After spending six weeks in Mumbai, India, we were lucky to spend two nights in Instanbul, complements of Turkish Airlines because we had traveled business class. We spent one full day at the fabulous Topkapi Palace.
Corfu, Greece, is Greece's northernmost island. It is a popular tourist destination, especially for northern Europeans. It lies opposite Albania in the Aegean Sea. Greek food is legendary. The secluded beaches and verdant mountains are beautiful. What's not to like? Only the over-crowded airport.
Corfu and Albania face each other across a narrow channel. Ferries carry tourists back and forth from Corfu several times a day. Albania is perhaps the least-developed country for tourism in all of Europe. For many years Albania was the poorest country in Europe. Prices are half the costs in Corfu. This makes Albania attractive for tourists. The Albanian landscape is very mountainous, so the tourist industry is promoting the country’s undisturbed natural attractions for adventure tourists.
Stockholm is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is very beautiful, the historic capital of Sweden. I've visited Stockholm over a dozen times, enough to learn a respectable fluency in the Swedish language (which is much easier than German). It's also home to dear old friends. Seeing them was the goal of this visit. I share insights comparing the Swedish and American healthcare and political systems.