Well, we made some progress today.

14/3/12

First we went to the doctor and asked what vaccinations we needed, if any, for our trip. Now our doctor actually rides a motorcycle and is pretty cool (that's pretty, and cool) but I know she wants a new Land Rover Discovery. She told us we need Hep A, Hep B, Tetanus, and a flu jab. She finished off with "We can do them right now". So off we went into another room where she proceeded to poke needles into both of us like we were Voodoo dolls. I'm sure I heard her say, under her breath, that'll cover one Land Rover payment. She was right; it would cover a Land Rover payment. No, just joking Doctor Linda. Thanks for looking after us so well. We really do appreciate it. (I'm sucking up because we have to go back for two more jabs).

Then it was off to the Travel Agent to arrange a week long side trip to Ukraine in September. We are planning on meeting up with my sister and visiting our Dad's old home town, L'viv. We might dig up a few skeletons and discover we are heirs to the Tsar’s fortunes. Or maybe I could claim land rights for the farm that the Communists took away from my family during the revolution? Chance would be a fine thing. Now you think this would be easy wouldn’t you? “Yes Simon, you need a Visa for Ukraine. It takes three weeks to get one and they are good for three months from the date of issue”. So we need to apply in April, for a three month Visa, to visit Ukraine in September. Does anyone see a problem with this? After lots of questions it looks like we might be able to get a six month Visa to cover us. I tell you what, if getting Visas for the next 41 countries is as difficult as this, we might have a problem. Ah, government departments, the same the world over.

We’ll tackle the next hurdle tomorrow.