05.20 After an early morning and an almost equally early breakfast, I am now in the process of being driven in a car from my parents' home in Skulnäs. A new journey has begun.

05.51 I have arrived at the train station in Örnsköldsvik. It is -2ºC and hardly any snow. The holiday season has been nice, green and rainy.

06.09 No sooner had the train rolled away as the ticket was looked at and then the breakfast was served, not bad.

06.28 Now the breakfast is finished. There was coffee, bread, cheese, ham, juice and a ”health drink with blueberries and yumberry". What is yumberry? Both the nice older lady at my side as well as I are asking ourselves. To possibly find out, we asked the conductor. He has promised to come back with an answer.

06.36 Now that we're in Kramfors, we have just been informed that the berry is called bayberry, myrica rubra in Latin. It’s supposed to be from China.

08.01 I've just realized or to be precise been told that I was in the right seat but in the wrong. I was supposed so to sit on the seat 56 in wagon 2 but instead instead sat on seat 56 in carriage 1. I entered the door of the carriage 2, but then went the wrong way and came to the "wrong” wagon. Now I'm right and we’re going to leave Sundsvall.

09.06 We've been on the road for three hours and the train hostess has twice been asked to contact the driver. Outside the train, it is more snow than it was at home.

10.48 Plans have, via text messages, been made to reunite with Christer on classic ground at Arlanda. He has spent Christmas with his father in Oxelösund and his sister in Nyköping. Outside the train lie flat plains, free from the snow and the wet.

11.32 Now I have reached the classic ground. I'm on the benches outside Pressbyrån at Arlanda airport. Soon Christer will join. He started the day in Nyköping and via a stop by Starbucks at the Central Station in Stockholm he carried on to Arlanda. Oops, now one of the buckets of flowers fell from a cart. The floor is wet, the bucket and the flowers were picked up and the cart was pushed away.

Starbucks has opened at the central railway station in Stockholm.

Yet another visit at Alfredos.

11.50 The two travellers have been reunited here at Arlanda. It’s time to plan the hours before we take off. There are question marks that need to be straightened out.

12.44 We have unsuccessfully searched for the airline Iberia's office over at Terminal 2. Now we are ready for lunch at the classic restaurant Alfredo’s. Why did we search for Iberia's office? Well we’re not entirely sure that our luggage is included in the ticket price. This applies to the in a few days' upcoming flight between Lisbon and Madrid. Probably we have to pay a supplement and we had hoped to do here.

14.41 Iberia does not seem to have any office at any terminal here at Arlanda. Now we checked in and are after the security check, now back at a Starbucks. Last time we sat here was at the Easter trip when we were heading for Bulgaria via Germany. We bought our coffee by a charming waitress named Sofie. She thought that our planned trip sounded amazing. We hope it will be.

15.07 Now we are sitting at gate 7. We also sat here at the start of this year's Easter trip. That time we were questioned about our stay at the airport.

15.27 A person with a clipboard, paper and pencil strolled about among the people at gate 7. Was it yet another market research? We put ourselves in the queue, did not get our boarding passes ripped in half and boarded. It's time to fly with TAP Portugal, a for both of us new airline. It's also time to set the clocks back an hour and adapt to the Portuguese time.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

Going southwest with the portuguese airline TAP.

18.00 In our stomachs there are dinners. Below the plane's belly lies the Bay of Biscay. Sure it's fun to fly but now I want to arrive to straighten out things with Iberia and the flight to Madrid on Monday. Another reason is that I actually like to see our destination.

19.06 The captain just announced that we have begun to descend towards Lisbon. ”Colete ointment vidas sob a sua cadeira” it says on the seat in front of me. This means that there is a life vest under my seat.

PORTUGAL

19.26 We have landed at Lisbon airport, Portela. It is also called Lisbon International Airport.

19.42 It's time to go with the bus to the terminal. Christer's old cell phone, which he has brought with him as a back up, carries on to start itself. It also has tried to call some other phones. Christer has for this journey invested in a new mobile phone, something I also should do. Another classic is Christer’s backpack; it is the faithful old servant that went to Africa in 2012 and not the new one this time.

20.48 Now things have gone smoothly. We got our backpacks. Sure, everything didn’t flow entirely smooth. The conveyor belt stopped since someone has pressed an emergency stop, and Christer’s backpack was the last luggage out. In the office next to Iberia's office, they had closed and referred us to their neighbour, we got great news. We can fly to Madrid on Monday. First, however, we will return to the office on Monday to pay for our luggage. We will now have something to eat and drink at Spoon Café. It was like so many times before few places to eat at in the airport´s arrival area. We also experienced this in Dublin in 2010 for example.

A late dinner meal at Spoon Café.

21.27 Christer has entered his 96th country. For me it's a comeback. Roberth and I were here in April 2009. Then we visited Lisbon, Porto and Braga. Now Christer and I travel with the metro. It is a great advantage when cities have metro directly connected to its airport. Such was the case in, for example Singapore this summer.

21.48 We're at Alameda metro station. Here we have changed from red to green line. Soon, we´ll travel further. It's cheap to take the metro here. You buy a green card which you then upload before each trip.

22.50 The trip to the station Baixa-Chiado went well. I firmly believe that Roberth and I went from that particular station in 2009. From there we cruised through a rain wet Lisbon, made a short stop for the purchase some beverages in a small shop, and continued up to Smile Hostel (http://www.smilehostel.com) on Travesa do Almada 12 where the door was locked. We rang the bell and knocked on the door, but got no response. We had to call them. The darkness and the rain forced us to go in under a streetlamp to see the number on our reservation paper. We were let in and was told the doorbell unfortunately been turned off. Now we have got our room, information, and have paid all but € 6,40. The lady that checked us in didn’t have change for the € 10 banknote that we gave her. Now we drink the purchased soft drinks here in room 1. After that we should sleep. We are abnormally thirsty. Think it was considerably hot out there at the airport.

Lisbon welcomed us with rainy weather.

Peter in our room at Smile Hostel.

Saturday 28th of December

08.22 Now that we've rested, we will soon take on the breakfast table here at Smile Hostel and later on even Lisbon itself. We don’t know exactly how and what we´ll do. Why we do know. We are hungry and it would be foolish to miss seeing Lisbon when we are here.

08.36 With the help of Christer's new smartphone and the Wi-Fi network here at Smile Hostel, we now have the internet directly into our room. Hopefully, we can save time on our travels and not constantly have to look for internet cafes.

09.52 Why does she want to be my friend? asked Christer. He’s got a friend request on Facebook from an unknown woman, probably a fake Facebook profile. We just had breakfast in the kitchen here at the hostel. At the table sat two guests from Italy. Were they father and daughter, or a young wife and a happy man? Who knows? Christer thought that the man had features of Benito Mussolini. The breakfast was amazing, a whole table with everything you want at a breakfast, bread, juices, cereals, fruit, coffee, pastry, cheese, ham, and more. Now we are ready for the city. Will I recognize anything? Will Lisbon remember me?

10.41 The hour has come to see and return to Lisbon. Speaking of seeing we will probably see Sé as well.

In this kitchen breakfast is served every morning.

You enter Smile Hostel through this door.

Rua da Conceição, Lisbon.

10.56 We have looked at the church Igreja da Madalena outside our accommodation. From there we wandered down to Rua Alfandega. For example, we have seen the historic building Casa dos Bicos here.

11.09 We've now passed parts of Lisbon where the stay in 2009 was completed. Among other things, we saw the entrance to the accommodation Beira Mar where Roberth and I stayed. We stepped in through the Arco do Rosario and now I'm sitting on a wall attached marble bench next to a small fountain. The district here is called Alfama.

11.25 Now things start to happen. We passed the beautiful blue tiled Arco de Jesus and some orange trees before we now see Sé Cathedral of Lisbon. Here we can also see something we have seen and even ridden in both Asia and Central America, the tuk-tuk. These vehicles are, however, more modern and longer. Additionally, they are electrically powered. I am no longer using my legs and sit on the steps of the cathedral and write this.

11.30 We have started making video clips with Christer's new mobile phone. One of the first was made just behind the cathedral. They reach new heights in quality but also consume lots of memory.

In Alfama, there are many houses with azulejo tiles, typical of Portugal.

In Lisbon there are many restaurants/clubs where you can listen to the traditional "fado music".

Once again we can see the oranges grow in December.

Tuk-tuk, a new odd element in Lisbon's traffic.

The cathedral Sé de Lisboa.

11.47 In front of me “Runaway train” is sung and played. Behind me is the Christ statue, Cristo Rey, a smaller replica of the one in Rio de Janeiro, the 25th of April Bridge and the lapping waves. To my right flows the Tagus (Tejo) River and to the left is the Praça do Comércio square. It has received a major facelift since last time I was here. On the square, there is a bearded man in a Santa hat begging. Is the poor Santa unemployed? On and by the square, we have taken photos on an equestrian statue of José I and Terreiro do Paço, a triumphal arch at the entrance to the street Rua Augusta.

12.27 We have just seen a classic climbing Santa on a wall. Moreover, we have been into a souvenir shop and bought some football jerseys for our nephews. The prices for the jerseys were cool. One jersey for 7 Euros, two for 10 Euros and 13 shirts for 50 Euros. Was the last option a whole team plus substitutes?

12.49 We have walked through the Baixa area and reached the Praça de Dom Pedro IV, Pedro IV Square. The square is also called the Rossio Square. The pavement with sometimes white, sometimes black wave pattern is nicknamed "the billowing square”. It gives me seasickness. Pedro IV was Brazil's first emperor.

12.55 During a study of a fountain on the square nature's own fountain started. It began to rain. We have sought shelter in a Starbucks inside the Rossio Railway Station. The begging Santa just entered Starbucks. Has he followed us? This is the seventh country this year that we found a Starbucks for coffee consumption.

13.22 The coffee is soon finished. There have been plans to see more of the city. It will be both old and new things for me. Outside Starbucks there is a group of people walking around and they give out free hugs.

Terreiro do Paço.

The river Tagus (Tejo) and the 25th of April-bridge.

A begging santa walked around Praça Do Comércio.

Baixa (Lower Town) was built after the earthquake 1755.

Elevador de Santa Justa, one of Lisbon's famous elevators.

The Rossio Square has an official name, Praça de Dom Pedro IV.

The fountain outside Teatro Dona Maria.

The begging santa appeared even at Starbucks.

13.58 We walked slowly uphill. Now we are at the top of Avenida da Liberdade. Not far away is the first Lisbon accommodation for Roberth and me. A little closer to one of the city's major parks, Parque Eduardo VII. It currently is +14ºC and a warm breeze.

14.22 We went down Avenida da Liberdade and have started to walk parallel to the street where the funicular Elevator da Glória goes. Unfortunately, all the walls and facades are covered with ugly graffiti, unnecessary! On a dark green door is the graffiti, "All cops are pigs but not all pigs are cops". We hear a man who made a sound check before he started talking. The check consisted of words, e a, e a, again and again. The sound comes from the park Praça dos Restauradores.

14.38 It tore on the strength and body to go up the steep hill. However, it was worth it all. Here in the park/lookout Miradouro São Pedro de Alcântara, we have seen a troubadour who sings in French, another man with a fat cigar and we also had a fantastic view of Lisbon. These are new areas of Lisbon even for me.

15.04 Before we left the beautiful lookout point, we took pictures of a beautiful rainbow that was sighted in the east. Now we have seen the Igreja de São Roque, a Jesuit church built in Rome and filled with gems before it was moved here. We continued and I now sit on a marble bench in the square Largo de Carmo. In a booth outside a house is a dressed-up guard. I do not know what he was guarding.

15.48 I do not yet know what was guarded. What I do know is that we have just passed the city's most famous elevator Santa Justa. Now we have returned to the lower city, Baixa, and sit down at Cafeteria São Nicolau. It's time for burgers. We have also seen an interesting local character. He sat down on the sidewalk with two dogs. He persisted and sang in what looked like a funnel.

Avenida da Liberdade.

The funicular Elevador da Glória.

A great view of central Lissabon.

A beautiful rainbow suddenly appeared.

Christer is imitating at Largo Trindade Coelho.

16.11 This was exactly what was needed. We each received a good burger, both with an olive in bedded in the lid. It was not a giant meal but we are planning for dinner later tonight. All we need now is to pay for this and maybe get the chance to let out fluids.

17.13 A gentle stroll with a stop for beverage purchases as well as for filming of a famous tram line took us home to Smile Hostel. Now we prepare for tonight's happenings. In a business, we have seen a huge bottle of wine, Brites Aguiar, who only cost € 994.80.

19.13 We have brewed and drunk coffee in our kitchen. We’ve had time to watch a number of channels on the TV out in the living room. There was great number of channels. However, we have not been able to pay the debt because none of the staff are here. We have not brought any life in the computer in the kitchen.

20.11 The urge to see more of Lisbon and, above all, to get us in a dinner is great. Now we leave the room and accommodation.

20.54 Tonight we drink a half bottle of wine each. We will also eat food. We're at the restaurant Casa Chinesa that is promising Portuguese dishes.

22.47 It was tastefully and needed. The waiter was a bit slow when it came to collect the payment. It seemed more fun to sort silverware and carry out new glasses. Total cost for two meals, a liter of wine and a coffee for me landed at € 25.10, there was no tip. I think it was a fairly good price. Now we gather ourselves and the day before it becomes an evening beer here in our room.

23.15 SVT Teletext has via Christer's mobile reported about a man that has been found frozen on Lake Lögdö. The man had a body temperature of +26 º and intensive care. Furthermore have, fishermen near Gavle found various body parts. We have respect for the frozen one and will now consume an evening beer each. It becomes Sagres for both of us.

Darkness falls over the streets of Baixa.

Lots of wine at this evening´s dinner.

Sunday 29th of December

08.22 It is quiet and calm in our accommodation Smile Hostel. When I just left the shower, I met the Italian we met at the breakfast table yesterday. Today, we have plans to see and taste more of what Lisbon has to offer.

10.00 Now we´ve had our "café da manha”, breakfast. This is true for today but also for tomorrow. The lady at the front desk should ensure that there is something to choose from for us tomorrow. We will travel on before breakfast is usually served. We are now completely free of debt, to the accommodation that is.

10.41 Now we and Christer's mobile phone are basically as loaded as possible. It's time to head out. We are about to walk upwards in the city. The goal for the morning is to walk up to the castle area Castelo de São Jorge. From there, it´s promised a magnificent view of the city.

11.11 ”O Tannenbaum” and "Silent Night” is played by the bells of the church clock tower below us. We've walked past the cathedral Sé and reached several superb viewpoints. First we were at Portas do Sol. Now we are sitting on a bench in the sun and enjoy life. A man next to me is adjusting his guitar and arranges the microphone. The sun glistens on the river below. A large German cruise ship can be seen on the river's water. This is vacation! We are now at Largo de Santa Luzia or the Mirador de Santa Luzia. The part of Lisbon we gaze out over is Alfama.

Lisbon in December feels like spring or early summer for us northerners.

Tram line 28 is popular with tourists. Here it passes Largo Portas do Sol.

View towards the north.

Alfama and a cruiseship.

11.44 We have changed terrace, lookout point. Here we sit, waiting for the church bells to play again. We want to try filming it. Is the show already over?

12.04 We walked on without checking exactly where we went. We went way too far and was about to enter the neighborhood of Graça before we turned back. We have temporarily stopped on the shady Largo do Menino de Deus. Now we continue where it is more to see than this.

12.10 There were more to see. We went through a portal and there in a small courtyard hung a large lump of what looked like rusty steel wool. Now we might be very close to the castle area.

12.26 Sure, the castle area was close and we found the entrance. There was however a ticket control. The queue to the ticket booth was extremely long. We ignore the parts that cost money, we´ll enjoy the idyllic setting along the streets here and take a bench break instead. We are now at the intersection of Rua das Cozinhas and Rua de Espirito Santo. I have no memory of any entry fee during the visit with Roberth here in 2009.

12.36 We're sitting, enjoying the idyllic environment and have observed an elderly gentleman with a dog that intensively tried to explain something to a younger man. We are fascinated by the fact that people are driving here in the extremely narrow streets. There is barely room to meet and there are tourists everywhere.

12.52 The December sun warms us. We take a small bench break. This is another square, Largo de Santa Cruz do Castelo.

13.10 Before we left the bench, I received a text massage from home about how we felt and if we´ve noticed the garbage strike. Strike? Sure, we’ve seen overflowing bins but not thought anything more about it. Now we treat ourselves some port wine and the pastry Pastel de Nata at the little cafe Mercenaria Castello on Rua de Flores de Santa Cruz 2.

A dog looks down at the passing tourists.

We passed this hanging thing. What is it?

This is the entrance to Castelo de São Jorge.

The narrow streets inside the walls at Castelo de São Jorge.

Castelo de São Jorge, an idyllic area in central Lisbon.

The older generation explains something.

We stopped for some port wine and "pastel de nata" this nice Sunday.

13.49 We have started the trek from the hill down to the center of Lisbon. We got a clear view of the garbage strike along the street Calçada de Santo Andre. There was lots of garbage along the sidewalk. It must be really hard to go back to work again for the garbage men when so much garbage is waiting.

14.03 We are now at the square Martim Moniz. The walking feels in the legs and the good port wine feels in the head. Here we can see a fountain and a sea snake, dragon or whatever it is that winds its way across the square.

14.38 We crossed through the central districts of Lisbon. On the way we saw a young German lady who was looking for a mailbox for her postcards. At first she tried to post in a ”personal” box. She was helped to a small post office but hesitated over which slide she would stop the postcards in.

14.50 Now we're at the railway station Cais do Sodré. Here we have uploaded the transport card from last Friday with a return trip to Belém in Lisbon's western outskirts. Roberth and I walked there in 2009. It took time. This train journey will take only seven minutes.

The strike is visible on this Lisbon street.

Peter makes some latest notes on Martim Moniz Square.

Praça do Municipio.

We catch the train from the station Cais do Sodré.

15.32 The train took us quick and easy to Belém. Our intended visit the lovely cafe Antigo Confeitaria de Belém (Pastéis de Belém) may wait. It's a hefty queue there. The pavement is filled with people. Instead, we eat a late lunch at the Chinese restaurant Xi Hu. What does the word restaurant originate from and mean anyway?

16.19 The queue at the café is if possible even longer now. The baked goods at Pastéis de Belém are unique, only a few people know the recipe. The question is whether anything can be so tasty that it is worth such a long wait in the queue. A small orchestra have walked by on the sidewalk and stood for spontaneous entertainment. Christer tried to film the whole thing but there were plenty of cars and buses in the road. The food at the restaurant was that food should be, tasty and filling.

16.35 I'm sitting on a bollard and write this. Behind me are the sunset and the monument of the portuguese discoveries. Upstream the river is the April 25th bridge and across the river I see the Jesus statue Cristo Rei.

16.58 We left the monument and saw things we have seen before though in other places. In the river went an amphibious bus just like in Dubai last year. There was a cow statue, an outdoor training facility and sellers of knick-knacks. Now we are at the UNESCO-listed Torre de Belém. A short distance away a liter of diesel costs 1,519 euros.

17.37 We photographed the tower Torre de Belém (http://www.torrebelem.pt) which is a defense system from the 1500´s and we immortalized a sun heading down in its watery bed. Really beautiful! Now we are by a beautiful building with an impressive fountain, the kind I like. Mosteiro dos Jeronimos is the name of the building. It is a large monastery.

There were many who wanted to taste the unique pastries at Pastéis de Belém.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, the World Heritage listed monastery in Belém.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos, the monument to the Portuguese seamen and their discoveries.

Torre de Belém.

The sun disappears into the Atlantic.

Christer is resting in the Praça do Império park outside Jerónimos Monastery.

18.01 Our return journey from Belém has begun. All that we planned to do have been done. Well, not quite everything. All except coffee and pastries at Pastéis de Belém. The queue was simply too long. Oops, a ticket inspector is on the train now.

18.57 The ticket control and the rest of the trip went well. It also went well to shop in the store Pingo Doce at Cais do Sodré station. The only problem there was a shortage of space in the store, plenty of people, or perhaps even both. We have included some of our early breakfast tomorrow morning.

20.02 We wonder about where to eat and what to eat this evening. It strikes us that we have not seen any pizzerias in the city. In short, thinking notwithstanding, we are not much wiser about the dinner.

20.56 We went out, took left and went the same route as this morning as we passed many nice restaurants then. The cathedral was passed and also the Mirador de Santa Luzia. Now we have found a cozy restaurant, Casa Madeira. Here we ordered food and got our entrees and wine Serrinha. On the napkins, it says Frohe Weihnachten, "Merry Christmas” in German.

21.09 Here, things happen. A man in a middle-aged couple has asked me to open a PET bottle of mineral water. An elderly couple, married long before Portugal gave up its colonies, has joined. They just sat down and received service and been served. The man has a bib. It's probably not the first time they eat dinner here.

22.11 The couple behind me, those in middle age, was from Denmark. I ended my meal with coffee and Beirão, a delectable Portuguese liqueur. After that I said goodbye to the Danish and we went home. In two days, s the New Year close. Then we are not left in Portugal.

23.04 We have been enjoying beer in the form of Sagres and candy in the form of Maltesers. The news reported that the situation is critical for Michael Schumacher after a skiing accident. Bear in mind, he drove Formula 1 for a number of years and now this happens!

23.43 It's time to say boa noite! Now we're going to sleep. Tomorrow it's off to Portugal's only neighbour.

The last evening in Lisbon was spent here.

Tonight's dinner restaurant was Casa Madeira.