national football team has progressed in the World Cup.

The game Switzerland vs Argentina draws people to Rio Bar.

20.33 Hotel St Georges (http://www.hotel-st-georges.ch) was finally found after we walked around for a while in the surroundings. We checked in and are in room 23. Last time we were in the city in 2006, we lived in the neighbouring room, 24. Argentina scored 1-0 just as we turned on the TV. This was in the in 118th minute. There is a good atmosphere on the little square below the hotel. People have gathered around a TV on display. How happy had they not been if Switzerland has been in the lead instead?

21.03 Now it's time to temporarily leave our little home.

21.43 We have been on tour in neighbourhood. There we have taken photos, seen people and bought some stuff at COOP supermarket.

22.01 It is time to watch the last 1/16-finals of the 2014 World Cup, Belgium vs USA. There will be no dinner tonight. Instead, we have bought various snacks that we eat when we´ll watch the game.

22.49 Is it me who are tired, the commentator who is boring or is the game just dull. It is still 0-0.

23.02 As is the tradition, we have indulged ourselves an evening/balcony beer. In addition, the second half just started.

23.51 The amount of goals is still the lowest possible. To expand the chance of scoring 30 minutes of extra time is played.

23.59 In the end, and finally Belgium take the lead. It´s a few minutes into the extra time. Hang on to this now you Red Devils!

Sankt Jakob church and a tram.

Hotel St Georges, we stayed here in 2006 too.

Football unites.

Wednesday 2nd of July

00.12 Now Belgium scored, 2-0. Will the match end after extra time?

00.17 Well, what do you know, the United States scored as I made a visit to a private room in the corridor. Now it's a game again.

00.32 Final whistle. 2-0! Now the World Cup over the United States and the first travel day is over for us, good night!

07.44 The bells of the nearby church chimes. The cars are driving on wet streets. We are soon approaching the last European breakfast for a couple of weeks.

08.31 I do not think there are so many other residents here at the Hotel St. Georges. There are, however, enough for the common shower on this floor to be busy. CNN reports on our TV about unrest in Syria, Iraq and Israel.

09.16 We were not alone in the breakfast room next to the reception. Now after sleep and breakfast we´re ready to travel back to the airport.

Morning in our room.

Coffee break at Sports Bar.

10.11 A gentle rain soaked us on our walk to the train station. Now we wait for the train to Zürich Airport. Our accommodation cost was US$148 total for the room. Switzerland is expensive! Oops, here comes the train. It is on the platform behind us.

10.37 Here we are at the airport. It is time to prepare our travel companions for the flight. Straps should be fixed, lid closed and buckles checked before we drop them off, our backpacks.

10.51 With emotions ranging between emptiness and freedom we sit on a bench. Our backpacks have got to go sledding, sleds with safety belts. Now we will prepare for the next phase.

11.28 We have passed the passport inspection and the safety check. Now we have stepped into a world that consists of shopping and restaurants.

Edelweiss Air

11.57 We treat ourselves coffee and muffins at Sports Bar. I have seen two ladies each with a Kånken backpack. I do not know about the women's origins. Kånken however, is from my hometown.

12.50 7533 kilometres is the distance we'll be flying today. There were many narrow lanes at the gate. Some passengers bought the tourist card to the Dominican Republic for US$27. It can also be done on arrival and cost only US$10 there. The captain’s name is Jan Vontobel. He, we and the rest will fly with the Swiss charter airline Edelweiss. Before departure our watches will be switched back 6 hours. We want to have the right time, a time we will follow when it comes to routines. We hope to fight back the jet lag.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

09.55 It's morning at our destination Punta Cana. In our bodies, it is still afternoon. In our bodies, we also have the beef curry that was served on board. It is 5783 km left to fly. We're 11582 meters up in the air. It's time for some reading.

10.58 A little less than six hours is remaining. We have just completed the ports of entry documents to the Dominican Republic. How many of these papers have we filled in during the years? What happens to them?

We will soon arrive.

14.40 Soon we will once again fly through the Bermuda Triangle. Last time we did it went well. We hope it will be the same today.

16.37 It remains twenty minutes before landing. Our aircraft descends down towards Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean.

17.03 I have rarely heard such applause and cheers in an aircraft after the landing. Now we are still on the runway here at the international airport in Punta Cana, frequently used by charter flights from many countries. Passengers are standing still in the aisle.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

17.57 We are finally back in the Caribbean. Tourist cards were purchased in a vending machine and the papers were taken without further examination. After picking up our backpacks from the luggage carousel, we got help from a man to find an ATM. The same man then arranged a taxi for us. Now we´ll go to the next home.

18.12 We pass tourist facility after tourist resort, golf courses and shopping centres. The tourism has come a long way here.

18.35 Hotel Cortecito Inn is our new home. It is located in an area called El Cortecito which in turn is part of Bávaro. We stay in room 1107. The taxi cost US$35 and we stay three nights here for US$180. Now we will get settled. We have received an orange bracelet each with the hotel name on them. My passport is now at the reception. It will be returned when we check out.

Hotel Cortecito Inn.

The swimming pool looks inviting.

19.39 It's time to go out and get something done and to eat.

19.54 The first dinner will be not so exotic Pasta Carbonara and Spaghetti Bolognese. We will drink Coca Cola. We're sitting in the hotel restaurant. Tonight we just want something to eat, that´s all. The culinary experiences will have to wait for another time.

21.03 This thing with food is as usual pretty good. Now people are talking on TV about the tropical storm Arthur. He may grow to a hurricane. Now we will fill up with more fluids.

21.32 After filling up with necessary fluids, we will now stock up on sleep. Our bodies still think it is 03.30 in the morning.

Peter enjoys this evening´s dinner.

Thursday 3rd of July

07.45 After a long night's sleep and a not so nice, long shower, I am sitting out on our balcony. It is wonderfully warm here. Today the travel starts for sure. Everything before has been transportation. Our shower drops rhythmically.

07.59 Our hotel has its shortcomings. The shower is not perfect, it's a little worn here and there, but the price is good and the whole hotel hass perfect facilities with pool, great location and nice balcony outside the room. You can live a lot more expensive than this in this part of the country, we promise.

09.34 We are, after a simple but tasty and the included breakfast, now in the lobby. We struggle to get in contact with the WiFi. We barely get connected and also lack the necessary codes. We have to ask someone about the code.

09.51 Now we have finally a code 8096965803. We still can’t get out on the internet or is it into the WiFi?

11.42 The surfing finally went fine. We just have to sit at the right place in the hotel. The signal, however, is weak. Now we sit down on our balcony and read a bit in our detective stories and in some informational papers about the Dominican Republic. Soon we will broaden our horizons by leaving the hotel.

Breakfast at Hotel Cortecito Inn.

From the breakfast table we watch what happens in the street.

Peter is writing down the last events.

Christer enjoys life on the balcony.

12.52 We have wandered off into the 32-degrees heat. We have passed along a long straight dull road. Now and then motorcycles stop and offer us "moto-taxi". The sun is high and we have made a short stop at a restaurant. We have arrived at Plaza Las Brisas.

13.00 We changed restaurant. The former offered simple chicken dishes and had no menu. Now we are instead at the restaurant Polonia La Terraza.

13.51 We had our lunch which consisted of some American sausages and continued on foot to El Cruce Friusa which is a major intersection surrounded by shops, petrol stations and more. Here it buzzes with vehicles, people, and as usual there are plenty of people who want to drive us around with various vehicles.

14.17 We eventually found the bus company Expreso Bávaros office at the bus terminal and were told that tickets are purchased here one hour before departure. So, we will be here at either 6.00 am or 8.00 am on Saturday. Now it's time to head back home for some rest. There is a long way to go!

15.19 After a stop for the purchase of drinks at Supermercado Estrella, we are now back at home at Cortecito Inn. Like we mentioned earlier motorcycle carried youths offers motorbike taxi wherever we go. These deals have almost given us blisters in the ears, "moto amigo?", "moto-taxi?" etc.

The sun is burning during the long walk to El Cruce Friusa.

Peter is eating sausages at Polonia La Terraza..

Christer is walking through El Cruce Friusa.

Old American school buses are used here, exactly like we have seen in Central America.

A nice afternoon by the pool.

Lean backwards, look at palm trees, it´s vacation!

Our friend in the swimming pool.

15.35 Happy children splash around and a man with a lit cigar slowly slid right into the pool. This is so much better than walking. Now we also take part of Carin Gerhardsen and Stefan Tegenfalk literary works through the books we read. As you probably guessed, we are still inside the hotel area.

16.08 It is nice with cool water around the body. We have been taking turns to swim around in the pool where an inflatable black and white killer whale is bobbing around.

18.30 It was relaxing by the pool and now we have continued to relax in the room. On channel 25 on the room's TV is Fox Sports. They discuss the World Cup football in Spanish. If things go well, they will show the quarterfinals of the World Cup tomorrow.

19.02 This is not fun. It rains. The sky is overcast and the rain falls. We'll have to wait a while to get out there.

19.43 The rain has moved on. Now we must go to a place that can offer us dinner.

20.24 We play with safe cards and have entered the hotel restaurant again. On the table are now two recently pitched beers.

21.20 I ordered espresso after dinner. With it, we both got a little glass with handle. In the glass is a good local red liquor beverage, mamajuana. It contains herbs, bark, rum, wine and honey.

22.33 In a moment, we´ll go out on our balcony to lay a hand on the neck of a Presidente.

23.34 After we had our evening/balcony beers and Christer (who read the guidebook's historical chapters) told about various colourful leaders in the country's history, we are now getting ready to end the day. Have we noticed the jetlag? Has the heat worn on us? Are the mosquitoes biting us here? The answer to everything, probably yes, but we're fine. Tomorrow awaits the big pool!

Everything we need!

Peter enjoys a late night beer!