06.14 We have just listened to an old Swedish song. A woman sang that she was sitting under a tree. We sit by a wooden table in Christer´s apartment having breakfast. The name of the radio show is Da Capo and the journey we are about to launch this Easter weekend is also a Da Capo.

07.04 This Easter Saturday carries on. We will soon carry our backpacks to the railway station. Christer has soon packed his backpack. Is this the final journey that these backpacks do?

07.57 The train, which is an express train, is fully booked. We will within a few minutes, begin the journey south. We leave a chilly and snow covered Sundsvall.

08.37 "Note, to close the door, hold the handle to the left" says a handwritten note on the inside of the cabin toilet door.

We look out over a cold and tired Sundsvall this early morning.

10.55 With us here on the train we´ve got The Bat and Two soldiers. It is nice to have travel companions that is created by the authors Jo Nesbø and Roslund and Hellström. Next we´ll reach Uppsala. It is not as snowy here as in Sundsvall.

11.26 Once again, we are at Arlanda airport and at the benches between the escalators to/from Arlanda Express platform and a kiosk. Next we will have a coffee break at 7-Eleven.

12.57 After coffee and baguettes, we have arranged with some leva. Now we have local currency so that we can live and eat in Sofia when we get there. The Bulgarian currency has an enrollment of approximately 70 US cents for each lev.

14.05 We had our lunch at Alfredo's. We arranged with our boarding cards last night so now we will just "drop" the backpacks.

Peter waits for his lunch at the restaurant Alfredo's at Arlanda airport.

Pippi Longstocking is climbing at Arlanda.

Christer has a unique experience, he is visiting a Starbucks in Sweden.

14.20 We went to a few machines to get some tags to our packing. All we managed to do was to check in all over again. Now it has been made both at home and here at the airport. We didn’t get any tags though.

14.37 Now we're without our big backpacks. They have taken off on a carousel. I forgot to send my phone in the box by the X-ray at the security check. Repeat, do the right thing. Now we are near our gate.

15.11 Time for a sentence that have been written before. It has never been written been in Sweden. We're at Starbucks and are drinking coffee.

15.31 We've been through a market survey. A coughing lady with a clipboard asked us about today's final destination, our origins, how we got to the airport, what we've done since we arrived and more. We said that we were going to Sofia and had to help her and tell that it is in Bulgaria, not in France.

15.47 So, we've put ourselves on the plane from Lufthansa, a new company in the case of travel journal travels. We are on line 20. This plane as well as planes of several other companies is missing row 13. Our seat has elbow room and legroom like inside a toothpaste tube.

We are leaving a cold Sweden.

It was a short visit to Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich.

17.40 We have after departure just sat down. During the sitting, we have eaten a hot sandwich, drank a little and read in a crime novel and a guidebook. According to the timetable half an hour of the flight still remains.

18.04 We're almost in Munich. The ground is no longer covered in snow, but the weather is miserable, rainy weather.

GERMANY

18.40 Now we've landed, been bussed through the rain and walked. We are at gate 40 on the Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich. My younger brother with his wife and son visited here last week. For my part, it is 20 years since the last visit. 0,5 liters of beer and three sausages costs 12,80 euros at the bar here at our gate. We buy nothing. We're supposed to soon fly on.

19.14 We are embarked on today's second flight. It's time to set the clocks one hour to Bulgarian time. Once there, and before falling asleep, we move the clocks again. Summer time is approaching.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

20.44 The small traveling party is divided. We got seats on different rows this flight. It does not create any problems, however. We get to see enough of each other anyway in the coming week.

21.26 A note for myself. Never order in any language other than English on foreign trips. German, French or any other language should not be used. There is no living soul that understands or can even guess what I want. My attempt to order more coffee in German went completely wrong. I had to mention everything in English.

BULGARIA

22.43 Our plane landed at Vrajdebna Airport in Sofia, Bulgaria. We then landed at the World Café. Here we will have mozzarella sandwich and some soda. Then it will be a taxi to the accommodation. Last time we were in town we came by night train from Thessaloniki. Then we were quickly recruited by a gentleman who drove us to his hotel. That was in 2002.

22.59 We went to the taxi company OK Supertrans and the lady at their desk arranged with the taxi we travel in right now.

23.38 The taxi fairly quickly reached Sofia and we spun around on narrow streets with parked cars. Our driver had trouble finding the right address. Now we finally checked in at Hostel Lavele (http://www.lavelehostel.com) which is centrally located. Today's room number is 43. Payment and other things will be delt with in the morning said the man who met us. Our room has a balcony overlooking the Lavele street. Now it is almost summertime. We were informed of this by the guy at the front desk after we were told about the breakfast. He looked at us and said "change".

Peter in our room at Hostel Lavele.

We looked out on Sofia before we went to bed.

Sunday 31st of March

08.37 It has been a rewarding and refreshing sleep in a semi-cold room. Spring is late here as well and no heat to talk about. Today Sofia is waiting for us to revisit her again. This year's meeting will not to be as hot as the past one when we spent some days here in 35-degrees heat in July 2002.

09.41 The vaulted cellar offers breakfast so we have been there. On some of the chairs someone had papered with pages from newspapers. I had including others Macchu Picchu on my back. Breakfast consisted of homemade bread, jam, cheese, sausage, yogurt, cereal, milk and strong coffee. Now we will settle the last things here at the hostel before we head out in the cool weather.

10.25 The room was left and we went downstairs to the reception to check-in. Next to the front desk was a man who looked like he knew everything. He, on the contrary, did not. Instead, he had a lot of questions for us. There were questions about currency exchange, coffee and a city map. He was a confused guest from southern Europe. The reception is closed right now. Now we have left our home and sit down for a moment at the nearest entrance to the metro. Enough of this, off towards the new/old stuff!

Breakfast at Hostel Lavele.

The metro station Serdika is where the remains of the Roman city of Serdika is found.

11.02 There are many dogs out walking their owners. We've walked along Vitosha Boulevard to its end and we are now at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) at the Bulgarian Square. Here is a communist monument from 1981. It was erected in 1300th anniversary of the First Bulgarian Empire. There is snow on the mountains which are visible at the horizon. It is the mountain massif Vitosha, whose highest peak is 2290 meters above sea level. They offer ski resorts and is a popular destination.

11.17 We have walked around the Palace of Culture, viewed an exhibition of destinations in the Middle East and North Africa and also found the restaurant where we plan to eat tonight. There is also some form of building fair outside of the Palace.

11.31 There is no direct need, but somehow this is a part of our lifestyle. We are having coffee at Costa Coffee in the NDK building. Here everyone is welcome to buy coffee and pastries, but if you smoke a cigarette, you need to go out in the cold. Legislation on smoking has also reached in this tobacco-friendly country. Presumably, the EU has something to do about it.

11.54 The coffee was drunk and now we have seen a small memorial chapel and a name filled wall. Both are in memory of the victims of communism. Outside the chapel, there was a mobile chatting, smoking and bearded man in a black robe. It is time to rise up and travel to other parts of Sofia. Now, we can hear an alarm somewhere.

12.06 Once again, we are about to travel underground. A new metro for us to travel with. I do not know why we did not go with this one in 2002.

Vitosha Boulevard, Sofia.

Christer and the National Palace of Culture, NDK.

A smoking priest is speaking on the phone outside the chapel for the victims of communism.

Peter makes some notes amid Bulgarian pensioners.

12.38 Everything has been running smoothly today, everything except buying a bus ticket to Skopje for tomorrow's trip. The ticket office was closed. We hope they open later. Otherwise, we will buy our ticket tomorrow. We're at the bus station and here we met a young man who asked about Montenegro and we shared what we knew from our trip there two years ago.

13.08 We went with the metro back to the center and are back on Lavele Hostel. We have paid for the room and now we get information about the Skopje bus. The reception guy thinks that the office may have been closed for lunch. However, we can buy our tickets later today or tomorrow before departure.

13.19 We have left the accommodation behind us and have walked out to the Sveta Nedelya church which is located nearby. The church was blown up in 1925 when local communists tried to kill the king, Boris III, during a funeral. The king was not in place, but 150 others were killed and 500 injured. King Boris II was invited to Hitler for dinner in 1943. Boris came back ill from the dinner and later died. Don´t dine with Hitler.

13.29 Toto's "Susanna" is being nicely interpreted by a local troubadour. Ourselves, we sit on a wall. The sun demonstrates its warmth and strength. Soon we go to another beautiful church.

13.40 Saint George, the saint with the dragon has once again crossed our paths. Here at Hotel Sheraton's courtyard stands the small UNESCO-listed church from the 4th century. We are at the Sveti Georgi Rotunda and we were here last time we were in Sofia. The church has suffered the ravages of the Huns, been bombed during World War II and suffered from earthquakes, but it still remains.

13.57 We walked past the Parliament and then took aim at a park. Here a small band with drums, trumpet and accordion is to the left of us. To the right we have the National Theatre. A dry fountain is seen behind and above are the dark clouds. Now a small dry leave landed in the travel journal. A crowd can be seen on the other side of the fountain. Now the small leaf blew away.

The central bus terminal in Sofia.

Sveti Nedelya Church.

Sveti Georgi Rotunda, the church from the 4th century is in the Hotel Sheraton's courtyard.

Christer is standing in front of the president's residence.

Some older men entertain in the park.

The National Theatre in Sofia.

14.15 The beautiful Russian Sveti Nikolaj Church stands to the right of us. A sweaty foot has just met fresh air. The day, it goes on. There is rain in the air.

14.41 Now we are sitting down again. This time it is for lunch at the restaurant/pizzeria Mamma Mia (http://www.mammamia.bg). We will drink Bulgarian beer. Behind me is the magnificent Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. There is a slight rain but we still sit outside.

15.40 It was tasty food and we tried an excellent beer, Shumensko. Now we go with underground trains again. A new attempt to buy a bus ticket will be made. We have gone underground at Sofia University and the station Kliment Ohridski. This is by the way a different line than the one we had gone with before. Before, it was blue but now it is the older red line. We need to change the line at an upcoming station, our home port Serdika.

16.01 We found no passage between the stations and went up above ground. Up here we continued on to a covered market we have been in the past, the Central Market Hall. Christer pointed out just how it reminded the market hall in Budapest, only in smaller form. Last time we saw a ketchup shop here. It was not here now. Outside the market hall a youth begged for money from first me and then Christer. Everything happened in Bulgarian.

16.25 We went down to the second metro line and went away. The ticket office at the bus station was still closed. However, a lady came after a while and we went inside. First, she said, no problem, then she said, problems, and then we got our bus tickets. Ahead of us now is a new metro ride to the center.

16.55 Well, I have been to various places and written in a journal. However, this is the first time I'm sitting on the front paws of a large bronze lion. Behind me stands St.Sofia church and the city's eternal flame.

The Russian Sveti Nikolaj Church is one of the most beautiful in the city of Sofia.

Sofia metro, cheap and good!

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia.

Christer is waiting for food at the restaurant Mamma Mia.

Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia.

17.50 Church of Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia) was left in favor of the address General Gurko 62. Here we are having an Americano each and splits of a Chocolate Chip Cookie. The ones who brought us these is a chain called Starbucks. We have probably been visiting them before in the past.

18.22 The wandering just proceeds. Now, we were passed by two Hispanics. We are looking for an internet café. It is not easy. We have found the Telephone Palace which according to the guidebook should have internet access. However, we are skeptical about this. It looks quite empty. Before we left Sweden I booked, on Christer's suggestion, a table online at a Bulgarian restaurant. I hope to have received a confirmation from them. We also want to give signs of life from us to loved ones back home.

18.58 Efficient and existing Internet cafés are conspicuous by their absence. Is it that the expire date of such establishments is passed. Is it just Wi-Fi that applies now?

19.33 We gave up the search and took aim at an exchange office to arrange Macedonian denars. It was not so good either. There was no Wi-Fi version this time. There was simply no open office. Back home, Christer found out a quick solution regarding tonight's reservation. I followed his advice and called Chevermeto, 00359885630 308. The assessment confirmed the booking from a happy woman.

20.14 We have counted our remaining Bulgarian money. Soon we will move towards the dinner. We hope to avoid becoming a part of the show offered at the restaurant. We do not want it to be as it was on the boat in Kuching 2006.

The eternal flame at the St. Sofia Church.

We had an afternoon coffee at Starbucks.

20.43 Now it's off again. Christer managed to find a pedestrian tunnel between the city's two metro lines. While waiting for the train, I have learned that Sofia was named the capital of the newly independent Bulgaria April 3, 1879 and that the city hopes to become cultural capital city 2019.

21.09 We came to a commonplace building behind the NDK house and went inside. After a bit of walking, we opened a large wooden door and stepped inside. We are at our table on the Bulgarian restaurant Chevermeto (http://www.chevermeto-bg.com). The food is just ordered. Two young men and two women in traditional costumes are dancing to the music. This is really nice. It was a good idea to reserve a table at this place. It feels real and genuine.

22.18 We have enjoyed good Bulgarian food, good beer and good wine. A simply fantastic entertainment where also part of a family attended. The evening's highlight was an old gentleman who helped with both song and dance. Ahead of us is the return journey. Tomorrow we will leave Sofia.

22.47 We are at home in the 47 again. It's time to pack. From the dinner I owe Christer 8,50 leva, US$5,42 or 267 denars.

23.34 The day ends with a combined evening and balcony beer. Then it will be teethbrushing and sleep. Лека нощ, leka nosht, good night

We had entertainment in the form of Bulgarian folk music and dance during the dinner.

Christer is enjoying a nice dinner at the restaurant Chevermeto.

Monday 1st of April

07.04 No it's not a joke. We are on vacation and are up at this hour. We want to have everything ready before закуска, Zakuska, breakfast. Then it's off to the bus station for our travel abroad.

08.29 A good breakfast is a good start to a day dedicated to travel abroad and to a new return. Next there will be bathroom visits and final packing.

08.54 We left the room and I left the key on an empty desk. The door facing the street was locked but the breakfast lady let us out. At the ticket office in the metro Christer showed one finger to the lady at the counter but got two tickets for his two leva bill. After that we slipped down to the wrong metro line, but with the help of the pedestrian tunnel, we came right. Now we are waiting for the last metro train for this trip.

09.27 Now we have been effective. Here at the bus station, we had time for some things. Christer has bought two Fanta, we have had a lavatory visit where we paid a as we call it, piss lady and back here arranged with a sticker. The stickers were attached to our backpacks. Today's company is called Matpu 96 Ood (http://www.matpu.com).

09.53 It is time to leave Sofia. There was not much that was as we remembered it. Has the city been rebuilt or are our memories really bad? A liter of diesel costs 2,63 leva, US$1,35. Our hostel was fine, we have seldom lived so central in a major city. Add to that good breakfast, rooms and beds. I could not become a bus driver here in Bulgaria. The reason is that I, unlike the bus drivers don´t smoke. There will be more smoke out of the drivers' mouths than from the buses themselves.

We have reached Kyustendil.

Our bus made ​​a stop in Garlyano.

A dog is enjoying the spring sunshine.

10.57 Dragomirovo is the name of the village we just drove through. The road is narrow and winding. The song "Terra Promessa" can be heard on the radio. The landscape is hilly. The tree buds waiting to burst out and compete in the greenness of the pine trees.

11.38 We passed the city of Kyustendil and saw the miserable residential areas in the outskirts of the city where the Roma live, in contrast to the rest of the city's buildings. In the village Garlyano there has been a stop for refreshments or food. Here in the sunshine, we were greeted welcome by the local dogs and red beetles with black spots, Pyrrhocoris Apterus, firebugs. Here it is quiet, peaceful, beautiful.

12.07 The border to the Republic of Macedonia is reached. Everyone is waiting for the Bulgarian passport police. The driver opened the luggage compartment. It is probably for the custom officers. When we travel further the watches will be set back one hour.

12.14 My passport disappeared right out of the bus door. However, it was not alone. With it followed Christer’s and the other passengers passports.

12.19 A lady from a Bulgarian statistical office has asked us about our stay in the country. She wanted to know how we booked our trip, how long we have been in the country and how much we had spent. It reminded of the questions we received at the airport. One of the other passengers has got a heap of passports to distribute them fairly and to the rightful owners. Now he came back completely without passports. A woman among the passengers was called out of the bus.

MACEDONIA

12.41 We regained our passports, the woman returned and the bus rolled on to the next border post. Now you have another passport picking police on board. I hope he will return very soon. It's never fun to be without a passport or being on a stationary bus.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

12.18 Everything is ready! Now we go on. Now is the Macedonian time (same as Swedish time), natural, beautiful and a new road, a bumpy variant that applies. The beautiful countryside is mountainous, hilly and in anticipation of greenery. Where is spring? Will we see it on this trip?

12.28 Christer has filmed parts of the journey through the city Kriva Palanka. The flood filled Kriva river ran parallel to the road.

13.10 The greenery of the fields are young, intense and seductive beautiful. Skopje is getting closer. On this side of the border spring seems to have progressed further. The cherry trees are in blossom.

Beautiful views in western Bulgaria.

A dog stood in the way.

13.37 Our bus has entered the town of Kumanovo where some passengers got off. The city streets are probably not built for large buses. When we went past the mosque the bus drove so close that you could see into the courtyard and see the older men who washed their feet.

13.53 Kumanovo was left behind and we now have seen sign telling us that we are entering Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. The road we go on is called Alexander the Macedonian highway. The same man also gave its name to the city's airport. The rest of the world knows him as Alexander the Great. There is plenty of snow on the mountain peaks in the area.

14.16 Now we have returned to Skopje for real. Here it is comfortably warm. Have we found the spring? We are at the bus station to collect our thoughts, make a plan for the future and also withdraw money in the local currency, denars.

14.25 We walked from the bus station to get a taxi. A young guy referred us to a driver who took us to his little blue car. When asked where we were from, we said, Sweden. Swiss? said the driver, football? We replied Ibrahimovic, and he understood where we were from. Now that he knows where our hostel is we´ll head there. Wait, we just made a stop to refuel.

Kumanovo

14.44 You should trust your instincts and they turned out to be correct. We both thought that there were something unreliable about our driver and his private taxi. We therefore asked about the price but he told us that he used a meter and showed it to us. The price took off anyway and we had an irritated discussion, we gave up and gave the driver the overcharge his apparatus showed. I wonder on what amount it was set to when we started. Now we are at Urban Hostel (http://www.urbanhostel.com.mk) and in room 4. It has a double bed although that we booked two single beds. The reason is said to be that those who registered our booking happened to book a room with a double bed.

15.46 We have been sitting on the balcony, had coffee and made plans. Now, we heard a voice below the balcony. It was one of those responsible for the hostel who told us to move to another room. Christer had told the man at the front desk about bed problem and now they want to find a better solution for us.

16.00 We left the key at reception and were shown from the hostel, out of this building, a bit along the street and into another house. It was a slow elevator up to the fifth floor. Here we stay in room 11. Room?, it is by the way an entire apartment. We have two bedrooms, a bathroom, a toilet, living room and kitchen. What a luxury!

17.12 We have familiarized ourselves with our apartment and what it has to offer. The TV was pretty boring until we found the solution to the problem. It was a cord was unplugged in the TV box. What happens next we'll see.

Peter calls home and tells about the arrival to Skopje.

A room became an apartment!

View from our apartment.

Snow-capped mountains north of Skopje.

18.02 What happened was that we set out on Skopje's streets to look around the home block. On one of the streets, we might have rediscovered one of our old hotels in the city. The street is named Leninova and the hotel called Laki. It is the right street and the location feels right. However, it is fresher facade than we remember from 2002. In the elevator down to street level, we heard someone calling Hello, hello when we were on our way out. Were we confused or was it from the elevator phone?

18.26 Now we shopped a little for the evening. This was done in a supermarket called Vero.

19.09 We have just like in Sofia, conducted a hopeless, fruitless, search of an internet café. Last time we were here, we asked for a post office and people asked then if we knew about the internet. Now, when we need it, there isn´t one close to where we stay. Furthermore, we have been looking for restaurants. Some have been seen. We also heard a woman with a husky voice cry out heartbreaking a few times from inside a house.

19.26 Now it's dinner at the restaurant Piccola Italia. They have been around since 1958.

20.41 It's probably not the restaurant itself that have been with for 55 years. It's probably a chain. The pizzas were good and the price reasonable. Dinner took place between a bubbling fountain and a wooden table that probably used for wine tasting. Now we are at home to forge future plans. On the way home we went into the wrong house and staircase. Finally we got it right. Christer remembered wrong and thought go into the gate 11 and apartment 15 instead of the opposite which is the right one.

We walked around in our home area.

Is Laki the same hotel where we stayed 2002? If so, it was called Boda then.

The world's largest cross, Millennium Cross, has since 2000 been standing on the mountain Vodno south of Skopje.

A useful car in Skopje's traffic.

21.26 CNN, has analyzed how great a threat North Korea is the United States and the world. We'll surely add up tomorrow plans next. A "to do list" is established. It is a useful and good tradition.

23.10 Fulham has beaten QPR 3-2. We have finished our evening beer. The TV shows unrest and a burning bus. It was in this city it was filmed. I do not know if it happened today. My language skills are weak as I said.

23.31 Easter Monday has ended. Here in Macedonia, Easter has not yet begun. The time has come to say "dobra nokj" goodnight. The night is here and I'm tired. Tomorrow awaits a full day in Skopje. What can it give us?

Pizza dinner at Piccola Italia.