NEVER Get Your Russian Visa BEFORE You Get Your Travel Tickets
Yesterday was the first day I haven't written something for the blog since we got here. Mostly that's because I woke up with my right eye hurting pretty badly - it felt like I had a blister in my eye or a hair stuck in my eye (neither of which appears to have been the case). I brought out all my eye medicines from my "just in case" kit - ophthamalic antibiotics, steroids, allergy drops - and used them all! I also tried hot compresses, but nothing seemed to help. So I didn't really feel like going out, and we stayed home all day for the first time since we arrived. Ed finished writing, and I finished typing and editing his monthly report, and I sent it off to all the recipients. Then I finished the Anita Shreve novel (A Wedding in December) that I've been reading while I waited for Ed to finish the book I really want to read here - "Life and Fate" by Vasily Grossman. Laura sent this to me for my birthday and I've been saving it, but Ed got his hands on it first! Both Ed and Laura really think it's great, so I'm looking forward to it - especially since it's REALLY long - I love great long books. It had really cooled off, so we turned off the bedroom air conditioner for the first time since we got it installed. It's so nice to sleep with the windows open and no air conditioner - but that thing was really a life saver during the scorching heat (well into the 30's C). We also watched a BBC World report on global warming and the Bush administration's effective efforts to stifle U.S. scientists on the subject. Very depressing. I'm wondering (quite seriously) if we should sell our house sooner rather than later (I've always assumed that the day will come when one or both of us can't handle the stairs and we'll have to move to a one-story house or condo) since the entire California coast might be under water much earlier than I had thought possible. Well, I'll just have to think about that another day - fortunately I have more pressing problems to deal with - like how do I get the Russian Consul to agree that our visas are good enough even though we will arrive at the Russian border two hours before the beginning date our visas start, and we will have to pass through Moscow on our way to Kharkiv 5 days after it has expired! I have learned a very important lesson from all this visa crap: NEVER get your visa before you have your air, train, boat or other tickets in hand!
And this lesson was driven home when I went to the Russian Consulate this morning to try and sort out all the problems. When I arrived at about 10:30 (my eye was all better - thank God - this is a real big fear of mine - that I'll have some sort of medical condition that requires immediate attention - and my eyes are in a very special scary subcategory of that general fear) there were masses of people waiting and milling about outside. I pulled out my U.S. passport and two Russian guards came over. I think they asked if I was there about a toursit visa - I opened my passport to the Russian visa that I had already received before we left the States, and they brought me right in and up to the window even though there was a really long queue. The guy behind the window was dealing with two women and I asked one of them if she spoke any English - a little, she said. I asked her if she would ask the official if he spoke English, since I would have to talk to someone who is fluent. She asked him and he apparently said yes. When the women left, I asked him again if he spoke English, and he said "Sometimes - it depends." A definite sign of trouble to come. And in fact NYET, NYET, NYET was all I got - No, we could not take the train and arrive at the border before 12:01 a.m. on July 22 - we would have to get off the train and wait until midnight to get back on (of course the train would be gone as it was not going to wait for us). No, we could not leave one airport on our way back and go to the other airport to catch the plane to Kharkiv after our visas had expired. What, I asked, should we do? I was told that we had to get a new "official invitation" for the dates concerned and get new visas. How, I asked can we get a new official invitation since we would actually only be staying at a hotel in Russia on the dates for which our visas had been issued, and our hotel would not "invite" us for additional days. Well, he said, maybe a travel agency could help me. So off I went to the travel agency I had visited on Saturday. The office manager has to check with the agency manager in Kyiv, who is out of the office until later this afternoon, and then maybe I'll know if they can do something about this. Otherwise I guess we have to ditch the train tickets and the Riga-Moscow tickets I think I bought on the internet on Friday, and start all over again, flying to Moscow on July 22, to Riga on July 25, as planned, and then back to Kharkiv from Riga via Kyiv rather than via Moscow. Of course this will cost twice as much since all the tickets will be one way tickets rather than round trip and, in addition, we'll have to come back a day later than we want because the flight back from Riga on July 30 is unavailable. Aaaargh! All this to visit the city that is now reported to be the MOST expensive city in all the world!! Kyiv is now number 21, up from 59 last year!
It was the most gorgeous day today - clear, blue skies with puffy white clouds - no humidity and about 70 degrees F. I called Ed and he met me at a great little cafe called "Cafe Rio" which specializes in, what else, Azerbajani food!!! They had an English menu as well as the Russian menu, so I used the time while I was waiting for Ed to compare the items and try and learn a few basics about ordering in a restaurant (e.g., what are the Russian words for "crepes with red caviar" - very important!!). We had a wonderful meal - crepes with red caviar and the most delicious almonds we have yet had (most of the nuts here are raw and these were roasted). Ed had a chicken paillard baked with peaches and melted cheese on top (I know it sounds gross, but it was fantastic), and I had quail on a spit - a whole bird - quite delicious but very small! They brought me a finger bowl so it was clear that I was supposed to pick the little thing up, which in fact was the only possible way to eat it. 
We took some photos (the cafe had some really neat bronze sculptures out in front) and walked back to the apartment, stopping for our usual supply of staples (milk, bottled water and orange juice, plus some fresh fruit - I have to buy the fruit on a daily basis because it doesn't keep in the heat, and I hate fruit that has been in the fridge).
And this lesson was driven home when I went to the Russian Consulate this morning to try and sort out all the problems. When I arrived at about 10:30 (my eye was all better - thank God - this is a real big fear of mine - that I'll have some sort of medical condition that requires immediate attention - and my eyes are in a very special scary subcategory of that general fear) there were masses of people waiting and milling about outside. I pulled out my U.S. passport and two Russian guards came over. I think they asked if I was there about a toursit visa - I opened my passport to the Russian visa that I had already received before we left the States, and they brought me right in and up to the window even though there was a really long queue. The guy behind the window was dealing with two women and I asked one of them if she spoke any English - a little, she said. I asked her if she would ask the official if he spoke English, since I would have to talk to someone who is fluent. She asked him and he apparently said yes. When the women left, I asked him again if he spoke English, and he said "Sometimes - it depends." A definite sign of trouble to come. And in fact NYET, NYET, NYET was all I got - No, we could not take the train and arrive at the border before 12:01 a.m. on July 22 - we would have to get off the train and wait until midnight to get back on (of course the train would be gone as it was not going to wait for us). No, we could not leave one airport on our way back and go to the other airport to catch the plane to Kharkiv after our visas had expired. What, I asked, should we do? I was told that we had to get a new "official invitation" for the dates concerned and get new visas. How, I asked can we get a new official invitation since we would actually only be staying at a hotel in Russia on the dates for which our visas had been issued, and our hotel would not "invite" us for additional days. Well, he said, maybe a travel agency could help me. So off I went to the travel agency I had visited on Saturday. The office manager has to check with the agency manager in Kyiv, who is out of the office until later this afternoon, and then maybe I'll know if they can do something about this. Otherwise I guess we have to ditch the train tickets and the Riga-Moscow tickets I think I bought on the internet on Friday, and start all over again, flying to Moscow on July 22, to Riga on July 25, as planned, and then back to Kharkiv from Riga via Kyiv rather than via Moscow. Of course this will cost twice as much since all the tickets will be one way tickets rather than round trip and, in addition, we'll have to come back a day later than we want because the flight back from Riga on July 30 is unavailable. Aaaargh! All this to visit the city that is now reported to be the MOST expensive city in all the world!! Kyiv is now number 21, up from 59 last year!
It was the most gorgeous day today - clear, blue skies with puffy white clouds - no humidity and about 70 degrees F. I called Ed and he met me at a great little cafe called "Cafe Rio" which specializes in, what else, Azerbajani food!!! They had an English menu as well as the Russian menu, so I used the time while I was waiting for Ed to compare the items and try and learn a few basics about ordering in a restaurant (e.g., what are the Russian words for "crepes with red caviar" - very important!!). We had a wonderful meal - crepes with red caviar and the most delicious almonds we have yet had (most of the nuts here are raw and these were roasted). Ed had a chicken paillard baked with peaches and melted cheese on top (I know it sounds gross, but it was fantastic), and I had quail on a spit - a whole bird - quite delicious but very small! They brought me a finger bowl so it was clear that I was supposed to pick the little thing up, which in fact was the only possible way to eat it. 
We took some photos (the cafe had some really neat bronze sculptures out in front) and walked back to the apartment, stopping for our usual supply of staples (milk, bottled water and orange juice, plus some fresh fruit - I have to buy the fruit on a daily basis because it doesn't keep in the heat, and I hate fruit that has been in the fridge).
posted by Susan Spivak at 3:27 PM
1 Comments:
Susan...I love all the pictures w/your blog. I've got to know - did you already find a place to maintain your classic red pedicure?!
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