Hi all! This is my first post here, will nice to see how it works.
When people find out about my trip, they are very surprised, but I don't see anything extraordinary in it.
Anyway, it made me think that the topic would be interesting, and inspire someone to new achievements without fear and unnecessary worries.
Of course, my journey was not 100% smooth, there were moments when I wanted to cancel everything with tears on my eyes. For example, night without passport, or how I didn’t know how to get to the train station in Paris early in the morning, so I climbed into the empty subway. Or how disappointed I was in the city where I wanted to go the most. But more on that later..
So, my route in 8 days: Riga - Paris - Geneva - Florence - Rome - Warsaw - Minsk.
I was in Riga for only 6 hours, but it was enough to see the main sights and “feel” the city.
I want to say a few words about my preparation.
I haven’t been in Europe before and the trip seemed impossible to me in the current realities. I had to go through all the circles of doubt in my head for the dream and desire to know this world.
So, the preparation.
In my plan, there was only France. The rest countries turned out to be either a planned or an unplanned bonus (like Switzerland, for example).
The first thing to do is to pick up air tickets. I chose a low-cost flight Riga-Paris(I will indicate all prices at the end of a series of posts).
Websites for traveling abroad that I have used:
**Kiwi.com и skyscanner.net **- A large selection of flights and easy navigation. It was convenient to monitor and choose routes. You can buy directly on these sites with a good discount, but I missed the moment and bought tickets directly from the carriers.
airBaltic.com - for Riga-Paris flight
WizzAir.com - for a flight from Rome to Warsaw.
**Trenitalia.com ** - is an Italian railway operator (you can buy tickets not only for domestic trains, but also to the nearest countries). I bought train tickets from Paris to Geneva and from Florence to Rome.
The first emergency situation occurred here: initially, I had to go directly from Paris to Milan by train. Switzerland was not on my list of countries, despite the fact that I really wanted to visit there.
A few days before the trip, I receive an email from Trenitalia that my train has been canceled due to LANDSLIDES! Yes, it was thanks to them that I saw an incredibly beautiful Switzerland, which simply takes my breath away. So I wasn't too upset, to be honest)
Omio.com - shows all available modes of transport on the selected route. Thanks to him, I learned about such a popular bus carrier as…
Yes, **flixbus.com **. In general, I had everything planned down to the details, but since the landslides made their adjustments, already being in Paris, I had no idea where I would spend the night the next day. As a result, I spent the night on a night bus from Geneva to Florence, via Milan. Tickets are cheap, buses are comfortable, fast Wi-Fi. There are many routes, so this is a help-out wand in any circumstances)
One of the most impressive moments is a bus ride through the Alps.
I chose the accommodation on the** booking.com**.
Some of them were booked there, others directly on the hostel's website.
Yes, this was my first experience with hostels, as accommodation in Paris is incredibly expensive. I was not ready to pay 200-300 € per night in the simplest room. Of course, it also affected the fact that I planned and bought all the tickets a month before the trip. If I had done it earlier, there would have been more options. Learn from my mistakes)
The fact that surprised me was that my insurance was not checked anywhere. Between EU countries, even the passport was not always looked at) Nevertheless, I advise you to have the necessary documents, return tickets and valid accommodation reservations with you.
Here I must to say that I didn’t believe until the last moment that the trip would take place. All time I wanted to cancel it. I was worrying. Nevertheless, this is one of the best experiences in my life, which turned my world upside down, fell in love with a new culture for me and inspired tremendous changes.
Yesterday I saw a phrase in the book that helped me to look at my fears from a different angle
"Death is so not scary that thanks to it, nothing is scary for us"
I will tell you why Italy no longer seems perfect to me, what surprises Switzerland and how I celebrated my Birthday in Paris with strangers and fell in love with this city.
PS: I will be very glad to receive your comments and subscriptions. And I'm sorry for my english, it is not perfect ..
Thank you !