Friday, September 26, 2008

No Visa ... Yet

Wow, I'm fuming right now. Just in at the office, late I know. There's a good reason tho ... I've been out in the East (a fair drive) at the Portuguese Consulate. Let me tell you, they and Intrepid are not currently in my good books. After finally burning a hole in my credit card yesterday (more on that later), and buying my Euros, I went to apply for my Schengen visa this morning. Now what they say is, if you're going to multiple Schengen countries, you need to apply to the country of your longest stay (Portugal in my case). Where the problem comes in tho is that my itinerary only contains information for the "joining" hotels (that'd be when I start the tour in Spain). Freaking useless. So after leaving home at 7:30am to get to the Consulate by 8:30 and sitting in their waiting area until 9am, I was out of there within a few minutes, still holding all my documentation and knowing I'll be back there next week to re-apply ... assuming Intrepid replies to my email with the necessary urgency! Am thinking perhaps it might be wise to apply for my Moroccan Visa in the meantime!

Other than that, back to yesterday ... So yeah, I spent a fortune and bought my Euro's. And then I bought a flight to Cape Town (luckily my gran will be paying me back). We'll be going on our first every family holiday (yes yes, I've been on holiday with my immediate family before, Daddio, Mom and the Peeb, but this time it'll be with the *whole* family, my gran, my uncles, aunts, cousins etc.). We're going somewhere (I forget where right now) to scatter Gum's ashes. So, out of something sad comes good :) I'm really looking forward to this unexpected long weekend in October.

And then last night we went to Madame Zingara for Hammi's 30th birthday. Now I do love Madame Zingara, just the vibe and the performance and the feeling that you have landed in a faraway place for an evening. It's spectacular. But, I was still a little disappointed this year. Nothing can compare to Irit Noble as the Hostess of the Evening and I was sorry to see she wasn't on the bill last night. The new hostess certainly didn't have her presence. I was also a little disappointed by the acts ... although they were amazing and I must mention the Malaysian girls here - although I think they were robots ... no one's body can do that ... robots, or an elastic spine perhaps? I couldn't take my eyes of their contortions. But, the rest of the acts were all just a little too similar, I felt like last year there was more variety. And this year hosted an almost all-girl line-up. But yeah, still spectacular! Although I did think my Chocolate Chili Fillet this year was far better than last year - delish :) We left almost immediately after the show, me yawning after two late night's out in a row and Varen exhausted by his work week.

6 comments:

Mr Jones said...

Oh my. Try applying for an Indian Visa.. oh my god the Embassy is like a version of Calcutta on a pleasant day.

Contorting women? Hmm reminds me of a Gentlemen's establishment I used to frequent with the boys (and gals) from previous Job.

po said...

Ugh I hate applying for Schengen visas with a fiery passion. I am glad you can reapply in a few weeks though! In the UK it can be months sometimes before you can get another appointment. God luck.

Tamara said...

I love Madame Z, but I'm glad you've told me that it's not quite worth a revisit yet. Consulates are evil. That's a fact.

Janine / Being Brazen said...

All the paperwork involved with taking an oversea trip (if you dont have a british passport) is horrid...Hope you get everyhting sorted.

I still havent been to Madame Zingara (shocking i know) i must make a plan when its back in Cape Town.

:)

The Jackson Files said...

I can't wait to go back to Madame Zingara, but like you say, it won't be the same without Irit Noble. I heard she's just taking a year off, or maybe she's gone to London to do it - I can't remember.

Meanwhile, I am reading Water for Elephants and it is AWESOME. Thanks for the great review. I think I am going to elevate you to book guru status.

phillygirl said...

@mrjones - Paha, glad I don't have to do that then :) Erm, the skin-tight leotard probably left a little more to our imagination than that "establishment" did ;)

@po - eep. we don't actually make an appointment, we just show up and queue :)

@tamara - madame zingara is always fun, but i guess having last year to compare it too meant I had high expectations!

@bb - yep, I envy all those british passport holders! Wish they'd just take a dna sample and be done with it!

@tjf - Oh I hope Irit goes along with Madame Z to London ... putting out best foot forward and all that! She's such a show-woman :) Oh, and I'm thrilled you're enjoying my book recommendations :)

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