By Air, Land, and Sea

The morning views as I walked downhill to the gym:









And from the treadmill:



We had a leisurely breakfast which we opted to have in the restaurant instead of our balcony. Photo credit to Mama Kim:



We relaxed and sunbathed until our late checkout until 2ish and headed to the airport for our 4:30ish flight. The flight is just ~30 minutes to Athens and upon arrival, our terminal bus passed a lot of fancy cars and a press corps on our way to the gate. A local let us know French President Macron was arriving and our driver was a little delayed due to a police checkpoint.

He eventually dropped us off at Academias Hotel. I had picked a different hotel in order to mix things up for our second weekend in Athens. Here’s a rooftop view of the Acropolis:



Originally, I had reservations earlier as our cruise would have returned us around 8 am, but in trying soak in Santorini and afternoon flight, I was able to push back our reservation at Cookoovaya. We shared sea bream carpaccio and a cheese pie, and for mains we had lamp chops, skirt steak, and grouper and a peach tart for dessert:



I’m grateful we have successful traveled these last 5 days in having to call an audible on our canceled cruise. With planes to and from the islands, car rental in Crete, and ferry from Crete to Santorini, I told my family we have conquered Greece by air, land, and sea!

Crete

This was supposed to be our island hopping cruise itinerary:



I originally wanted to go on the Greek cruise last year, but pushed it back to go to Sicily. I liked the itinerary because it included Patmos known for where St. John was and it’s not as common of a stop since large ships are unable to dock there. So I researched a cruise option that could go and also included the cliché islands. I figured since we were going early in the tourist season, and as my family aren’t really big beach people, this would be a good option.

But 2 weeks ago, I received an alert that Celestyal Cruises was canceling all April departures. Apparently, they are unable to reposition their ships that berth in Doha and Dubai and can’t exit the Strait of Hormuz. I also learned due to tax reasons that many ships are registered there and travel within the area during winter due to the increasing popularity of Middle East cruises.

From what I have been reading, the companies are redirecting boats to elsewhere in the world and others have followed suit with cancellations. Unfortunately, I think the positioning is leading to a domino effect and our Acropolis tour guide, although doesn’t lead cruise tours, expressed concerns regarding the economic impact. Tourism is apparently the largest industry today in Greece. I’m just lucky that I was able to reposition ourselves as this affected the second half of our trip.

After an early pickup at 5:30 am, we made it through the airport quite quickly and ate breakfast in the lounge. Our flight to western Crete to the second largest city, Chania was scheduled for 8 am on Aegean Airlines.

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands and the fifth largest Mediterranean, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete is best known as the birthplace of Zeus and has a very proud culture. Our tour guides brought up Crete several times and my understanding is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier wears the Cretan uniform on certain days in honor of Cretan fighters and the island's fight for unification with Greece.

After the short flight, we picked up our Avis rental car and headed west to Biolea Astrikas Estates, an olive oil farm - 50% of Greek’s olive oil apparently comes from Crete. I wanted to do something easy as well as eat up some time, so when we arrive at the hotel that our room would be ready.

A few pics while driving of the mountains and water:





We arrived at Biolea which has about 3,000 trees and produces 65-70 tons of olive oil per year. The view of the valley and some of their olive trees:





Outside, we learned how they harvested the olives, falling into a silicone tarp:



Inside, we had a tour of the factory and learned about the cold press and cold extraction processes:





We then tasted 4 different olive oils and watched a video - all for 7€ per person!



We decided to get some snacks from the café. We ordered "Kalitsouni" - small traditional Cretan pies handmade stuffed with wild greens served with cream cheese, Dakos - traditional Cretan rusk baked with organic tomatoes and Cretan soft goat cheese myzithra, Graviera cheese, Handmade Sausage from neighboring village Nochia, all drizzled with olive oil and Greek coffee:





We then drove about 40 minutes east to our hotel which is part of the Marriott Luxury Collection called Domes Zeen Chania. They are still in the process of expanding, but is a resort made up of villas and I booked the option with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. You are assigned a Haute Living Supervisor and ours was named Theodore who gave us a tour via golf cart down at the beach, the pool, and showed us how to work the technology in our villa. We still had to consume about an hour as our room was not yet ready when we arrived. Some pics below:









I knew our room included breakfast, but didn’t realize it included a complimentary upgrade to half board. I originally booked a popular restaurant in town, but we decided to shift to tomorrow as we were beat and didn’t want to leave the resort again today. We napped and I sunbathed - it’s a little too cold to take a dip, but the stones really soak in the sun making it pleasant to sit outside.

For dinner, we headed down to the Beach House restaurant and braved outdoors while enjoying the saxophone player and the sunset. We eventually headed inside:





For dinner, we ordered calamari carbonara, pork cutlet, sausages, fried vegetable fritters, sea bass, filet mignon, chocolate mousse with sour cherries, ice cream, and a fruit plate. We were comped a fish salad - throughout our trip we have been given free dishes and dessert which is a part of Greek hospitality called kerasma. A collage below:



We’re definitely feeling and enjoying the Greek hospitality and look forward to the few nights we’re here!

Turkey

Despite the recent TSA issues, we left Friday night without any delay and the airport wasn’t too crazy. The Delta One exclusive security restarted on Thursday, albeit manned by ICE and the family enjoyed their first experience in the lounge.

We arrived in Amsterdam for a longer than expected transfer as the flight out of NY schedule changed after I had booked months ago. However, we were able to relax in our respective lounges during the layover. Justin had to go to a different one with his credit card as I was only allowed one free guest in the KLM lounge with my Delta status.

Our flight to Istanbul was just three hours and the car pickup got us to our hotel in about an hour. Apparently, no greeting signs are permitted inside the airport, so you meet the company outside in front of their sign and we were ushered to the parking garage.

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and straddles Europe and Asia over the Bosporus Strait which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It’s not the capital as Ankara is and was once called Constantinople. It did however serve as a capital of the Roman / Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Its strategic position on the Silk Road, connected Europe with Western Asia and is considered an alpha global city.

Our hotel is the Orient Occident Hotel Istanbul, Autograph Collection and we’re staying for four nights near the historic center. Upon check-in, we were served complimentary Turkish tea and delights pictured below:



After resting, showering, and getting settled, we walked over to Bitlisi and shared a mixed meat pide - a type of stuffed bread, chicken shish, and eggplant and meat dish with some complimentary dips:



I’m looking forward to soaking in this vacation, considering I was up to 2 am for several nights. Our Greek cruise planned for our second week was cancelled as they were unable to reposition their ships that are registered / docked in Doha and Dubai and couldn’t get out of the Strait of Hormuz. So I had to revisit, research, and booked hotels, ferry, flights, and rental car as we will hunker down on a few islands that were just going to be stops on the efficient cruise itinerary that I had eyed for years.

When I relayed the cancellation news and expressed concern, my mom said if we could handle the craziness of going to Budapest with epic delays on our December trip, we could endure anything. Justin just responded with “I’m flexible”.

I also realized Turkey is my 50th country based upon a country counter we used at work to tally and compare. It would be a few more if you didn’t count the United Kingdom as one, but I’m excited to explore for the next few days!

Hungary

Although initially no delays with the sleet and snow, JFK ended up with a log jam of flights and we started getting delay alerts shortly before boarding. I should have thought to rebook us on earlier Amsterdam flights because I didn’t realize they were so delayed and therefore departing when we were supposed to leave. I did rebook our Amsterdam to Budapest flight as we were going to miss the connection.

But then we boarded the plane 6 hours later and due to the lack of ground personnel, the accommodating Delta agents for those who needed rebookings, and then loading the luggage, the crew timed out due to their rules. The wait they endured plus the estimated flight was going to put them over by 30 or 45 minutes, so they had to pull the plug on the flight. We were going to miss our rebooked transfer anyway at this point, but this was pure chaos. No hotel vouchers and they pushed the flight to the next day. We left our luggage as we were promised it would follow us on any rebooking and the only way to retrieve them would be to cancel the itinerary. I normally don’t check bags, but due to the winter bulky clothes it was necessary.

My mom and I headed home arriving around 4 am surprising Justin. I kept tracking and saw the flight time moved two times - once earlier and then pushed back to 9:30 pm which would result in us missing our connection in Amsterdam.

So for the 4th or 5th time, I called the Medallion help desk and they rebooked our flight through Paris estimated to leave at 4:30 pm which ultimately got pushed to 6:30 pm. We had breakfast and napped at home and Justin drove us again to the airport in the afternoon.

We enjoyed the Sky Club again and we boarded our flight to Paris with hope. I was tracking our luggage and Delta messaging agents told me the bags were being routed through Paris, but my luggage hadn’t moved per my AirTag. Also, apparently this was the repositioned Paris flight from the night before - like our original Amsterdam flight, the Paris crew had timed out and passengers had to deplane just like us. Folks were recognizing each other today and apparently this was the same crew - the pilot pleaded for us all to be on our best behavior.

We landed in Paris and our flight to Budapest was leaving in 30 minutes. With Charles de Gaulle being massive and having to do immigration, Delta rebooked us automatically on a 3 pm instead of the 9:30. But at this point it looked like our luggage was on an Air France flight arriving soon and would sync up on our Budapest flight per the messaging “Track My Bag” feature.

After traversing terminals, we were able to enter the spiffy two story Air France lounge where they had day beds, showers, and a spa. I managed to enjoy all 3 in our roughly 4 hour stay and filled up on French cheese and bread. The view:



But here is my bag when my AirTag reconnected - it was sitting in Amsterdam:



I reconfirmed with the messaging agent that the bags would be on a flight arriving in Budapest at 4 pm while we arrive at 5 pm. I guess we sync up after all and my mom and I could stop playing, “good news or bad news first?”

We boarded our flight to Budapest and as we sat on the runway, we were advised we were returning to the gate to boot off a passenger who wasn’t complying with instructions. I’m not sure why this is so hard and as Mama Kim said, getting to Budapest is such a challenge! We’re both resilient travelers, but this was definitely testing my limits. I took a photo once we were finally en route to Budapest and the police had removed the wasted passenger refusing to wear a seatbelt:



Our luggage was waiting for us at arrivals, so we were reunited and hopped into an Uber. I love the way they do airport Ubers in Europe where they honor an actual queue and you just provide a PIN number from the app so the driver knows your destination - it eliminates the matching and waiting that we endure in competing for cars in America.

Despite the many flights, boarding passes, and stress of it all, the crew and agents were absolutely fantastic on all legs. As someone who travels a bit, I seriously would never want their job as they experience the same delays on top of having to be customer friendly.

After a 30 minute ride chatting with the Hungarian driver who lived in Louisiana and east Texas for 20 years, we checked into Millennium Court, which are Marriott apartments. I had hedged whether Justin would join and there was also a chance Rachel would come from Copenhagen. But alas it’s just the two of us in a two bedroom / two bath - it’s probably too spacious for us, but overcompensates the fact that we’ll be sharing a cruise cabin starting tomorrow for five nights.

I was able to push back our 6 pm reservation at Babel which is a one star Michelin restaurant recommended by a friend of a colleague and conveniently across the street from our hotel! The service was excellent and I had booked the shorter Exploration 8 course menu which we paired with rosé champagne and I enjoyed an additional Hungarian Merlot. The food collage:



As my mom said, the meal and knowing we were finally in Budapest brought us back to life. She also said the napping room in the Air France lounge was a lifesaver. She definitely got her pep back as she explained everything she knew about Hungary and Hungarians over dinner. Apparently, they are similar to Koreans as they use their last name first and descended from the Huns. Our waitress confirmed they too have Mongolian spots at birth while another practiced the Korean she learned from her university friends.

What an adventure to start off this trip - I’ve never experienced this kind of disruption at the start, but my mom repeated that she was thankful she could still keep up!

Dancing On My Own

Final breakfast at the hotel and I learned while watching YouTube last night that I was eating like a Swede! I saw the Kalles Kaviar next to the boiled eggs and rightly assumed I was supposed to eat them together at my first two breakfasts.

Kalles Kavier is a type of roe spread and is salty - it’s funny how Americans and westerners pair salt with their eggs and as Koreans, we sprinkle soy sauce. All around the world, folks need a bit of saltiness with their eggs. Alexander Skarsgård explained how to eat Kalles Kavier on the Colbert show and I happened to stumble upon it on last night’s YouTube rabbit hole as I was going to bed.

To be honest though, I have not been sleeping great on this trip. Usually I kick jet lag pretty quick and although I’m not napping during the day, I can’t seem to fall asleep. So I slept in more than I would have liked this morning and rushed as I packed and checked out before my last day in Stockholm.

I walked over to the tram / bus stop and headed to Djurgården, an island that has lots of museums and sights. Here’s a photo of the water as I crossed the bridge:



One of the most popular museums in the Stockholm area is the Vasa Museum. On display is a 17th-century ship that had been salvaged in the 1950s after 333 years when it sank in 1628. It’s 4 stories tall and apparently too narrow, and therefore didn’t get very far as it sank in Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage.

But it took all these years to raise it out of the water and if it hadn’t been a failure, it probably would have been destroyed and would not have become the largest conservation project in the world. It continues to be maintained as bolts get replaced and the wood preserved in an ongoing restoration project.

I viewed it at all angles as you can see it from below and and at different.platforms. As you walk in, you see the impressive bow:





Here’s the stern:





The sides… the ropes have been re-rigged and the ship is ~98% original:







This is a model of what the insides would look like:





Here’s a model of the ship:





I then walked over to the ABBA Museum dedicated to the most popular pop group to come from Sweden. The museum was fun as music played everywhere and I got to sing and dance along:





They won the Eurovision Award with “Waterloo” which was their breakout hit:



In the Stockholm Archipelago, they rented a house and wrote many of their songs there which were bright and fun:



You could sing in a booth and pretend you were in a recording studio. It was fun listening to the other museum goers get really into it. They also had this avatar on-stage experience to become the 5th member and I was goated into “Dancing Queen” by the security guard:



I also very much enjoyed the Silent Disco experience and there were several people in the room - you knew you were listening to the same song and channel by the color of the headphones:



Here are the chairs for Pierce and Meryl from the movie musical “Mama Mia”:



While I was in the museum, it apparently rained even though it wasn’t in the forecast. It was super sunny when I hopped on the tram and headed to Östermalms Saluhall, a food hall recommended by a colleague for lunch.

It was high-end and busy with tourists and people taking their lunch breaks. As I wandered, I was offered free samples of bear and reindeer jerky. I politely turned it down as my Noma experience in Copenhagen gave me my fill of both for a lifetime…



I decided to eat at the counter at Lisa Elmqvist and I ordered a ginger ale and warm fish soup that was delicious. The aioli with the bread was also fantastic and I enjoyed a roobois tea afterwards:



As I left the food hall for my hotel, it began to really downpour. The hotel seemed concerned I was heading out again without one of their umbrellas, but I pulled out my raincoat and own umbrella from my suitcase and headed to the tram / bus stop. I had read taxis in the city were shady and not reliable and even overhead the concierge explain it to another guest. Pretty surprising for a Scandinavian city which seemed pretty safe otherwise. I didn’t wait long for the 7 tram that brought me to Stockholm Central Station where the Arlanda Express leaves 3-4 times an hour. In less than 20 minutes, I was back at the airport.

At the airport, I got to scan my own baggage in (which was fun and different) and bought a few candy souvenirs (Swedish Fish!) and waited for my SAS flight to Billund.

Although the weather was a little colder than expected (this was even validated through eavesdropping of other conversations), Stockholm was lovely. In the future, I would love to explore the archipelago and outer areas, but really felt like I got to take a lot of Stockholm in.

Right next to my hotel, the theater was playing Joyride the Musical in honor of Roxette, famous for ‘80s hits, “Listen to Your Heart”, “Fading Like a Flower”, and “It Must Have Been Love”. When I watched the music video for “Fading Like a Flower”, I realized it was mostly filmed in Old Town!

Indeed Sweden has given a lot to the world - fish, pop music, IKEA, and you can tell it’s a very proud culture. I indeed enjoyed discovering on my late night YouTube rabbit hole of Swedish singer Robyn performing my favorite “Dancing On My Own” at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize concert - it felt like my trip experiences were colliding.

My flight to Billund was just 90 minutes and when I landed, I had a Danish hot dog for dinner. Then I boarded a local bus which took about 10 minutes and dropped me off in front of Legoland. My hotel, the Lodge Billund was just another block down the road.

Looking forward to my second time in Denmark where I’ll link up with Rachie and the family and getting to explore more of the country!