Russian Wedding in Central Europe & Embassy Interview

[wicheese]

Not too many trip reports lately, so I'll give a brief overview of my recent trip through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, & Slovenia with my RW as there might be a few lessons to be learned.  Anyways, the main purpose of this trip was due to our attending my RW cousins wedding in Austria, with and primary goal of spending more time together as it would be our last visit before her interview at the embassy for her K1 visa.


The trip started in Budapest as we both flew in (me from the USA and her from Moscow) as she was using her credit from Aerofloat which she earning this past Christmas (for those with really good memories, you know that Moscow was slammed by winter weather around that time and it lead to thousands being stuck in the airport including Natasha who was on her way to India to see me).  It was a nice visit as we also saw her parents who were traveling in the area, but it was HOT and Natasha did have a little problem with heat stroke during the first days which worried me a little.  Anyways, Budapest is a nice city, but I would not recommend it above others like Prague or Vienna as it seemed to have a little post Russian occupation hangover as the city is full of nice old buildings, but many were pretty run down which made me think it was the result of having weak condominium ownership rules where nobody is essentially responsible for the common areas. 


I've attached one picture from their Independence Square.  Also one of Castle Hill which is probably the primary tourist spot in the city (more specifically Fisherman's bastion area).  The last one is of a memorial to the Soviet Soldiers who liberated the city which might rub a few Hungarians wrong due to the beat-down they received back in 1956 (side note, there was a statue of Ronald Reagan right next to it which I found a little funny).


 

[wicheese]

After a few days in Budapest, the real adventure was to start as we rented a car and headed out along the Danube Bend and then into Slovakia.  The plan was to have Natasha do most of the driving as she's been driving for ten years and has much more experience driving a manual transmission as I had not driven one in 15 years (I trust her to drive my car when she comes and visits and she always does a good job when I ride with her in Moscow).  BTW, I purchased the European map for my Garmin GPS ($69) and it worked great.


OK, for those of you out there who have a lot of experience with RW driving, you probably know where I'm going with this.  Anyways, she does a great job in the cities and country roads, but it's the lack of Inter City driving which caused a little problem (her daily commute on the Moscow outer loop I guess does not count as she's usually in a traffic jam).  For those who drive in that part of the world, you know that the speed limit is 130 Km for cars and 80 Km for trucks.  Well, the stress came as she was driving only 90 to 100 Km (complaining that I had rented only an economy car) which was fast enough to cause her to pass the trucks, but slow enough that the cars were basically running up our arse as she did not feel it was necessary to return to the right lane after passing.  The resolution to this issue came when I took over the driving (found out that the car had no problems with driving 130 Km).  So my suggestion is, even if your FSUW does a good job of driving in Moscow, do not assume that those skills will transfer to another country.


Pictures attached are Natasha in by our rental (she had just driven through a winding mountain pass from Austria to Slovakia as the GPS routed us along the shortest path which  did not include a nice straight Inter City road).  Another is from Castle Hill in Bratislava looking out towards the Danube.  Last one is from Vienna.

[wicheese]

OK, I'm skipping around a little but after a few a stay in Vienna (I really like the city as it reminds me of Paris without the French), we had to head over to Klagenfurt for Natasha's cousins wedding.  It would be my first exposure to her wider family on her mothers side.


Well, this was my first Russian wedding, but probably not typical as the location was at a Chateau on a lake in Austria and everything about it was a little over the top including the fireworks later in the night which most cities in the USA would have been proud of for their 4th of July celebration.  Still, it was a lot of fun as they had a new twist on things as the couple getting married put a lot of thought into the party afterwards, along with many of their friends who were attending. 


Oh, despite the fact that besides the local staff working the wedding (some people such as the MC and event planner were flown in from Moscow special for the event), I was probably one of the few people who was not Russian there, but when many of the people knowing that I was from the USA, switched from Russian to English when I was brought into the conversation and everyone was very nice (or was it the free flowing alcohol). 


The two pictures attached include one of me and Natasha before the wedding and one of the happy couple and the immediate family. 


I should add, there were a little more than 100 guests, including a lot of young 20 something friends of the bride and groom, there and most were paired up and there were no age gap relationships that were noticeable.  Just a side comment for the typical age gap discussions we see on this site.

[wicheese]

The remainder of our time together was spent in Slovenia and then the Lake Balaton area of Hungary before we both had to return to our respective homes.  Anyways, I will say that Slovenia is a nice country and if driving through the area, be sure to stop in Lake Bled. 


One picture from Lake Bled and one of Sumeg castle.

[wicheese]

Ok, on Natasha's return she had her interview scheduled at the embassy for her K1. 


So just a little about it.  She went in with a group of 9 people (one no-show) and they all waited in the holding area, but the interviewer was separated by a divider so she was able to listen in to the interviews for the four that went before her.  Of those four, none spoke English and they all said they communicated via. electronic translator (yikes) [edit: that is with their fiancee as the interviewer spoke good Russian].  One had visited the USA and another had her fiancee come to her 3 times in a year.  One (the sole man) met his fiancee in a church group and one said it was Elenas Models (she was not sure about the other two).  Lastly, they were all approved.


In Natasha's interview (she said it was not more than 10 minutes), she mentioned the interviewer was surprised that we had seen each other 12 times in two years.  She was asked where we met (singles.ru) to which she was asked, why I was looking for someone on a Russian site (her answer was that I was getting bored with AW).  Overall, it was very painless, the interviewer was extremely friendly, and she received her visa four days later. 


So now she is getting ready to negotiate with her employer her departure (you might be asked why not just give a notice), get ready to close down her apartment (she'll be renting it), and find a time when her brother and parents will be able to travel to the USA for our wedding.   So sometime this fall, I guess my next thread I'll start will be about my own Russian wedding (granted, it'll be here and it'll be tiny per her request).

[Faux Pas]

Congrats on the visa Wicheese! Also, thanks for the TR, very interesting 

[mendeleyev]

Very nice. Enjoyed each photo.

[wicheese]

Congrats on the visa Wicheese! Also, thanks for the TR, very interesting 

For those who know my story from the beginning, it's been a long time in coming as I first thought about the FSU in 2006.  Still, I will not complain as I feel confident in that I finally got it right in the end (that is not just a person to marry, but a person who is right for me and who I love and care about deeply). 

[SFandEE]

Budapest is a nice city, but I would not recommend it above others like Prague or Vienna as it seemed to have a little post Russian occupation hangover as the city is full of nice old buildings, but many were pretty run down which made me think it was the result of having weak condominium ownership rules where nobody is essentially responsible for the common areas. 

My impressions were very similar.  I stayed at the hotel Kempinski in downtown Budapest eleven years ago.  My first exposure to a former Soviet satellite country.  My flight on Malev airlines was very positive as was my stay at the nice German chain hotel.  I found the Summer atmosphere to be somewhat gloomy for the same reasons  Very dingy buildings with a Post WWII feel.  Many tall beautiful women with long legs though.


I am glad the interview went well.  I loved the photo of the wedding.  Not a smile to be found for the photo, but I trust there was a lot of joy and laughter at the celebration.

[Lily]

I think that you two look similar to each other on that picture

[wicheese]

I think that you two look similar to each other on that picture

Yes, you could say that we both pass the visual credibility test.  As we often joke, neither of us will be winning any beauty contests, but we're perfectly happy with that...

[Faux Pas]

For those who know my story from the beginning, it's been a long time in coming as I first thought about the FSU in 2006.  Still, I will not complain as I feel confident in that I finally got it right in the end (that is not just a person to marry, but a person who is right for me and who I love and care about deeply).

I've kind'a, sort'a followed your story from the time you started posting here. You struck me as intelligent, methodical with a good vision of what you were looking for. I can't help but to think those using the similar approach can't help but eventually, find success.


I think there are a good many that enter this pursuit end up looking for a young hot body that passes a breath test. Most find them only to have it explode later down the line.


I would have to say you've done very well and the future MsCheese  is a baby doll and very hot

[Wayne]

Thanks for sharing your story and photographs.  My wife will be moving to USA soon. She has a flat. I would be interested in how your wife plans to rent out her apartment.
 
I know that the US Embassy in Moscow does not allow the American citizen to atend the visa interview. However, if they did allow it, would you have been there?
 
You know, the US Embassy in Kyiv does encourge the American citizen to atend.

[wicheese]

Thanks for sharing your story and photographs.  My wife will be moving to USA soon. She has a flat. I would be interested in how your wife plans to rent out her apartment.
 
I know that the US Embassy in Moscow does not allow the American citizen to atend the visa interview. However, if they did allow it, would you have been there?
 
You know, the US Embassy in Kyiv does encourge the American citizen to atend.

Wayne,
 
You are correct, they don't anyone but the interviewees into the waiting area.  Even if they did let me attend, I probably would not have made a special trip as we had a small book full of material to support the ongoing relationship proof.  Better to save the trip (we've already had four together so far this year) for when she makes the final move as I'm guessing she'll have more than a couple of bags coming with her (I know in many cases the FSUW leaves a week later after the visa is received so if that was the case, it would have made sense to be there for the interview, but in our case the move will be a month or two). 
 
Now to her apartment, she has a one bedroom (40 sq_m) modern apartment (building was built in 2002) near a metro stop, with her own parking spot (this is huge in Moscow) so she feels that it'll not be hard to find someone who would like to rent it from within her circle of friends & family.  When she was doing a little market analysis, she found the one bedrooms are in higher demand than the multi-room apartments (makes sense when you think of all the single people flooding into the city for jobs).

[Boethius]

Great photos, and you look happy together.  My best wishes to you both.

[I/O]

Yes, you could say that we both pass the visual credibility test.  As we often joke, neither of us will be winning any beauty contests, but we're perfectly happy with that...

I contest you look like a really decent couple. All the best and thanks for sharing.

[wicheese]

For some things happen quickly and for others, it takes a little longer.  Anyways, now that it's been a little more than two years since I first met Natasha, I can finally call her my wife.  So now is the start of a whole different experience, that of being married to a RW, but one I'm looking forward to, because she's the one for me...
 
The two things I want to mention in this post for those who are still looking.  First, do not overlook the local market as one can still find someone nice close to home (I say this despite now being married to someone great from another country).  Second, do not overlook the professional RW living in Moscow as this type of women does not need to leave Russia due to economic motivations (therefore she's less likely to leave), but she certainly would if she found the right man.
 
Good luck to all those still in the search!

[Jumper]

Congratulatiobs to you both!!!
 
 
wonderful story and photos
 
 
I like the photo of shonbrunn park vienna, beautiful place, brings back memories.
 
 
 

[acctBill]

For some things happen quickly and for others, it takes a little longer.  Anyways, now that it's been a little more than two years since I first met Natasha, I can finally call her my wife.  So now is the start of a whole different experience, that of being married to a RW, but one I'm looking forward to, because she's the one for me...
 
The two things I want to mention in this post for those who are still looking.  First, do not overlook the local market as one can still find someone nice close to home (I say this despite now being married to someone great from another country).  Second, do not overlook the professional RW living in Moscow as this type of women does not need to leave Russia due to economic motivations (therefore she's less likely to leave), but she certainly would if she found the right man.
 
Good luck to all those still in the search!

Congrats Wicheese.  Some advice from a man that's been married to a RW for almost 15 years.  If you disagree with her you will almost always be wrong.  On those very rare occasions when you're right she will never admit it.      

[Kineo]

 
Congratulations to you and Natasha!