Picture of my beautiful Irina and Joe in Virginia Beach,VA USA!

[virginiajoe]

Here is a picture of my dear,beautiful Irina here in Virginia Beach,VA USA! Dont'we look cute together! Everyone says that about us! Now I only smile when I think of Ira as she likes to be called.She sent me a e-mail today saying she is flying out of JFK at 5 PM to Moscow,hope the drinking water is okay there,heard about the tanker leak.
She told me to write her asap tomorrow,the visit was a amazing success,don't worry I will take it slow,I think we will have a interesting friendship and maybe more,I am happy!!!!! Ira is the best!!!!
If you want to see more pictures just e-mail me at joefisher1972@yahoo.com Wish me luck and thanks for all the advice,please give me more!!! Lord knows I need it!!!
Joe.Thanks again!

[Turboguy]

She is very pretty and you too look great together.   Good luck with her.

[virginiajoe]

Here is another picture of my Irina from Moscow,she is so beautiful on the inside and out.I miss her and wish her all the best! I hope we have a great future together!

[jb]

Look out, Joe, you will have guys thinking there are good looking and smart women living in Moscow.  (This is blasphamy in these parts), everyone knows Moscow women are not as good as village girls.

Good luck to you.  She's a great looking gal.

[virginiajoe]

Thanks JB,she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen,the pictures do not do her justice at all.When I first saw her,my eyes went crazy! I'm sure Moscow is like NYC a little bit of everything.
I've heard about the village girls in Russia.I think there are good looking woman in all of Russia.Slavic women are considered some of the world's most beautiful women.
Here's a observation I made today here in VA.Most of the women I saw here were overweight,worn out looking,tired,young women with childeren and no husband or middle aged attractive but married.No wonder guys like me are looking for something a little different in places like Russia and FSU countries.
I do have to say Irina is unlike any other women I have met,smart,educated,beautiful,I just wonder why she is not married,my father asked me that too after he met her.
Keep the advice coming,thanks!

[virginiajoe]

Hey I need some advice on good airfare either in September of May,that is when she says will be a good time to go see her.I will fly out of Washington DC.Thanks for the advice.

[groovlstk]

Joe, I'm glad to see you're not wasting any time in pursuing your girl--but forget May, get your *ss on a plane to Moscow in Sept., or ASAP. The distance thing is a BIG consideration, if something goes wrong you can't hop in a cab and talk it out the same night. A lot can go wrong very quickly and you may not find out about it until it's too late. And don't get complacent and think your relationship can proceed at the same leisurely pace it did during the months when you were email pals.

Airfares to Russia/Ukraine are expensive now but will ease up in Sept. (I paid $1250 for tix to Kiev in early July, the same itinerary is about $450 cheaper after Sept. 1.) I found RussiaHouse.net to have had the best fares over the course of three FSU itineraries I've purchased in the last 3 months (Dnepropetrovsk, Warsaw, and Kiev), here's the URL: http://www.russiahouse.net/

Make sure that once you have your tix that you sign up for a frequent flyer program, my personal preference is the STAR Alliance (Lufthansa, Austrian, LOT are part of the alliance and all service DC to Moscow), since if things go well you  may find yourself spending a lot of time on overseas flights

Good luck to you.

[virginiajoe]

Thanks man for the advice,I do need to get my tail over there.I can't wait to go.I am thinking about booking the ticket soon i'll tell you why,oil prices are going up,so obviously jet fuel will go up,so the ticket prices will go up!
I can get my passport fairly soon.But I need some info on getting the visa to visit Russia.I am only 4 hours from Washington DC,I will fly out of DC also.Another friend said Vienna Airlines has good prices to Russia and may offer a stop over in Vienna.Wow! that would be awesome,I also want to do some sightsteeing there too,not just visit my lady friend.Berlin also looks like a cool city to visit!
Again I need some info on getting the visa,where to apply and so forth.Without the visa i'm not getting off the plane,it's too far to go to be turned back!!!
Thanks again for the advice!
Joe.

[jb]

I've always used:  http://www.traveldocs.com/  for my visa services.  They have always been reliable and efficient.

Others have recommended:  www.russiahouse.com  , but I have no experience with them.

Just try doing a google for visa services+russia and see what else shows up.

cheers

[Turboguy]

those are good ones that jb suggested.    I always use www.russia-visa.com.  They are great and have online application and tracking with no invitaton needed.   I also think www.GoToRussia.com is very good.  They are also good with airfare, apartments or hotels and airport transfers.

[wxman]

As Groovlstk said, prices are expensive in the summer but drop quickly in the fall. Do not worry about prices going sky high because of oil costs. Most airlines buy fuel on the futures market. so they buy their fuel 1 to 2 years in advance. Most of them bought when oil wasnt so high. That is why airlines like Southwest, can still offer such low rates. Probably next year we will all see tickets jump dramatically as those futures are used up. If oil prices don't drop, look out then!  

[Son of Clyde]

Nice picture, Joe. She is quite lovely.

Good luck to you both.

I'm hoping wxman posts his picture someday I'm trying to imagine what he looks like.

[jb]

TravelDocs.com will also supply the necessary invitation,,, as a mater of fact, I think all the visa service companies do this.  Getting a visa to Moscow is really easy.  Just go online and apply, you will have to supply them with the passport style photos, send the money up front, (of course).

One nice thing that is new, is the double entry visa for the same money.  Back when I first started going to Russia it was single entry (30 days) only.  Maybe they are beginning to lighten up a tad.

[virginiajoe]

Thanks for all the tips,I really appreicate it.Irina said she would also help me with the visa.It should be a great time.How is the weather in Moscow around Sept,October?

[jb]

How is the weather in Moscow around Sept,October?

Moscow typically has some nice days in Sept, what we wouuld call "Indian Summer", Russians call it "Baba Summer" (which means 'woman's summer').  But it probably won't last into October.  If you go in late Sept-Oct, take some warm clothes with you.

[Turboguy]

It is good jb is such a nice guy.  I was going to try pulling your leg and tell you Moscow being fairly far north,  that you should take artic gear, heavy boots, thermal underwear, and all that kinda thing.   I could just sotra picture you getting off the plane in all that stuff to 65 degree September weather. 

[virginiajoe]

Thanks Turboguy,that made me laughed,you would not belive how many stupid laughs me and Irina shared,I have never laughed so hard in my life!!! It should be beautiful weather! 65 degrees,that is perfect! I am a regular to weather.com and I often search the Russian cities to see what the weather is like.Here is something else funny,my father last night said to me when I was over at there house,"What if you don't want to leave Moscow?" That kind of took me off guard.I think he was just curious as to what my response would be.
I love to travel and I also love the planning part of traveling.This is all so exciting to me! I read in our newspaper that Moscow is the 4'th most expensive city in the world after,Tokyo,Osaka,London! And I thought Manhattan and Philadelphia was expensive! Luckily Irina will give me a free place to stay.I gave her the royal treatment while she was her,flowers,picked her up at the train station,took her back to the station and she had a nice place to sleep,eat,etc.
I am trying to learn the language,it is so hard when you have nobody to practice it with.Here in Va Beach we do have a large Russian population so maybe I can make a friend to help me out.Also do yourself a favor visit Virginia Beach,my city is amazing! It is the largest city in Virgnina,and is growing fast,the construction crains keep going up everywhere and there are Russians everywhere here for the summer working.It is a good place to live,some of my other favorite places are NYC of course,Philadelphia,Boston,Chicago,LA,the best of America!!!!!
Now I want to see the best of Russia! It's all so exciting to me.Thanks for the advice!

[jb]

virginiajoe,

I've been to your town.  Does Little Creek amphib base mean anything to you?

[Turboguy]

Hello again Joe,

Moscow is an expensive city but it does not have to be an expensive city.   A lot of it is actually in the hands of your gal.   She can drag you to a restaurant where you need a second mortgage to pay the bill or one that is very reasonable.    Sometimes you loose track of what things really cost because you are paying in roubles and it sometimes seems like monopoly money.   My gal and I had a little cafe we liked to go to for coffee on Arabat street.   It was cozy.   We stopped in a number of times and got a fairly tiny cup of coffee.   I happened to think about what the exchange rate was and the coffees were $ 7.50 each.  

I am glad to hear your have a fairly large Russian population there.   I wish we did here too.  I think there are some but not a lot.   Of course I sometimes wonder why anyone would want to live here anyway.

The Virginia Beach area is nice.  I used to go there a lot.  I have not been there for a long time now buy my gal and I are planning to do a short vacation there around the end of August assuming her interview goes well on the 26th of July.   Virginia Beach and Ocean City Md were always my two favorite shore spots. 

[virginiajoe]

Yes I know Little Creek Amphib base,were you stationed there? Turboguy definitely come down here to Va Beach,your wife will feel at home because most of the people working at the restaurants at the beach are Russian.Irina really liked that also about Va Beach.The young lady who served us at the Seaside Cafe across fromo the boardwalk was from Russia,she was able to coverse with her in Russian,it was very interesting watching those 2 talk.Something else funny,Irina is 27 and the girl asked for her ID when we ordered some white wine! She pulled out her passport/Visa and the girl about had a heart attack.I don't she had ever seen a Russian with a tourist visa! Ocean City is nice too.Just take Highway 13 down from the Phila,New Castle,DE area to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel,that's a tourist attraction in itself.There is so much to do here in VA,let me know if I can help.

[Turboguy]

Hi Joe,  Thanks for the suggestions.  In my married days we vacationed at Virginia Beach every other year and always enjoyed it.   That has been a while.  I am sure it is nothing like it was.    I am sure my gal will enjoy it.

 

 

[virginiajoe]

Now it is actually safer and more crowded than ever which is good for our local economy.Your gal will love it here.Be sure to take plenty of pictures!
Also there has been so many new high rise hotels going up you want recognize it! We also have a town center.They are going to build a 570 foot tall tower with luxury condos and offices.Things are really booming around here.

[PeeWee]

Look out, Joe, you will have guys thinking there are good looking and smart women living in Moscow. (This is blasphamy in these parts), everyone knows Moscow women are not as good as village girls.

Good luck to you. She's a great looking gal.

  Can anyone, specificily, tell me why a Moscow woman would be different than a woman from another city. My experience has me knowing two who live in Moscow, one in Vlad, one from Tula. They all seem the same to me. What did I miss in my accessment?

 

PeeWee

[Turboguy]

It depends on who you are talking to.   In the USA do you find a difference between a NYC gal and one from Knoxville?  

That is the same thing.  Moscovites think they have more class and sophistication, better breeding, better education, more intelligence and a better income.   Actually they incorporate a water soluble form of beano in the Moscow water supply so gals from there never have to pass gas.

I have met gals from all over Russia.  I find good ones and bad ones anywhere.    The only things I see that cast a negative light on Moscow is that it gets pretty farmed out with it being so easy to go there and the economy there is doing better than in some of the smaller cities which gives less incentive to marry a guy and move around the world.

[Bruno]

  Can anyone, specificily, tell me why a Moscow woman would be different than a woman from another city. My experience has me knowing two who live in Moscow, one in Vlad, one from Tula. They all seem the same to me. What did I miss in my accessment? 

PeeWee

Hello PeeWee, don't take care about all thse comment... each woman is very different from one other... Now one Moscow woman is the same that a other... Moscow is more that 10 million people, so , really, you have a lot of choice...

The only difference is the level of life... usually, Moscow people earn more money... but since Moscow is like all big city, you have people from all level...

But realy , you have wrong to think that one women is the same that other... you know two moscow women... the right one for you will be these you will propose to marry... one will be more good that the other... follow the path of your heart... and you will know the reply...

The difference can be little, but these little difference go make that you choose one and not the other... Don't take care from where is coming the woman you choose... until she touch your heart, you are on the good way...