3AM I stayed at the lounge until boarding for Istanbul.
6AM I arrived and took 40 minutes to get to the lounge. I spent another 40 minutes there before boarding for San Francisco.
7AM I woke Christabel to get the hotel breakfast. We then departed for Choirokoitia, which is a very unimpressive Neolithic ruin site. We spent 40 minutes there before driving toward the mountains. We arrived at the Kykkos Monastery at 11AM.
7AM We assembled to leave but Rad and Charlie weren't present. We found later that they were all at the hospital because she had to treat her asthma overnight.
8:30AM I woke to leave to see the Old City of Aleppo. Much of it remains intact.
7AM I woke up and left for the Mosque. We spent the next 45 minutes looking at the destruction and ruins left by the war.
9AM We left for the Virgin Mary Monastery.
9AM Ahmad brought some bread and pizza for breakfast. We left at around 10:30AM. We arrived at Busra around 12PM.
3:30PM We finished around 3:30PM and had lunch for the next 45 minutes before going back to Damascus.
6AM I woke everyone up to leave at 6:30AM. We got too close to the border and stopped for gas. Nena stopped to get cash from the ATM. However, the ATM machine ate her card and we waited until 8:05AM when the bank opened. We couldn't get it back as they were contacting their back office. We decided to move on. However, we arrived at the border late at 10AM and spent the next hour waiting for the visa. Apparently, that delay was costly because we arrived during shift change.
3:30AM We had to wake up to leave for the airport at 4AM, 3 hours before departure. Christabel was threatening to bail on the trip. After we checked in, we sat down and tried to sort it out. I was trying to give excuses to each party but Rad just blamed me for stirring up drama. I took the hit.
8AM I had some coffee before we took off for Shibam Hadramout.
11AM We arrived at Wadi Doa'n. We passed the towns of Al-Hajarayn and Sif. We had lunch at Haid Al-Jizil. We met Kais there.
7AM I got up and the group left for the tour. Our first stop was Al-Hawtah and we walked to the Sultan Al-Kathiri Palace. It was scorching today. I was nauseated the entire day.
4PM We went to Tarim Town and then took a few photos at a vista point for Al-Hawtah.
6AM I woke to grab an Uber to the airport. The rest of the group joined me in the lounge. I helped them get in. We boarded the plane just after 9:30AM. We took off at 10:20AM, about 35 minutes late.
1AM I arrived and tried to get the boarding pass. Immigration let me pass and get to Terminal 1. However, the police there noticed that the flight was the next day and sent me back to Terminal 1. I then took an Uber to Kym Hostel. They let me sleep on the couch since they had no more beds. I took a shower and went to bed a little after 4AM.
4:45PM We arrived MUC early. The routinely available S bahn was not stopping at the airport. I bought a roundtrip ticket for the Lufthansa Express bus into Munich Proper. The bus wasn't running as often as they were supposed to, which is once every twenty minutes. I arrived with one just leaving. The bus driver said they were full. I waited for more than 30 minutes and arrived at Rimowa around 6PM. I picked up the luggage cases and proceeded to go back on the same path. I took the U6 back and got to the bus station at 6:30PM. They didn't have one at 6:33PM and 6:53PM. It took even longer to wait for the bus. People were taking taxis together. I would have if it weren't for the roundtrip ticket I bought. I think I waited for 40 minutes until the one that arrived at 7:13PM. I reached at the airport at 8:30PM. The tax thing took me around 10 minutes but there wasn't a queue at this hour. The security lines were light and I sent off the receipts necessary for the Rimowa duty-free refund. I went to the lounge opposite H24 and showered there. I remember the last time the Lufthansa lounge didn't let me in because my ticket was United-operated and didn't say it was Luftansa-operated. This time it was a charm and I showered quickly. I had some warm food there and got out of the lounge in 30 minutes total. I boarded the flight at 9:20PM. I am glad I had some warm food in the lounge because there wasn't any on this flight.
6PM I took a shared Uber to SFO and stayed in the lounge until 8:30PM or so before boarding for MUC.
Saint Petersburg was undoubtedly the highlight of this trip. Exploring iconic landmarks like Peterhof and Catherine's Palace was truly captivating. While the attractions were fantastic, the dining experiences could have been improved. The city's charm and rich history make it unquestionably worth a revisit.
