{"id":3206,"date":"2023-05-21T18:40:45","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T18:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=3206"},"modified":"2023-05-21T18:40:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T18:40:45","slug":"sabbatical-week-25-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=3206","title":{"rendered":"Sabbatical Week 25"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Day 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Woke up early (4:30) to do the all infamous ballon ride (220euros) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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pumping some air<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Almost ready<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Boarding! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Yes, this thing is massive!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sunrise in the air, how cool is that! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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one of my favorite photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Time have flown quite fast for 45min and we landed safely on a truck bed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With a brief rest at the house to get my coffee and breakfast, we started our last journey in Cappadocia which was to hike up to the highest castle in town (as shown in the picture above)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Natural tunnels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The hike was easy but scenic <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I even spotted a turkey in Turkey. a pretty one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In just an hour we arrived at the base of the castle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from the castle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another angle of the castle view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s lunch time and we managed to find this local speciality called Tasti Kebab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was cooke in a clay pot which ultimately was broken to open <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After lunch we headed back to town where I said goodbye to my beloved hispanic buddy from Peru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chilled out for the rest of the day and did some planning <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last sunset in town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another travel day and this time is to Greece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last morning at the hostel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The airport (NAV) was just horrendous. Not only there was huge line just to get into the check-in area, but another long line for check in and finally boarding security. Just insane just as in South Asia. Perhaps, it’s just clear Turkey isn’t Europe after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Boarding my plane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I got an exit row seat, not only I got unlimited leg room but also the middle seat was empty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Approaching Istanbul<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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IST is another clusterfuck. I had almost 4 hour lay over, after retrieving my bag (no, you can’t recheck in. TK couldn’t check me all the way to ATH despite being on the same alliance), and checking in, security and immigration again. I had less than 30min before boarding started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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lounge food.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aegean airline offers complimentary alcoholic beverages on board even for economy class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Immediately my impression about Greece is great. The immigration is as efficient as it can be. Getting on the Metro was relatively painless. No more needless security checks at every possible entrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My hotel was located right in the city center in front of a Metro station. Prime location and it happened to be the cheapest I’ve found for only $50.48 a night!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was very tired then. Quickly went out to get my first proper Greek meal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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11.2EUR with a drink. It’s definitely for two-person portion. If I was only to order a Gyro was going to be less than 3 euros! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Greeks are friendly, honest and speak great English! Food is also delightfully cheap. Very quickly Greece became my favorite country!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Good night! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Started off with a Greek coffee! 2.8 euros <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Walked to the Acropolis area<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fresh market right in the city center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Athens immediately just connected with me. Fresh market baked in the city core. Wide walk ways and perfectly timed signals (turning green right when you are about to cross) are just pedestrians’ paradise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Random church. Loads of churches in the city center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Got my combo ticket to see all Acropolis sights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally on my way to the Acropolis. To be honest, it’s just way too many tourists plus mid hot days without much shades. I didn’t quite enjoy as much<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Major sites are under restoration is another let-down <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Anyhow. Signed off my bucket list. It’s definitely better to look far away than at the site itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More walking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another random church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As always highlight of my trip is usually food<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Greek food is just amazing. 14.5 euros with half liter of wine and slowly stewed lamb shanks that cooked to perfection. How can you not like Greece?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Needless to say after lunch, I was drunk enough to fall into a long nap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another walk day, though the only goal was to check out the Acropolis Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cute church <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Found a hill that seemed to have nice trails<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View at the top <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Got some water to chill for a bit. At this point, the weather was just fabulous. Sunny but cools down shades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cool toilet with an automatic wiper <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Finally got to the museum (15euros). It’s again just a human zoo. It’s a good museum but just way too crowded<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lunch again! another highlight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3 dishes plus a wine for 21 euros. It’s alright price, good food though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Found a local craft beer house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Definitely cheaper in the USA <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, I ordered a flight for 16euros<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the help of the wine at lunch. I passed out quickly again upon arriving back to my hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ordered a late night snack from a local delivery app called Wolt for only 5 euros for a huge Gyro plus a pork skewer and called it an early day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lazy dinner takeouts <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Travel day to Meteora. One of the highlights of Greece where I wish I spent more time and could have planned a little better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coffee at the train station <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Train was 4:30hrs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arriving <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By midday we finally made it to town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got a massive Gyro for 3euros!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The locals were more than just friendly, wanted to take photos with me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By time I finished checking in, it’s 2pm and weather started taking a turn to the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With just a bit over 45mins, the first monastery was insight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unfortunately, it was closed for the day. The hotel staff told me the wrong information otherwise I would have started from the other side first since other ones close at 3pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Very picturesque <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I hiked to the adjacent monastery where I got to capture pictures of the closed one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Second one insight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rain started pouring down at this point <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second monastery was not open until 3:30, so I needed to wait in wet weather for almost half an hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s beautifully decorated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I continued on hiking and hoping to get to the last monastery before it closes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 3rd and 4th monasteries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally for to the last monastery, but I only had 5 mins before it was going to close (I thought it was supposed to close half an hour later)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I really wish I didn’t book my onward ticket in advance or give it at least extra half a day if not a full day to fully appreciate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Time to head down and find dinner. Found this highly reviewed place that serves small plates<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Giant beans and sausage pepper stew. Absolutely delicious that I devoured them quickly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I ordered another meal plus more wine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Greece definitely fed my alcoholic urge easily. (27 euros for 3 drinks and 3 entries! )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Met a newly wed Taiwanese couple and had some great discussion of the future. I happened to agree with his view on China-Taiwan relation where these two should be separately countries like Australia and New Zealand which they remain very close allies but still have their own independence!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another travel day. I started to realize how ambitious I was. I was simply traveling too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Met a friendly local to help find my train track. She’s surprised anyone would visit Greece. I absolutely had a blast without knowing there was one of the worst train wrecks<\/a> in Europe that literally happened near the station I was at on the same track I was about to ride on. It was only just a few short months ago and ended up turning the entire country upside down and caused all the international routes on pause as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took another almost 5 hours to arrive in Northern Greece – Thessaloniki<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, it got mosques due to Ottoman influence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another centrally integrated market. It’s Friday so quick busy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Went to have lunch at my hostel (25euros. Unfortunately it got bed bugs.) recommended place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lunch was 16.8 euros with two drinks. Post lunch we decided to do a little city walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It got Hagia Sofia too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Then it’s the white tower that’s by the water front<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from the tower <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It’s a cool museum for 6 euros. But most of the materials aren’t translated into English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At this point I was extremely tired. Ordered a coffee to boost myself a bit (I was taking breaks every 10 minutes)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally visiting the biggest church in town<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chilled by the water a bit before heading back to my hostel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Met with a Dutch guy who biked all the way from Amsterdam and had quite very great conversation at dinner. Time just went by so quickly, when the server asked for last call I thought was only 10pm and wondered why it was closing that early. Turned out it was way passed midnight already and I had another travel day next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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23.6euros for an amazing meal! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 7<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bus day ($20.55) crossing the border to Bulgaria!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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border crossing was nice and easy. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Immediately you could feel the soviet influence in town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Soviet style metro system. It’s centrally planned thus a single transit hub in the city which is quite convenient <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Soviet Army statue?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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So yes, I splurged myself by booking a 5-star hotel. Mostly to take advantage of the hotel credit I get from my Amex plat card. It’s $160 which is paid by AMEX plus free breakfast and dining credit. Really can’t let it slip through my finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ordered 4 dishes for only $40.. not even close to my credit maximum. I was full however. The staff was incredibly kind. The restaurant was closed for an event and they opened private dining just for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None stop long travel days had really taken a toll on me and I fell asleep right after even though I had a walking tour and a pub crawl planned for the day. This gave me signal that I really need to slow down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expenses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Week 25<\/td>Currency:<\/td>EUR<\/td>0.91<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Day<\/td>Food&Drink<\/td>Lodging<\/td>Transportation<\/td>Other (tickets\/tours etc)<\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>$27.77<\/td>$15.37<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$241.76<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>$16.78<\/td>$50.48<\/td>$103.02<\/td>$0.00<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>$20.99<\/td>$50.48<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$32.97<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>$54.77<\/td>$50.48<\/td>$2.53<\/td>$16.48<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>$42.42<\/td>$47.54<\/td>$39.56<\/td>$14.29<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>$51.54<\/td>$25.71<\/td>$31.10<\/td>$6.59<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>$17.23<\/td>$165.14<\/td>$20.55<\/td>$1.55<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>$231.50<\/td>$405.21<\/td>$196.75<\/td>$313.64<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Total<\/td><\/td>Grand Total:<\/td>$1,147.10<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Obviously the hot ballon was expensive and I probably spent too much on lodging (I did count for my 5 star hotel stay) It’s proper Europe after all. I think budging $1k per week is probably fair in Europe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 1 Woke up early (4:30) to do the all infamous ballon ride (220euros) Time have flown quite fast for 45min and we landed safely on a truck bed With a brief rest at the house to get my coffee and breakfast, we started our last journey in Cappadocia which was to hike up to… Continue reading Sabbatical Week 25<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3206"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3326,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206\/revisions\/3326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}