It's probably a typical FT thing: you have to go somewhere for work, so why not combine business with some leisure time/visiting friends while you are already on the road?

With a bit of creative planning, a trip to Ukraine and Turkey suddenly included stops as well in Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Sweden. Reviewing a whole bunch of European (overnight) trains and even fitting in a little MR on A3 (after TK the best intra-EU soft product on the market) to get me back on track to *G. So prepare for a whole lot of local food, cultural insights, and a few hotel reviews (ranging from shabby old communist hotels to the Intercontinental).

SUMMARY

1. Bucharest to Sighetu Marmatiei by Romanian overnight train.
2. Sighetu Marmatiei (Maramureş, Romania) and the Merry Cemetery.
2a. Exploring Sighet and the communist prison museum.
3. Crossing the border to Solotvyne, Ukraine.
4. Ukrainian overnight train to Lviv.
5. Food, drinks, and more food in Lviv.
6. Lviv to Uzhhorod by train.
7. From Uzhhorod to Budapest, Hungary - with Hungarian trains
8. One day in Budapest.
9. Budapest to Istanbul with W6 (Wizzair).
10. Istanbul.
11. Istanbul to Eskisehir by Turkish high speed train.
12. Eskisehir to Izmir by Turkish sleeper train.
13. Some days in and around Izmir.
14. Izmir (Çeşme) to Chios by ferry.
15. One day road trip around Chios.
16. Chios to Athens by ferry, Athens to Chania (Crete) by ferry.
17. A week on Crete.
18. Chania to Milan via ATH on OA Y, A3 J.
19. Lake Como & Bergamo.
20. Milan to Warsaw via ATH on A3 J/Y.
21. Two days in Warsaw.
22. Warsaw to Gdansk by Polish IC train.
23. Gdansk to Bucharest via Stockholm on Wizzair.