Well, look who it is. In Dubrovnik.
Why Dubrovnik, you ask. Is it the otters? No, not this time.
Actually…
Well, last year, when I rescheduled my trip to France from early October to
later, there was a delta in the fare. Naturellement, Air France was not about
to refund that delta; I could use it within a year as credit against another AF
trip.
So, I booked flights to and from Paris, then
cast about for where else I might go.
At first, I thought I’d go to Switzerland to
explore the village where a friend’s father was born. She’s never been there
and she talks about it right much. However—the Swiss, man.
Back in 2001 I spent a weekend in Geneva. All I
had to do was show my passport at immigration and get stamped out again. But
evidently things have changed. Now, you need a visa. To get a visa, you have to
fill out an application with a bunch of nosy-ass questions (including the
address(es) if where you would be staying for each night you’re in country),
print out the completed application and make an appointment at the Swiss
consulate that serves your domicile for a personal appearance. In my case, that
was the Swiss embassy in D.C., but if I lived in North Carolina it would also
be the embassy, and if I happened to be in Atlanta for some reason, I wouldn’t
have been able to make an appointment at the consulate there because rules is
rules.
But, wait; there’s more.
Because when you show up for your personal
appearance (first available date two weeks out, and the slot for appointments
was precisely two hours per day), you had to bring passport photos, three
months of bank statements and proof of insurance coverage of at least $40K.
Then, if they find you acceptable, they charge you $80, fingerprint you and
graciously condescend to issue a visa for a stay up to 90 days.
Well, as you can imagine, that got right up my
nose.
They’re doing that to keep the riffraff out, I
know that. But rather than jump through those hoops, I’d opt for the riffraff
side every time.
So, Switzerland was right out and I cast about
for where else I might travel. And, since I’d not yet been to Croatia, here I
am.
The jury’s out on Dubrovnik. Mostly what I’ve seen so far is tourons.
And there are beaucoup steps.
On the other hand, people have also been very helpful.
We’ll see.
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