It's back to work already eh? *sob*
Tonight, I will start my normal work week at the medical lab, after having only one night off. Earlier, I promised to trade with a girl at my work, so that I could go to Florida on May 19 to 23rd, and that I would work for her on June 3rd and 4th. Man, working during Week B sucks... I prefer the people of week A which is my normal week of working.
The major news is that I finally purchased my aeroplane tickets to Europe for this summer. No matter how hard I tried, I had no luck finding cheap tickets directly to Norway. They started at about 1150$ roundtrip. Not really something that I wanted to spend, so... I researched more, and tried another European destinations. London was no better, as the cheapest fare was $1,017 roundtrip. However, Orbitz had a flight for $724 with American Airlines. So, I went to American Airlines website to avoid the booking fee at Orbitz, and also to use my frequent mileage number to get a lower price, which I purchased the ticket for $713 roundtrip. Not bad! That is a saving of $300 for not flying to London!
Then I checked discount airlines around Europe... Ryanair unfortunately does not serve Manchester to Oslo nor Bergen, but does serve a London to Oslo Torp route... The cheapest one was for 40 pounds roundtrip, which is about 75 dollars. I compared other airlines, and I remembered Liza's suggestion of www.norwegian.no, which indeed had a direct route from Manchester to Bergen. Alas, it's only two times a week, but it was fine because it was the day after my arrival in Manchester. I decided to purchase the tickets with Norwegian Airlines for 102$ roundtrip. The extra 27 dollars on the fare didn't really matter to me, because it meant that I didn't have to take a coach bus to London, etc... etc...
So, the grand total for the trip now stands at $815, which I don't think is bad at all, considering that I live in the West and that it is summer peak season. Anything to save money, rather than paying $1150 roundtrip! A saving of 300$.
Since I am stuck in Manchester for 36 hours, I began to look around for options, and I came upon Ryanair website and discovered that they serve Manchester to Dublin (Ireland) route, which could afford me a bit more than 24 hours in the Irish capital; it would cost me 42 pounds ($78) roundtrip for the intinerary which I like. If I took an earlier flight back to Manchester, it would be 35 pounds (65$) roundtrip, but I think it would be better if I took a later flight back, and it would still give me 1 hr 45 minutes before making it to my Norwegian flight. The Norwegian website states that the check-in closes 45 minutes prior to departure, so I know I have plenty of time to do all that. I think I will go ahead and fly to Ireland as well! Should be heaps of fun!
Now that I know my arrival dates in Bergen, I have been working on my intinerary. It is becoming more exciting as I plan through my trip. It will include visiting places such as Bergen, Flåm, Lærdal (Sognsfjorden), hiking opportunities over there, then flying from Sogndal Airport to Stavanger, visiting Lysefjorden, then going to Oslo for a couple of days. After Oslo, I will fly north to Tromsø, and also to Lofoten Islands for hiking opportunities. I will make a stop in Trondheim before flying to Liza's hometown. Yep, she is so lucky enough to have an airport in her hometown. I'll spend about 4 days with Liza before going to Bergen to visit the town prior to my flight back to Manchester. Then I have the 20 hours in England, so I am thinking about taking a quick coach to Liverpool, and visiting there for one night. Back to Manchester then flying off to the US. It sounds a lot, but it is the perfect type of trip for me, really!
I can't really think of any other news to add, so I will close here for now. Take care!
The major news is that I finally purchased my aeroplane tickets to Europe for this summer. No matter how hard I tried, I had no luck finding cheap tickets directly to Norway. They started at about 1150$ roundtrip. Not really something that I wanted to spend, so... I researched more, and tried another European destinations. London was no better, as the cheapest fare was $1,017 roundtrip. However, Orbitz had a flight for $724 with American Airlines. So, I went to American Airlines website to avoid the booking fee at Orbitz, and also to use my frequent mileage number to get a lower price, which I purchased the ticket for $713 roundtrip. Not bad! That is a saving of $300 for not flying to London!
Then I checked discount airlines around Europe... Ryanair unfortunately does not serve Manchester to Oslo nor Bergen, but does serve a London to Oslo Torp route... The cheapest one was for 40 pounds roundtrip, which is about 75 dollars. I compared other airlines, and I remembered Liza's suggestion of www.norwegian.no, which indeed had a direct route from Manchester to Bergen. Alas, it's only two times a week, but it was fine because it was the day after my arrival in Manchester. I decided to purchase the tickets with Norwegian Airlines for 102$ roundtrip. The extra 27 dollars on the fare didn't really matter to me, because it meant that I didn't have to take a coach bus to London, etc... etc...
So, the grand total for the trip now stands at $815, which I don't think is bad at all, considering that I live in the West and that it is summer peak season. Anything to save money, rather than paying $1150 roundtrip! A saving of 300$.
Since I am stuck in Manchester for 36 hours, I began to look around for options, and I came upon Ryanair website and discovered that they serve Manchester to Dublin (Ireland) route, which could afford me a bit more than 24 hours in the Irish capital; it would cost me 42 pounds ($78) roundtrip for the intinerary which I like. If I took an earlier flight back to Manchester, it would be 35 pounds (65$) roundtrip, but I think it would be better if I took a later flight back, and it would still give me 1 hr 45 minutes before making it to my Norwegian flight. The Norwegian website states that the check-in closes 45 minutes prior to departure, so I know I have plenty of time to do all that. I think I will go ahead and fly to Ireland as well! Should be heaps of fun!
Now that I know my arrival dates in Bergen, I have been working on my intinerary. It is becoming more exciting as I plan through my trip. It will include visiting places such as Bergen, Flåm, Lærdal (Sognsfjorden), hiking opportunities over there, then flying from Sogndal Airport to Stavanger, visiting Lysefjorden, then going to Oslo for a couple of days. After Oslo, I will fly north to Tromsø, and also to Lofoten Islands for hiking opportunities. I will make a stop in Trondheim before flying to Liza's hometown. Yep, she is so lucky enough to have an airport in her hometown. I'll spend about 4 days with Liza before going to Bergen to visit the town prior to my flight back to Manchester. Then I have the 20 hours in England, so I am thinking about taking a quick coach to Liverpool, and visiting there for one night. Back to Manchester then flying off to the US. It sounds a lot, but it is the perfect type of trip for me, really!
I can't really think of any other news to add, so I will close here for now. Take care!