Manoli, Aleko, and George picked me up and we began our four hour drive to Windsor, Ontario. Our excuse was to see the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers play at Comerica Park in Detroit the next day. Aleko and I sat in the back seat and played a heated game of Risk on my iPad while George and Manoli captained the ship.
Kyiv overall is a great city with lots to see and do. It’s very accessible and easy to find your way around with the tourist information signs posted all over the city. That being said, I was happy to be there, but after my week was up, I was equally happy to leave.
I hated Hurghada. Everything about it. The resort, the town, the food. Everything.
After a good report from some friends who had taken an Egypt tour with Expat Explore, I decided to book one for myself. It was only the third time I had taken a tour like this. I chose the Best of Egypt tour (no longer available as of January 2017).
Kütahya is not on the tourist trail but it’s an interesting city nonetheless. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It’s a pleasant city, the people are friendly, and there are plenty of things to see. I had busy day visiting restored Ottoman homes, historic mosques, museums, and a ruined castle.
Sharm el-Sheikh is an Egyptian resort town on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. It’s very modern and has tons of restaurants and entertainment, several possibilities for tours and adventures, decent beaches, and all-inclusive resorts on the crystal clear Red Sea if you just want to relax.
Bozcaada is a magical island in the northern Aegean Sea known for its natural beauty and its wine. The island, still commonly known by its Greek name, Tenedos (Τένεδος), was off limits to foreign tourists until the 1990s.
Çanakkale is often overlooked by visitors to the Gallipoli battlefields and the ancient city of Troy. People usually pass through and don’t bother to take a look around.
Samsun for me was a lot of wasted time. For a large city with such a long history, the sites were mostly uninteresting and uninspiring. I felt my full day there was too much, and a half day would have served it well enough.