New to the board, but sort of an "old salt" to this endeavor

[Chris59]

Greetings,...just want to introduce myself to the board. I was a semi-regular member of other boards such as "RWGuide", and "Planet-Love" some years ago. I traveled to St. Petersburg for the first time in 2001, and made 3 subsequent visits up to 2004. Much of this was made possible by another board member here, and his Russian lady, as they assisted me with many things upon arriving into Petersburg.

During my 4 trips to St. Petersburg, and couple days spent in Moscow, I met 3 very nice ladies. One was a casual acquaintance that I met a couple times only. Another lady I traveled to see twice, and on the second visit, things just weren't working out. So, Plan B revealed a third woman who turned out to be quite nice, and the relationship lasted 3 years, but due to some indecision on my part, well, things just didn't end up in a permanent relationship with her either. She eventually married elsewhere, but we continue to communicate on birthdays, etc.

The point I'd like to make is,.....to those of you who may be newer to this, and are considering whether or not a relationship with a lady from the FSU is for you,.....take it from me,.....even when a relationship with a good woman from Russia (Ukraine, Belarus, or whereever) doesn't completely work out,....it can still be one of the most satisfying relationships that you'll ever have (my opinion, anyway) in your life.

So, after some time on the sidelines, I'm sort of searching over there again. I have been searching in some of the smaller regions too, as I have been to St. Petersburg several times already. I have also learned enough of the language to read street and metro signs, and can probably make myself understood when traveling there.

After several trips to Russia, I found I didn't need to post or do research on these boards so much anymore. That may seem a bit selfish, as these boards are a wealth of information about this entire process. If I travel there again, I'll certainly attempt to make myself available to help others.

A few things I'd like to recommend:

1. Learn some of the language! It's not that difficult. The Pimsleur courses taught me to speak many phrases to make myself understood. Understanding what's spoken to YOU is another story.

2. Utilize some of the free Russian introduction sites. In my opinion, you'll most likely encounter less scammers if you use a Russian-based personals site. Communication is much faster than waiting days for an agency to translate a letter and get back to you.

3. Airfare tip: Price your flight to Russia from JFK instead of your home city. For example, if I price r/t from Tampa to Russia, I'll probably get some ridiculous quote of $1500. However, r/t from JFK to Russia usually has the best prices. Then book another leg r/t from your city to JFK in New York. Just be certain to arrive in NY in plenty of time to catch your connecting flight to Russia. (My first trip involved a missed connection from Delta in Atlanta to JFK, thus causing me to miss my flight on LOT Polish Airlines. Took 3 days to sort out the mess in NY, Warsaw, and Piter, but eventually got to St. Petersburg).

.... I'm sure I can think of more later.


~ Chris

[tfcrew]

Hello Chris..
I too am from the old Planet-Love days.
In the Shopping Mall links on the left side of the page, you will see an Airfare link..[Kayak I think]
I didn't check Russia, but the fare from DFW to Odessa runs the same any way over.
$1450 full trip or $210 NYC + $1240 to Europe.

[Daveman]

Hi Chris,
Welcome to RWD.  I have to agree that these relationships have been some of the best of my life... and at the same time some of the weirdest.  I can't recall ever having a serious discussion with a local lady about sandwiches being very unhealthy, but eating all the same ingredients separately being perfectly fine...  yeah, don't ask me.. I have no clue.. but, I really don't believe it was an hallucinatory illusion of temporary madness...  though that is quite possible...

Jump on into the discussions anywhere..
Dave

[Chris59]

tfcrew,

Thanks! Did you use that "handle" on Planet-Love,....seems a bit familiar,....

$1450!?
That seems kinda steep, considering that I just priced JFK to Kiev for less than $600 r/t, taxes included. Just checked again,....but I checked dates about a month+ out. Probably flying all the way into Odessa is what's adding the additional few hundred bucks.

Prices this low, are even lower than when I first flew LOT Polish back in 2001. Sure is making me think about making a trip over again. I need to break-up my 5-year hiatus!


from Expedia:
 ===========================================================================
  1  Choose a departing flight or view complete roundtrips  
  
 Sort by:   Price   Duration   Departure time   Arrival time    
  
   from  $595 Roundtrip  
 
4:15 pm Depart New York (JFK)
Arrive Kiev (KBP) 9:05 am  +1 day  Tue 25-Aug
Duration: 9hr 50mn    Delta 88  
 Nonstop flight
 
 Preview seat availability  Choose this departure  
 Book this flight online now without booking fees!  See details
 

[Chris59]

Daveman,

Thank you for the welcome. Your sandwich story reminds me of when I hooked-up with "Elena" in Barcelona in 2005. We were checking out a coastal town, "Lloret de Mar", I think it was. We stopped into this store, and I had the deli guy make me a sandwich. They looked terrific, but Elena would have none of it. She pretty much pouted and wouldn't eat until we got back to our hotel in Santa Susanna. Good meat, cheese, bread,....but she just wouldn't let me order one for her....



tfcrew,

I just checked Expedia again, and replaced Kiev with Odessa. This time I got a price of $740 r/t from JFK. Air France to CDG, then Aerosvit to Odessa. I used a departing date late in August, so maybe that's why I'm getting a better fare quote. Although, I've been known to use any airfare site I can to get a good price. I even used the folks at "http://www.traveltorussia.com". They were able to get me a great fare out of JFK on Finnair, AND they merged it with my domestic flight from Florida to JFK.

[groovlstk]

We stopped into this store, and I had the deli guy make me a sandwich. They looked terrific, but Elena would have none of it. She pretty much pouted and wouldn't eat until we got back to our hotel in Santa Susanna. Good meat, cheese, bread,....but she just wouldn't let me order one for her....

Good luck with that one. My wife has been an Enemy of the Sandwich for four years, now. Doesn't stop me from having them but to her it's like eating arsenic, back when we first met I could usually count on a lecture about healthy eating whenever I prepared a sandwich. 

[Simoni]

..having a serious discussion with a local lady about sandwiches being very unhealthy, but eating all the same ingredients separately being perfectly fine...  yeah, don't ask me.. I have no clue.. but, I really don't believe it was an hallucinatory illusion of temporary madness...  though that is quite possible...

Daveman,

Thank you for the welcome. Your sandwich story reminds me of when I hooked-up with "Elena" in Barcelona in 2005. We were checking out a coastal town, "Lloret de Mar", I think it was. We stopped into this store, and I had the deli guy make me a sandwich. They looked terrific, but Elena would have none of it. She pretty much pouted and wouldn't eat until we got back to our hotel in Santa Susanna. Good meat, cheese, bread,....but she just wouldn't let me order one for her....

Good luck with that one. My wife has been an Enemy of the Sandwich for four years, now. Doesn't stop me from having them but to her it's like eating arsenic, back when we first met I could usually count on a lecture about healthy eating whenever I prepared a sandwich. 

Funny thing.  I read this thread while my wife, MIL and I were having sandwiches :-)  Guess it shows that not all RW are the same :-)

I even took a pic to prove it; mama is having turkey sandwich and a Greek Salad.

Seriously, my wife has always loved the subs here in the US.  We have them about once a week.  MIL likes them to, but insists on making them at home for us instead of doing Panera Bread or Subway.

Chris-- Welcome! Looking forward to learning more about your story, and good luck on your next trip!

[JR]

Welcome Chris! Glad you're back in the saddle...or at least pondering it

My ex loved Subway.