Sabbatical homework continues...

Back in 2015. In Saint Petersburg. Russia.

Here I am again. Been close to a month and finally over the past 2 weeks I had more progress in booking my accommodations and planning my itinerary. Hahaha.

Let's see what have I gotten so far after Netherlands and Paris:

Saint Petersburg - S$35 (4 nights)

Petrozavodsk - S$25 (2 nights)

Murmansk - S$31 (3 nights)

Moscow - S$60.15 (2 nights)

My main motivation to Russia. Saint Basil's Catheral in Moscow.

And the reason why Moscow is so expensive was coz the silly me didn't look carefully at the dates before confirming my booking. If not. The price for 2 nights' stay would have been S$39 only. :( Super upset with myself for my carelessness!

Petrozavodsk is just a quick stop as I want to head to Kizhi to see the 1714 Transfiguration Church!

Anyways. I've decided to do a day trip to Luxembourg from Belgium and save on accommodation. Reason? The accommodation for a 2 star hotel is at S$92 per night. Way out of my budget! And the best part? There are 2 Michelin restaurants there that I am debating of trying.. But cost and reservations are a concern. Ah well. I'll see how it goes!

And coz I'm not staying in Luxembourg. I want to make full use of my Eurail pass. So. I think I will splurge a little more in France (since I'm quite certain it's going to be a time visit and a strike off my list). I'm going to stay on a vineyard! :D Yes. It's gonna cost my way more than my usual stays. But I guess it's a once in a lifetime thing. Hahaha!

So this's just a quick update while I continue scourging for cheap domestic flights in Russia and places to stay in the province of Champagne! :D

Surprise in my mailbox! :)

My Eurail surprise!

I didn't really have time to sit down and plan. So I did the next best thing - planning my trip on the go.

I have long bus rides to work (about an hour per way daily) and I started making use of whatever little time I could. Expedia. Agoda. Airbnb. Skyscanner. TripAdvisor and Google became my companions.

I signed up for Expedia many years ago when I was in school coz of a project we had to research on. And it came in handy when I had members' deal and I booked my accommodation for Netherlands through it. So in Netherlands I'm gonna stay in a hostel that costs S$18.24 per night.

Wanted to stay at an Airbnb in Paris and contacted a host but it was too far ahead and he was not able to confirm. :( So I saw an insider deal in Agoda and booked a hostel stay instead! (And this set me back S$35.63 per night.) 2 accommodations down!

There was also a summer offer for Eurail on the Benulax-France journey - 4 + 1 free travel day (S$416.03) So I bought it too! And it was delivered in my mailbox yesterday night! So exciting!

Now waiting for Luxembourg accommodations' offer. While making plans if I should visit Saint Petersburg first or Murmansk. Before heading to Moscow..

Ah.. But before that I think it's time for a little nap on the bus and hope inspiration strikes! :)