July Vacation to meet Ukraine sweetheart

[FootballDad]

Hello Everyone,

I have just received my Russian Visa and have booked all my flights and apartments and am ready to head to Kiev and then St. Petersburg for a 10 day vacation with my Sweetheart in early July.  We began talking just after Christmas on Elena.site and I had narrowed it down to just her in by mid March and we are communicating daily by email, 3x wkly by phone, and at least once a week by Skype Video (webcam-messenger).  We are both educated professionals, her with a Doctorate and I with a Masters, and both were collegiate athletes and now collegiate officials (referees) and we seem to have so much in common.  She is 37 years old, has a 12 year old daughter from a widowed husband (11 years ago), and I am 44 years old and have been divorced 5 years, with a 17 year old daughter and 12 year old son that I have joint custody of and very good relations with.  My Ukraine beauty currently works at a University as a fitness professor and instructor and owns her own "flat" and seems fairly self-sufficient.

We will be meeting in Kiev (she is from Western side of Ukraine) for 3 days and then the final 6 days in St. Petersburg.  We are staying in apartments (her choice) and I have arranged those through agencies (along with invitation to Russia and Visa), although our travel was booked by ourselves.  We are both theatre & opera lovers and look forward to spending quite a bit of time site-seeing and all around getting to know each other better.  The Skype video has really helped us the past months really get to know each other in through the video interaction / communication and we are both (seemingly) feeling alot better about our "jump" into this vacation with just each other (no children or family).  I hope that I am making the right decision as I am not planning a backup plan, except having the agency where I contracted the apartment(s) to have a possible other choices at worst case.

One question (outside of the obvious above) is there is a short distance from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Finland and I am very interested in taking a 2-day cruise for the approx 170km across to see my homeland (I have a majority of Finnish & Swedish decent) and what, if any, clearances do we need or special precautions should we be aware of?

Am so looking forward to this trip and although it is eight weeks away, I seem to be only counting the minutes till I meet my new lady!!!

Thank you for your forum and any suggestions that you may lend.

Eddie  / Western U.S.

[SANDRO43]

One question (outside of the obvious above) is there is a short distance from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Finland and I am very interested in taking a 2-day cruise for the approx 170km across to see my homeland (I have a majority of Finnish & Swedish decent) and what, if any, clearances do we need or special precautions should we be aware of?

Welcome to RWD, Eddie. Finland is a Schengen Treaty country, so you'll both need a visa to enter the country. Give a call to the nearest Finnish consulate for more info .

Maybe an SPB travel agency offering the cruise can handle the visa paperwork, but in your case (two non-Russian nationalities) it may be more complicated than usual, if possible at all.

[Ronnie]

Eddie,
First of all thanks for telling about your upcoming first trip.  I understand your plan and hope all goes as planned.  If you've been reading this forum long you know that more times than not, the whole plan falls apart when you meet and discover there's no chemistry between you.  You may think she's great upon meeting but she may lose all interest when she discovers you're not 6'6" or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.  Three days should be more than enough for each of you to get a read.

So, if you're both thrilled with the relationship proceed to Pitr and enjoy.  I don't know about ferries to Helsinki but I did take the train once..  It was a pleasant 3 or 4 hours as I recall with no issues.  I assume you're talking about yourself alone.. If you expect to take her along to Finland, I'd say that might be a bridge too far.  Finland won't give her a visa...bank on it.

What about a fall back plan?  You haven't said where your return flight is coming from.. Helsinki I assume.  So if you find there's no chemistry...continue on to Pitr and have the address of an agency or two there in your wallet.  Have some impromptu, in-office meetings with gals from their client list and see what happens.  Odds are you'll you'll return from FSU with a different BGF than when you went.

Potential pitfalls.  If the WOVO girl bails or you elect to end it there in Kyiv, you may be reluctant to travel to Pitr alone.  Don't be.  Cowboy up!

If your return ticket is actually from Kyiv, have an address of a Kyiv agency in the wallet and proceed as above.

Never invest in a trip without a back up plan.

[Ronnie]

Welcome to RWD, Eddie. Finland is a Schengen Treaty country, so you'll both need a visa to enter the country.

Uh, ciao Sandro..  Eddie's a Yank... has something changed since December when I was last in Schengenland?

[SANDRO43]

Uh, ciao Sandro..  Eddie's a Yank... has something changed since December when I was last in Schengenland?

Ciao Ronnie, not that I know of, are US citizens Schengen-visa exempt ? I confess my ignorance, but a tourist visa would be necessary for his UKR fiancée, anyway.   

[Ronnie]

We, Amerdicani, can stay up to 90 days "senza visto" 

[SANDRO43]

We, Amerdicani, can stay up to 90 days "senza visto" 

How am I supposed to know about weird races like AmerDicani ? Cross between dogs and Americans ? Bitter Dominicans ?

[Ronnie]

Sandro, when I lived in Italy in the late 60s we were called that as a play on "merda di cane."  (And people think anti-Americanism is a new phenomenon  ).  Of course those were the days of the "brigade rosse" and the largest Communist party outside the SU.

[SANDRO43]

Sandro, when I lived in Italy in the late 60s we were called that as a play on "merda di cane."

I had thought of that possibility, but it seemed a bit contrived and I never heard the term in my area. What we might see then painted on banners, placards and walls was "AmeriKani".

(And people think anti-Americanism is a new phenomenon  ). Of course those were the days of the "brigaTe rosse" and the largest Communist party outside the SU.

And, don't forget, the days of Viet Nam .

[Ronnie]

 

Contrived?  I thought it was cute    "Amerika" can be one size fits all.  If you're a Marxist you take it as German aka Nazi, or if you're right wing you can take it as Russian aka communist.  How many Italians know that "America" comes from Capitano Vespucci's first name, Amerigo?  Few, I bet.

Most of the anti-American propaganda in the world has had Marxists in the background pulling the strings and penning the slogans.  My wife can recite slogans from her grammar school days in the USSR that were anti-American in nature.  For example..when I try to take a pinch of some dish she's preparing she says, "Hands off Vietnam!" (in Russian off course).   

[2tallbill]

Footballdad, welcome to the forum

I wish you luck and success on your trip.

Udachi,

Bill

[SANDRO43]

How many Italians know that "America" comes from Capitano Vespucci's first name, Amerigo?  Few, I bet.

Wrong, most do, we're taught in elementary school about that, along with Giovanni da Verrazzano's explorations and Colombo's discovery (matters of national pride, although the Spaniards insist on calling Cristobal Colòn our Genoese seafarer) .

[Faux Pas]

Football Dad,

Welcome! It appears you have it all worked out for the most part. Don't worry to much about the chemistry or your plans falling through. Sure it could happen but you know enough about this lady to want to meet her. Chances are you'll both do just fine. There seems to be a lot of paranoia about lack of chemistry. I did the WOVO myself and even though I did take an agency's phone number (just in case) for a back up plan, I wouldn't have needed it. I found St. Petersburg to be an easy enough place to wing it if necessary. A wonderful city.

Good Luck

[FootballDad]

Thank you for the advice and information.  Just FYI, I have my flight reservations to Kiev, to St. Pete, then back to US from St. Pete, whereas my lady-friend will be flying back to Lviv the same day.  I will do have the agency's phone number where I have apartments in both Kiev & St.Pete, so this should help my backup plan.  Faux Pas, thanks for the letter of encouragement and I do think that we share so much in common, and both are very mature (and aged, as well as close to age) that we probably should "gel" in our visit ... but, I realize one never knows and I am going, as many of the things I have read on RWD, as a site-seeing vacation not as a pure "find a partner" quest.
Again, thanks for your comments and support.

[Faux Pas]

Thank you for the advice and information.  Just FYI, I have my flight reservations to Kiev, to St. Pete, then back to US from St. Pete, whereas my lady-friend will be flying back to Lviv the same day.  I will do have the agency's phone number where I have apartments in both Kiev & St.Pete, so this should help my backup plan.  Faux Pas, thanks for the letter of encouragement and I do think that we share so much in common, and both are very mature (and aged, as well as close to age) that we probably should "gel" in our visit ... but, I realize one never knows and I am going, as many of the things I have read on RWD, as a site-seeing vacation not as a pure "find a partner" quest.
Again, thanks for your comments and support.

Football Dad
It seems that such a WOVO meeting is against conventional wisdom. Perhaps I am a non-conventional type but I never one time considered that I would not "like" the lady I was visiting. I had no more expectations than that. I had communicated with her long enough that yes, I knew her enough from that communication that at least I would like her and enjoy her company. That is unless she fooled me, which is pretty difficult to do. I did my homework during our communications and correspondence and determined she was an honest woman with no artificial fronts. Sure I could have been wrong but I wasn't. I suppose that could be chalked up to luck but I like to think otherwise.

As for St Pete it is a wonderful place and a good choice of a Russian city to visit. So much to do and see. The people, the food, the sights, the history, all just incredible. The air pollution was a bit of an inconvenience but I guess you can have everything

[Ronnie]

Faux Pas,

I haven't taken the time to read your past posts.  This last one sounds like your WOVO worked out fine.  Yet, you profile says "still looking".  What gives?

Dan (or somebody) has there been a poll taken as to who did a wovo on their first visit and did it result in marriage?  If not, it cold be interesting so see the numbers..probabilities if you will.

Possible Responses could go something like:

If your first trip was a WOVO which of the following best describes the relationship.

A. I felt no chemistry, and it ended.
B She felt no chemistry, and it ended.
C. We were a bit put off by one another but regrouped and eventually put it together.
D. All Good! Got married or are engaged.

[Faux Pas]

Faux Pas,

I haven't taken the time to read your past posts.  This last one sounds like your WOVO worked out fine.  Yet, you profile says "still looking".  What gives?

Ronnie,
It worked out fabulously and well above expectations. I don't quite understand what you mean from my profile. If it's the looking 0-2 years, well thats the closest I can get to the options presented me.  I am not looking, I found a wonderful woman. Our meeting proved to be two people who really liked each other and wish  to continue on the path. No one-week wonder, no confessions of love or discussions of marriage. just a very important step in a possible future together.

Who knows how or where it will lead but, we're exploring it and enjoying it. I'm going back in July if thats any indication. The WOVO worked out well so far for me. Although I should mention that in the beginning I wrote to many but never intended to do a meet many or visit many.

 
 

[Ronnie]

Sounds great Faux..! 

Me, I think I musta been like the guy at Baskin-Robbins wanting to try a lot of different flavors before I made a choice.   
 

Dontcha just wonder sometimes?  Hmmm

[2tallbill]

The Jury is definitely still out as to the best approach WOVO vs WMVM vs SOSOA (some other strategy or approach) I made up sosoa LOL.

A man has to make up his mind as to what works for him along with a backup plan.

Just my two kopecks,

Bill