What? This is the only form I could find. I replied, feeling more than a little deflated. The man be

I had heard stories about people los angeles airport waiting for more than 3 hours to drop off their visa applications, and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. I parked my car, went in search for a TD Canada Trust, got a money order for the Russian los angeles airport Consulate for $135, and headed to 175 Bloor Street East.
I waited in the lobby until 8:45 a.m., then decided to go upstairs, and see about waiting in the hall. I was going to get a jump on the crowd. Oh, yes, I would prove the naysayers wrong. I walked in the door for the visa section, and discovered I was the 8th person in line. Looks like I should have gone upstairs as soon as I finished at the bank.
The line wasn t bad. Most of the people los angeles airport ahead of me were picking up their passpots, so the line went went down fairly quickly. By 9:50 a.m. I was next in line, and I was feeling pretty damn cocky. Oh yeah, I ve been standing in line for 20 minutes, and I m going to be done, and I can waste away the rest of my day .
What? This is the only form I could find. I replied, feeling more than a little deflated. The man behind the window los angeles airport explained that I was suppose to fill out the application online, then print it, and bring it in. I explained that the website los angeles airport didn t link to the application he was speaking of. He grumbled, plopped down on his chair, printed off a sheet of paper, and highlighted the link in blue. He then handed everything back to me, and sent me on my way.
As I walked into the hallyway my thoughts turned to the idea of having to go home, redo the application, and trying again on Monday. But wait, Monday is not an option, I leave for Germany on Thursday. I can t wait until Monday to apply! I got into the elevator and started to think of where I could go that had a computer and a printer so I could get this application done,  and be back at the consulate in 2 hours.
I flipped through Twitter as I waited for a reply, saw @Taggio in my feed, and had a brainstorm. los angeles airport I closed Twitter and called Alicia at work. My hope was that there would be a Flight Centre nearby, and I could run over and use one of their computers real quick. I explained my situation to Alicia, and she responded with, You can come down to my work and do it here, there is an extra computer . I felt an immediate wave of relief. I was near Yonge Bloor, Alicia was at Yonge Dundas, only 3 subway stops away! I hung-up and made a b-line for the subway. Ten minutes later, I was walking into the Flight Centre offices with Alicia, sitting at her desk, and filling out the online form for my Russian visa.
Roughly 30 minutes later I was back at the Consulate. This time I was the 14th person in line, and the girl at the window was processing  about 20 passports. The line went slowly. I stood there trying to be patient, but it wasn t working. The man in front of me decided to grab a chair, and sit down, while in line, so he could do Suduku. Seriously? Who does that?!?!
You know how you feel when you re in a rush, and you know there is no other choice, plus your annoyed that you didn t have all the information you needed in the first place, so you had to waste time running around, los angeles airport and this guy is in front of you in line, on a damn chair, refusing los angeles airport to move up when the line moves, which makes you angry because you just need to feel like you re making los angeles airport some progress? Yeah, that was totally me.
As I got closer to the window I reminded myself to smile. I would have loved to make a comment about the website not being clear enough, and about the fact that the visa application web address was not hyperlinked, but I reminded myself that I was standing inside the Russian Consulate, and I desperately need a visa. When my turn came, I slapped on a smile, joked about my form, and handed everything over. Five minutes later I was paying the cashier, and collecting my receipt, stating that my visa would be ready on Wednesday los angeles airport June 27, 2012, the day before I fly to Germany! (See how waiting until Monday would have been a bad, bad, bad, idea?)
Three hours after I arrived at the Russian Consulate, I was walking (with a wee bounce in my step) out with a receipt in my hand, and excited at the prospect of a Russian Visa gracing the pages of my passport. Okay, so the naysayers were right, yes, that annoys me too, but on Wednesday I plan to arrive at the Consulate at 8:30 a.m. I m going to bring my iPad so I can read a book while I wait.
Yet again, I cannot understand why one doesn t pay extra cash for a travel agent to have a visa done. Why people prefer going for really difficult visas themselves, just to write a blog post for it? Just curious, really, why?
Great question! I did pay a visa service originally, but they screwed a lot of things up, which wasted valuable time. If I waited for them, I wouldn t have my passport back, before I fly out to Germany on Thursday. Plus, the service was charging me $100 extra, and the Consulate was close enough that I could go myself. This post is not a slam on the Russian Consulate, I was lucky, I had a friend help me out. I met people in line who had been to the Consulate 4 times to submit their application. So yeah, I was lucky.
Traveler. Writer. Photographer. Thrill Seeker. Pamela travels in search of local experiences, quirky sights, and the thrill of exploration. In 2012 Pamela will be doing the Mongol Rally, an epic adventure from Prague to Mongolia.