In and Out
Sorry for the radio silence this week, but we had to make a run to Moscow on Monday to get our visas for Luxembourg.
Americans, you may or may not realize, receive a visa of sorts upon arrival in the EU which is good for 90 days. No one sticks anything in your passport, but you have received it nonetheless, and it can be revoked.
To stay longer requires other paperwork.
Which we duly completed. And then had to return to the Luxembourg Embassy in Moscow to have our visas placed in our passports so we could then re-enter the Schengen zone as newly re-classified folks. A little more paperwork, and we will be registered as Luxembourg residents with all the benefits our local taxes can buy.
It was a whirlwind trip: we flew out of Luxembourg after school on Monday, arrived in Moscow at 2:00 a.m. Tuesday Moscow time, stopped by the embassy in the morning, and were back in a taxi bound for Domodedovo by 2:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon.
The drive to the airport is bleak.
Not very much time at all. Just long enough, in fact, to take a trip on the Moscow Metro where we experienced both the Man With One Ear and the Man With Some Unidentified Drugs in a Bottle He Was Trying to Sell to Everyone on the Metro Escalator.
Yeah. I’m gonna buy Viagra from you.
The Metro never disappoints, and I will confess that I will miss it and its daily supply of crazies blog material.
The whole journey was all the more surreal because I am in the throes of the Mother of All Head Colds. Honestly, and I apologies in advance for the TMI, but I have given birth, twice, without an epidural or other pain meds. And I have heard tell that passing a kidney stone or bunion surgery are way up there on the Painful Events Scale. But I would gladly give birth while passing a kidney stone rather than fly again any time soon with any sort of sinus congestion near my ear.
Oh, saints preserve us, but IT HURT. Will I be allowed to fly while healthy next time? Because between the puking last month and the clawing at my ear and moaning yesterday . . . I am about as much fun to travel with as snakes on a plane.
In other bad news, through some fluke of timing, it came to pass that traveling Business Class was the same price as Economy and now that my children have come to appreciate the concept known as the “Business Class Lounge,” I fear we will never get them past the curtain on an airplane ever again: Coca Colas! Potato Chips! Smoked Salmon! It’s UNLIMITED!
So now I am back in Luxembourg, nursing my cold with lots of hot, steamy showers. If I may digress, is there anything more unnerving than the lint created by your socks as it is rinsed from between your toes as you step into the shower? Okay, maybe that pregnant pause before you remember that you had the beet salad yesterday. But the lint. It always startles me.
And don’t let anyone tell you that some Russian version of Tiger Balm is a perfectly fine substitute for Vicks VapoRub. It is not. Put a little of that under your poor, chapped, raw nose and Good Night, Nurse! Made my eyes water.
Skittles, who gave me the cold in the first place, has regressed, no doubt due to the dry airplane air (even in Business Class, there is no escaping the lack of humidity). She’s got a cough that sounds like a barking seal, so she flunked my “Would I be happy if a kid sounding like this sat next to MY kid in school all day?” test. She is shower-averse, so my suggestion that some hot water might alleviate her symptoms got me only a shrug in reply. SpongeBob heals all, however.
The Spouse went jetting off to Cyprus this morning for work. Did you know that Cyprus is not only in the EU but also on the euro? I did not know that. I had to look it up. I apologize to Cypriots everywhere. Probably explains the dearth of Cypriot Beetniks.
He called me a few moments ago from the Business Class Lounge in the Vienna Airport. The same lounge in which we spent a cheerful two hours last night, guzzling Coca Colas and snarfling potato chips.
Baboo has made it her goal to Fly Baboo.
We have known about the Swiss Airline, but we still like to go to this page whenever we need a chuckle. If the nice people at Fly Baboo want to give her some sort of Lifetime Achievement Award for Baboo-ness, she will accept it gratefully. I need to find a way to incorporate the “Baboo Spirit” as my laptop wallpaper.
- There are no trackbacks for this post yet.
Brutal. I complained at the time when I had to do the same in and out – but I just had to go to Dublin, not Moscow. I do believe you had it much worse.
I’ve got Vicks if you get desperate….
Oh, merci, madame. I’ve got a JUMBO jar o’ Vicks . . . but in the shipment. Thankfully, today I’m better. PLUS, I found the Kleenex balsam at the Cora . . .
Flying while sick with sinus issues is the WORST–feels like sharp knives being driven through the head. Sorry you had to go through that, and hope you and your daughter are on the mend. Ah, the healing power of cartoons…
Oh so sorry for the miserableness of it all! Time to get out the neti pot 3x a day! Can’t you make Skittles get into the shower, or at least the bath with the curtain closed? You are after all, her mother and that voice of authority should do it… Of course I know some battles are not worth the effort… Anyhow you are back home now and can recover but I am sure it was a very bad, horrible, no good day…
BTW what is that beautiful azure domed building?
Tomorrow is the last day of classes for the term so I am busy grading the never ending stream of papers, writing final exams and letters of recommendation. I must go to the gym in a little while. I learned some new exercises for those flags of fat that hang down below the upper arms… I know, I know, but some of us do have them… Hopefully these new tricks will help. BTW, for those of you who live in the US and are old enough to have wrinkles, “Frownies”, believe it or not, are an amazing product which actually do work… Google for them, they are well worth the $20! I will get you some when you come home this summer.
Summer is a long way off but fortunately we have spring in between! I have a small patch of brilliant royal purple iris reticulatae blooming beside the garage door… And lucky Billie has discovered a field of snow drops and a zillion daffs at their new house! My narcissus are naturalized in the back lawn and won’t come up for a while yet but when they do they will be worthy of Persephone…
We are getting out the grill this weekend! Hooray for that! Today is 62 out and grey but so lovely nevertheless!
Tell those girls to write me please. I am so sorry I missed the live chat with Skittles. Ask her to try again please! This weekend is a good time. And thanks for the Bunny card which necessitated a thorough spring cleaning of the fridge door but now it is tidy. BTW I need school pix of the girls… or something more recent than 2 years ago! I hope that the Spouse has a good trip to Cyprus! I suspect it is warm and sunny there? Stay well and happy and most of all feel better! xov
What an insane method of getting a visa.
You were very lucky not to damage your ears flying with a head cold. I am a mother talking.
You must be exhausted after your ordeal. Hope you and Skiddles are on the mend.
You know, Tina, I was thinking the same thing at the time. I have new respect for anyone traveling with an infant.
You WERE lucky not to damage your ears – three weeks ago flying back with this exact same thing I managed to damage my drums and ended up on antibiotics. Very painful. Are you better?