The warm weather continued also this week, unfortunately with a lot of thunderstorms and flooding in some parts of Belgium. Fortunately in my part of the city there was nothing besides the noise and buckets of water of course, but never for very long.
Mostly dogs but also cats suffer terribly from these weather because they get hysterical with the thunder. So far my cats ignore the noise, I think they are used to it by now.
My friend and I are still busy with this dammit Russian Visa request. Forums and helplines are full of people who have the same problem. The password you have to give is not accepted. They want a numeric symbol and an alphabetical symbol. I googled to know what this is exactly, and it's just our numbers and the letters ab. Maybe because they have the Cyrillic alphabet The Russian alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и Й й it doesn't work.
We have all requested documents. And also two passport pictures where you look like "wanted" because you are not allowed to smile ! We all look awful just like criminals !
We decided to go to the Visa center and ask to fill in the form. Another day lost, not completely because my friend and I after many attempts had still time for a drink.
For the moment as two of my scrabble girls are still on holidays, we scrabble on Wednesdays or Thursdays. We had real holiday weather and could scrabble outside on the terrace, it was almost hot ! Ilona was there too, so we were four and this time she lost. I was second from the end.
Each year at the end of the school year our city organizes a trip for seniors. We were 3 buses and went to Compiegne where the first world war armistice was signed. We had a lot of fun in the bus as you can see, visited Napoleon's castle, and of course the site where the armistice was signed.
In between we had a wonderful meal.
in this beautiful restaurant, with a huge park around. We were four, Myriam took the picture, Monique, Nicole and I.
It's always very well organized. And we enjoyed our excursions very much.
Yes, it looks like a Mug Shot for a criminal! Not like you at all, who always has a beautiful smile! I only traveled to St. Peterburg with a Pan Am crew way back when Jack was still flying. The company got a temporary Visa for the Captains Lady! LOL. So many years ago!
ReplyDeleteThat building's a beauty!
ReplyDeleteMy passport shot and pics for the usual government photo ID requirements all have that mug shot sort of quality.
Getting visa sounds sooo complicated. My old passport photos are like mug shot. I smiled a little in the newest one :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the photos from Compiegne. The garden looks beautiful!
I am not at all envious of the complicated process with documents but I certainly am of your forth coming trip.
ReplyDeleteIdentity / passport photos always suck! Mine is especially awful! I loved the look of your excursion - great fun to a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a photo of you without a smile before! I wonder why they don't allow them for passports. I hope you can get the travel details taken care of without any further problems. The trip for seniors sounds like so much fun!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Russia doesn't want tourists if they make getting a visa so complicated. Yes, you look like the mother of a crime gang family.
ReplyDeletePassport problems are the worst. Hope you get it straightened out. Love the travel pictures.
ReplyDelete...such a fun loving bunch of ladies! Keep having a good time, thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteYes that is definitely not one of your better photos! lol. But hopefully all this trouble with sorting out the visa will be worth it when you travel. The day trip looked like a lot of fun. Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteI hope everything gets sorted out soon for your passport and visa to Russia.
ReplyDeleteYou always have so many fun things to do every week. The senior trip looks like it was fun and educational.
What a wonderful time! I'm so jealous! :-) Hope everything goes well!
ReplyDeleteLooks a fun day out to take your mind off the trials of getting a Russian visa, they are probably flat our with all of us heading over for the World Cup Soccer- I will maybe see you there?! Keep that sun shining I will be over in Europe this week!
ReplyDeleteWren x
Aren't passport pictures grand? LOL. For a few years they let us smile on our driver's licenses but now it's back to the mug shot format. Once you are on the wonderful holiday you'll forget all about what a pain it was to get these forms filled out. We got lots of rain and thunderstorms yesterday too.
ReplyDeleteHope you get your visa issues sorted soon. I hate how no one is allowed to smile in passport photos. I am not sure why they have this silly rule.
ReplyDeleteWeather is always a safe subject. It been windy and chilli here in North Idaho.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on