Well, a "sort of" trip report because I didn't go there, she came here.
I had seen her photo years back, she was 38 and stated 48 was the limit and I'd just turned 49, so I didn't write. Last year I was thinking, do I really want to do this again having been disappointed by my last Russian squeeze, and saw her same info, but it said her age limit was 55. Instead of writing to her, I wrote to her agency probing for more info about her. They sent a nice email saying they knew her personally, a nice girl, very hard working, etc., and nobody was writing her through their agency. I also sent a photo and a little info about me, and they said they'd pass it on to her.
A week went by and they wrote back saying she was definitely interested and for $10 they'd tell me how to contact her. I did nothing for 3 weeks, still pondering, when she wrote to me, as she had paid $10 to get my email, and we began writing. She sounded like a great person, not beautiful, but attractive and sincere. We decided to meet after 5 months and I said I would go there or would meet her anywhere she could get a visa. She said she could get a UK visa and we could meet in London. I bought a tour package for her and she arrived with 15 other Russians. She spotted me at Gatwick before I spotted her, a little heavier than her photo, but nice looking. We talked on the bus and train all the way into Paddington like we were old friends, so I'd say we had hit it off right away and that this would be a fun week. Her English was good and very understandable, and we both had dictionaries just in case. Stayed at a prepaid little hotel near Paddington a 3 minute walk from the tube/train station. (As an MD, she was well traveled in Eastern and Western Europe, owned a flat in Russia, had a mortgage, a car, and 13 years in her profession and now manager of her department....so a prepaid tour got her the British visa.) We went on the first bus tour with the Russian tour group just to get a flavor of London, then ditched them, as I was a better tour guide having been to London countless times and lived in the West country in Somerset for 8 months in 1986. We did everything she wanted to do, all the touristy stuff I had never done...a different section of London each day, a different restaurant and food she'd never tasted. Not a drinker, if she had more than one wine it would be too much...me, 2 Guinness's. Even taking the tube and busses everywhere, I still went through $2K during the week, not counting the hotel which was prepaid. We talked nonstop, family, friends, interests, our work, likes and dislikes, hobies...everything. In a couple days we were friends and lovers and I can't remember having so much fun for a whole week. I had 2 business meetings which were really only courtesy calls and one owed me some money which I collected, and took her to these also which only lasted an hour each. We'd find a different pub every night and I told
her about British public houses, some of which had been pubs for 1000 years, and those on Fleet Street that had special after hours licences. While waiting for a bus in Kensington late one night in cold, damp weather and the only ones on the street, a guy on a bike came to the bus stop and demanded all the coins in my pocket. I said "What" and he said it again. I moved within 5 feet of him...striking distance, and asked (in a rather rude way) that he should try to take them from me. Good think is, he left and I didn't need to fight although I know how. Because of my language, I was asked if I was a "hooligan" in my younger days. I talked about boxing for 40 years and tae-kwan-do, but only as a sport and for exercise, but still she didn't like my Chicago MF language, which the situation called for. Anyhow, our trip was a blast, it was time for her to go home, I kissed her, put her on the bus back to Gatwick, said after some work in Bristol, I would be home in a week, and we would plan our next trip.
Once home, we wrote 3 times per week, or I would call her.
I found a medical conference in Chicago and thought she'd have a good chance for a business visa and she should try for it. She was fearful of a rejection stamp if denied, and I told her not if we do it right. I researched everything, paperwork I thought she would need, wrote a letter for her hospital director to sign stating he would pay for everything, made sure she got the invitation emailed to her, had her send everything to the embassy in Moscow, and request an interview, and to make sure she dressed like a "babushka" when she went for her face to face in Moscow. She got the visa, and began her 12 hour train ride home. When asked how long she wanted to stay, she said "30 days" and I said come ahead.
More Later.
