Gutted.....
 

.... but some good may come out of it.

As I've said in earlier posts , I am/was going to the Moscow gig in May.I was lucky enough to be due to be in Russia at the same time.My Russian colleague had sorted out the tickets and my travel arrangements were being sorted by my employers so everything seemed set ... or so it seemed.

As I learned today , due to an "incident" on my last visit to Russia a couple of years ago my visa application has been denied.Not only does this seriously mess up my work , it could mean missing out on Alizee's first tour date.Like I said ..Gutted.

Fortunately I've got a friend who works for the Foreign Office who's hopeful of sorting it out on appeal but I may have a couple of tickets going ( I'll let you all know if I do because I'd rather someone from here used them than my friend passing them to a "non-believer" !)

On the flip side , being banned from entering a country is kinda cool and makes me sound dangerous ( if you knew me I'm pretty much the polar opposite of that :))

La prochaine fois, se tenir loin de la Russe Lolitas:p

If i had a passport (anyone know how to get one in a few days tell me and i will go to Russia) already and didn't have to work then (at least i think i am working i would take them in a heartbeat) oh and get a loan in that time

if i can do all that in a week i would take them

Te tiens loin des lolitas russes, Ogre ;)

As Par mon paupieres touched upon, it takes more than a Passport to get into Russia. The time required to obtain a tourist Visa was a major factor that prevented me from going.

This sucks so much, Pop, I'm gutted to hear it too. As far as I know, you were the only North American going. But you can't post this and not tell us more about that "incident"... ;)

so i won't be able to get it in a week? lol oh well there is always the france tour

Hmm, I know you can usually get one the same day if you go to a US embassy with all the requirements, but that's overseas. I would say call your local post office; they usually handle pass ports stateside. Make sure you ask if there is a place to get your pass port done the same day; might be possible. Also, make sure you get the required size photo before going to get it done. The post office will know the size and they can probably do it for you for a fee of about $14 usually. After that, a blank check for the pass port fee which I'm sure will be over $100.

oh i already have passport size photos (lost a set for another permit and found them later), but its doubtful that i can go i need to get back to work and make some money October is getting closer and closer, but hey maybe i could get it done

wouldn't happen to already have airline tickets too Par Mon Paupieres cause then i would find a way to get the passport and visa

Location, location, location!

As long as you don't call him English.:blink:

As for incidents - might be a Scottish thing. I'm not alllowed into Portugal.:D

You're right I was a bit unfair with that. O.k. , allow me to explain the "incident".

The last time I was in Russia I was arrested for , now let me remember this accurately , "trespassing upon state property and impairing the security of the state".

Sounds exciting , non ? The truth is I was working on a story about corruption within the Russian domestic football league and was meeting with a source and was blissfully unaware of any risk I was taking.

However the whole experience did teach me quite a few important lessons :

1.Investigative journalism DOESN'T have to be like in the movies.

2.I really needed to improve my Russian.

3.You don't argue with policemen with big guns.

4.Even just for half a night Russian jails are as scary as hell.

5.Your wife will get VERY angry when you explain what happened to you.

The upshot is , although I wasn't charged with anything and was told nothing would be put on record , there is must be a note on a file somewhere I guess.


I do but they were paid for by an employer of mine and the flight is from Glasgow , Scotland so you'd have to get here first !

Also I am still hopeful of getting in there somehow but I wanted to give people a heads up to see if anyone could take the tickets.

I'll keep you up to date though , I'll probably know for sure next week.