Next Trip - Shengen Question too

[cameraguymn]

So my Russian economist/lawyer friend got her Shengen visa (from Italy) today. It says 05/04 to 10/05/2024. She says it's April 5 to May 10. But I said maybe it is May 4 to October 5. Some countries invert their months and days. When I travel for some countries and fill out their paperwork is is day-month-year as opposed to what we are used to month-day-year. Always annoying. I checked how Italy does their dates and it is day-month-year. Even in American sometimes on a very few applications they ask you to fill in the dates day-month-year like 16June2024.

I told her it is strange the valid dates are backdated as most visas put down the date you are expected to travel in the future. I asked her to take it to an immigration attorney (she is an attorney too I forgot, but not immigration) to look at it and after some terse back and forth she revealed to me she talked to the staff at the embassy and they said it was that April to May. Still not sure if I believe her because she seems pretty hard headed and could just be saying that for me to stop hassling her to make sure the dates are correct.

So now I have a small window to see her in Paris in two weeks. Looks like she will invest $2,000 to see me for 3 nights and 4 days. We could have easily seen each other for a longer time later in the summer in Turkey or the Philippines. I don't think she is dying to see me- more she wants to get out of Russia for awhile. She's had 3 Shengens in the past with longer dates.

[krimster2]

Official EU documents use DD. MM. YYYY, inverse of USA

don't forget her credit cards likely won't work there, and hard/expensive for her to get some travel euros in Russland

IMHO, when you consider 'yur motive' for goin, I don't think you need to get hung up about her motive....
neither of you are doin it for 'love', I think they have another word for it, which 'escapes' me at the moment

considering the visa dates - 'chop chop'

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

ain't that a great Paul Simon song?
what's yur opinion of those lyrics?

[Trenchcoat]

She is almost certainly right with the dates CG. I can confirm that as a UK guy the dates we use are pretty much always in the DD MM YYYY format, my passport is. In Europe I am pretty sure it is the same.

I am never sure why Americans came to use the MM DD YYYY format or the logic of it? Seems bizarre to me to do it that way, after all doing we start of with the day we are on first then the month after then followed by the year. Otherwise why not YYYY MM DD, or YYYY DD MM, etc it just confuses people to switch it around anything other than DD MM YYYY as that what would make most common sense to my mind and I thought to most others anyway.

[cameraguymn]

our motives are to see if we find chemistry and move to America or another country and start a business together. She's very attractive, has money and smarts - we share a common love for the arts, active sporting lifestyle, fine dining and dangerous drinks. She's just a little stubborn like most intelligent Russian women are. But we are invested to see if this will work out.

I think she understands we're heavily invested and should do as much as possible together. I was not ready for a trip so soon. My flight is $800, hotel $500, food $500 - I can live with that for 3-4 days.

Slip Sliding - for me it was always a somber song of just accepting ones fate. I never really liked the melody. I've come to appreciate Fleetwood Mac much more as I grow older but I don't think there is a song that matches us because of their interesting songs seem to be about breaking up.

I prefer Coldplay's Paradise which incidently could be a mirror of the Paul Simon song. Which in truth could resonate with themes from my favorite Ukrainian/Russian writer Chekhov's the Seagull.

I just don't want to take this trip and find out she's stuck at the immigration and has to turn back. I would like her to take the visa to an immigration attorney to interpret it.

Official EU documents use DD. MM. YYYY, inverse of USA

don't forget her credit cards likely won't work there, and hard/expensive for her to get some travel euros in Russland

IMHO, when you consider 'yur motive' for goin, I don't think you need to get hung up about her motive....
neither of you are doin it for 'love', I think they have another word for it, which 'escapes' me at the moment

considering the visa dates - 'chop chop'

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

ain't that a great Paul Simon song?
what's yur opinion of those lyrics?

[cameraguymn]

We are making travel plans and it turns out she has to fly through Italy to and from Paris. Wow that sucks. It'll cost me double to fly to Italy.

Found some nice hotels with exquisite views of the Eiffel Tower.

[Trenchcoat]

We are making travel plans and it turns out she has to fly through Italy to and from Paris. Wow that sucks. It'll cost me double to fly to Italy.

Found some nice hotels with exquisite views of the Eiffel Tower.

The more I date FSW the more I tend to not want to spend much money on expensive places. There's just something about it that doesn't hit the right tone. Like you're trying to impress them or offer up the place instead of offering up yourself. The FSW often I feel isn't all that impressed by all that stuff anyway not to any great extent I believe. Often it can potentially just feel a waste.

Once a guy on a forum I was on many years ago (non-FSU) was giving advice on what photos to use for a dating profile. He said to avoid using photos of famous landmarks in the background like the Eiffel Tower. That doing so means you are putting the landmark ahead of yourself, that you are relying on that, it overshadows you, eclipses you, etc. That you want the focus to be on you. I think he was right, landmarks are lovely to have around and are kind of Hollywood romantic but for first dates or even soon after they might not be the best thing as might be thought to include.