They are everywhere, they seem to have multiplied by the millions. And they must be removed, purged, eliminated. After a few hours of work we end up in some kind of manic trance. The hands in a firm grip on the stem, a slow jerk to make the whole root smoothly let go, up and out of the soil. Satisfaction...

As Pula is located by the sea and is a typical seasonal tourist town, an abundance of boat trips promoted by the many guide companies were lined up along the quay and beach promenade. Just like bouncers in bars and nightclubs, the salesmen would scout the tourists strolling by, eager to sell them a trip to the Brijuni Islands National...

How do we even begin to describe Slovenia and all the incredible things this country has to offer?

Let's just face it: the fact that our knowledge of this small nation on the edge of the Balkans was limited is a gross understatement. Unfortunately, we are not the only ones, I believe most Swedes have never set...

The first impression when we got off the train at the Budapest Nyugati station and out onto the street was: Big! Pompous! A capital that really lives up to its name. Wide boulevards, beautiful high buildings, a myriad of traffic and people on the move in the hot summer evening. As we were carrying heavy luggage and couldn't bother...

After a hot train ride, with no AC in our carriage, we arrived at Kraków Glowny station in the early evening. Our hostess Barbara picked us up in her car. She and her family - husband Andy, sons Kondrad and Kacper, daughter Kaja and Mika the dog lives in a cozy house just outside the city centre of Kraków.

Starting our journey in Berlin felt significant in several ways. Geographically, it was of course natural to make our first stop here, before we continued to the eastern part of Europe. But it was also symbolically important because it was here, in the German capital, that history took a dramatic turn 35 years ago with the fall of the Wall...

Yes, the train was delayed, and yes, it took forever to travel, but we managed to catch our connecting train in Copenhagen to Hamburg and we finally arrived in the German capital late at night. We are thrilled to be here!!

Five years ago, in June 2019, I received a cultural grant from the Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation for a book project I was planning to carry out during the following summer. Me and my then 8 year old son Tim was going on an interrail trip through Eastern Europe where we would stay with complete strangers through the global...