How this idea came up?
Initially, we were all so stressed up with the exams just around the corner. So, I thought I'd just stay in Moscow during the winter break, hoping that I could travel around the city and hang out with friends. Suddenly, one day, when the New Year was approaching, I found a cheap flight from Moscow to Oslo,Norway.How cheap it was, I can't recall, but it was cheap enough for a student like me. Then I gingerly viewed the European countries through GoogleEarth, thanks to the strategic geographical structure of the Scandinavian peninsular, I managed to plan a route back to Russia. I could actually cover Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden beside Oslo, and from Sweden, take a cheap cruise to Helsinki, Finland, from where I can easily reach St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg to Moscow should not be a problem at all. (Confused with where is where? Don't panic, you will see the map shortly! ^.^)
The New Plan
Unfortunately, it was too late to grab the flight to Oslo from Moscow. I was pretty depressed, but I didn't want to give up....I kept searching for other alternatives. But then my eyes caught BERLIN, Germany.... hey, it is surprisingly close to Copenhagen, Denmark! Then Riga, Latvia reminds me of something... there are dozens of cheap flights from there to many European destinations, including Berlin. Buses leave Moscow regularly to the ex-Soviet country, hence it shouldn't be a problem to get there, eventhough the flights weren't that cheap. So here comes my new master plan (to have a better view of the map, please click on it,and a new pop-up window/tab will appear):
What a great idea!
- SATURDAY, 26 JAN : Took a night bus from Moscow to Riga,Latvia. I found a reliable bus company for this, Ecolines.
- SUNDAY, 27 JAN : Arrival the next morning. We spent one night in Riga in a youth hostel called the Friendly Fun Franks Hostel.
- MONDAY, 28 JAN : The next day, we flew to Berlin, Germany from Riga. The Latvian-owned airBaltic was chosen for this.
- TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, 29-30 JAN : Put up 2 nights in Berlin, covering Potsdam as well in a daytrip. Pegasus Hostel was one of the cosiest hostel where we stayed so far.
- THURSDAY, 31 JAN : Took a flight to Copenhagen, Denmark from Berlin. AirBerlin served this purpose.
- FRIDAY, 1 FEB : Yet another night in the world's most liveable city in the world (as per 2007), at Danhostel Copenhagen City. Owing to its location in a very expensive country, living here isn't very cheap, but satisfaction guaranteed! That night we took an overnight train to Stockholm, Sweden via Malmö, a Swedish city just on the other side of the Øresund strait from Copenhagen.
- SATURDAY-TUESDAY,2-5 FEB : Arrival in Stockholm. My aunt (actually my mom's close friend, but let us consider her as my 'aunt' for simplicity, and moreover, she is almost considered to be my own aunt!) was already waiting for us at her home in Sollentuna. Stayed there for 3 nights with her family and my parents, who came over to see me.
- TUESDAY, 5 FEB evening : Cruised across the Baltic sea in style with Silja Line to Helsinki,Finland. For a low price we had the chance to sail across the sea in a luxurious five-star cruise liner!
- WEDNESDAY, 6 FEB : Landed in Helsinki. Spent the wonderful Chinese New Year Eve night at Hostel Stadion.
- THURSDAY, 7 FEB : Spent another day in Helsinki, before leaving for Saint Petersburg, Russia that night by a Russian-owned marshrutka (minibus).
- FRIDAY,8 FEB : An unforgettable whole-day tour around this magnificent city with a good friend of mine, Ilya (sorry,I can't find any links for him!). He showed us around, as if we didn't need a tour guide, because he was indeed as good as one! That night, at 11 pm, we flew back to Moscow with Transaero, a Russian airlines company.
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