HARD SAME HUHU…
HOW TO SPEND 35 DAYS IN EUROPE ON A PHP 200K BUDGET
First off, I won’t delve into the philosophical conundrum of why spending a large sum of money in a relatively short span of time would be worth it; but ask any ardent traveler and the answer would be a resounding yes.
I spent 35 days in Europe, landing in Paris and making my way down to Rome. The amount of money this sort of trip demands is no easy feat, so the best way to spend it is to make smart decisions. I wish that had always been the case, but God knows I’ve made a few rookie mistakes. Here’s hoping I could help you make better choices and hopefully, save you a few bucks along the way.
VISA + INSURANCE + TRAVEL TAX
Not all countries are created equal. For us Filipinos, we have to jump through serious hoops before we get access to Europe. I applied for a Schengen Visa in the French Embassy. Granted or not, everyone pays…
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Oops.
I know I said I’d resume my blog posts, but stuff just got in the way.
Just got back from another European trip, covering the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal. I was there for nearly five weeks, and I don’t even know when and how to begin writing about the whole thing. I haven’t even finished writing about my European trip last year!
But I will. Someday.
Florence
After Rome, we traveled by train to Florence and spent one day there. We booked our train tickets online before we even left Manila via ItaliaRail. Booking in advance always guarantees cheaper fares.
From Roma Termini we traveled to Florence Sta. Maria Novella station. The train ride took less then 2 hours.
From the train station, we had to ask around for directions to our hostel. I knew we had to take the bus, but knowing which was the correct bus was a little confusing since there were many of them lined up outside. Once we found the correct one, it took about 20 minutes to get to our destination.
Hello!
It’s been a while since I last posted on this blog. I still have so much to write about (Florence, Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Zurich, Lucerne, the Swiss Alps) but still haven’t gotten around to it. 😦
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 160,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 7 days for that many people to see it.
Rome. Food, Mostly.
Rome was our next stop on our European journey. We booked flights on Easyjet from Paris and got to Rome in about an hour. From the airport, we took the train towards the city to get to our lodging.
At the train station
And Bitterness Ensues
There have been many articles circulating around the internet about traveling while working, being location-independent while earning a living. I follow a lot of travel blogs and travel pages on Facebook so I see a lot of these articles everyday. Sometimes, they inspire me to do the same and follow my dreams of traveling the world. But most of the time, these stories just leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I curse the high heavens for having been born on the wrong side of the planet! It sucks to be issued a powerless maroon passport instead of the almighty blue one.
Paris: the Glitz and the Grime
Ah, Paris… Just the sound of it conjures images of sophistication, haute couture, and romance. But is Paris really just all about these things? Well, not exactly.
WE’VE LANDED!
Our foray into our Europe began with Paris. For some reason, it had the cheapest flights from Manila, even cheaper than Berlin or Athens which were a lot closer to Manila than Paris. After traveling from Manila for 17 hours, we were tired but eager to explore the city.
Arrival at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. My face says it all.
Flying with Saudi Airlines: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
We booked our Manila-Paris-Manila flights with Saudi Airlines because theirs were the cheapest rates. We got roundtrip tickets for a little less than USD 700 only (about Php 29k). Good deal, right? Or so we thought.
Before finalizing our flight bookings I went to Skytrax to see the reviews about Saudi Airlines. They were mixed. Most people complained that the fleet was too old and the food wasn’t good. But some reviews were actually positive so I figured those negative reviews were just because of “First World Problems.” I was used to flying with Cebu Pacific: no food being served during the flight, no in-flight entertainment, not much leg room, etc.; so I thought Saudi Air couldn’t be much worse.
Third World Passport 