Under a bloodred sky

Here is the link for my story on U2 in Moscow. Sorry, it's in Swedish, but still there are some pictures that might be of interest...

http://bit.ly/ai0DvT

Singing in the rain

Remembering the rain in Moscow...

The price of love

I'm seriously starting to worry about the show in Moscow. Daily reports on people abandoning Moscow and even dying from the severe air pollution. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Sweden advices people going to Moscow to stay away. There are so many questions arising now. Will U2 cancel the show? We'll have to get a flight from Helsinki back to Copenhagen if U2 decide to cancel the show last minute. We're losing a lot of money too. I'd appreciate a decision from U2 principal management soon. Even more disturbing would be if they re-schedule the Moscow show for a later date. Visas, hotel booking, flights, everything has to be changed then and no money back what so ever. We'll just miss out on Moscow then and I know it's the price of love, it's not cheap.

Almost there

Picked up my visa today. Let me tell you, it’s a real beauty. Moscow, almost there.

Tatjana

I got an e-mail today from Tatjana at the travel agency stating that I may pick up the passport at the office on July 7, after 2 pm. I suppose this means she has spoken to the consulate and got a more or less reliable response about my visa. Another step closer to Moscow.

Yes, ANDREAS

Of course there was no problem getting a new and correct insurance certificate. It was done in a minute. This time I checked the data thoroughly. All clear!

I stopped by the travel agency to hand in my passport, application form, insurance proof and hotel voucher (visa support letter) from the hotel in Moscow. The woman at the travel agent said that it would cost Eur 100. That’s good, Eur 40 cheaper than I was told before and I could pick up my passport in about one week. She also mentioned that she would call the consulate tomorrow and then send me an e-mail telling me the exact date I could pick up the passport. I was a little surprised that she didn’t give me a receipt or some kind of evidence that I had left my passport with them. Well, I’ll just have to trust them and hope for a granted visa from the consulate.

A photograph of me

Great, it turns out that I have some passport photos that were taken about two years ago. I haven’t changed since then so I’m using one of those photos when applying for my visa, allthough the photos shall not be older than 1 year. I’m sure it will be allright. Good thing that those passport photos were paid by my employer for a business trip to Belarus. Forgot that I had them and now I don’t have to pay Eur 8 or even Eur 10 to get new ones. One step closer to Moscow.

ADREAS who?

I can’t stand the heat. Summer has really hit us hard now. Moving 10 metres makes me all sweaty. I keep telling myself this is practice for queueing in Athens and Istanbul. Took the bus to the local office of  my insurance company. What a nice surprise. I was the only customer at the time and got splendid help immediately. The girl knew exactly what kind of paper that was required to get a visa for Russia and it was of course in English. She asked me to carefully check the details printed on the paper. Seemed ok so she signed it and I was another step closer to Moscow. On my way back home I checked the paper again. I was told the consulate is very strict when applying for a visa so the information has to be 100% correct. DAMN, my first name was actually spelled wrong. How-da-hell could I miss that when going over the information at the desk? I will not take a chance and have my application refused by the consulate because of ”ADREAS” instead of ”ANDREAS”. Well, back to the insurance company tomorrow to get a correct certificate.

Insurance

I need a document that proves I have an insurance that is valid in Russia to enclose with my visa application. It has to be in English and I only have a document in Swedish. I called my insurance company today to get some information and the woman I spoke to seemed quite unsure on how to get that piece of paper in English. She told me to visit their local office in Malmö to get a certificate.

Closer to Moscow

I guess I’ll have to deal with that visa for Russia soon. Since the news about Bono’s back surgery, I think most fans have been a bit careful with booking flights and hotels. The same goes for me. I’m the kind of person who wants to have everything set and ready to go as soon as possible. Gives me peace of mind. Still there are obvious disadvantages in booking things too soon and unable to cancel.

There are Russian consulates in Stockholm, Gothenburg and also in Copenhagen. First problem is that I cannot apply for a visa sending the forms, certificates and my passport to the consulate. The documents have to be presented to the consulate by me personally. Travelling from Malmö to Stockholm or Gothenburg is quite an expensive mission. Copenhagen will cost me about Eur 10 one way from Malmö. I’ll have to leave the documents there, go home, wait for about 10 days and then go back to pick it up. I think the consulate fee for the tourist visa is about Eur 50. So, it should all add up to about Eur 100.

I spoke to a travel agency here in Malmö. They charge Eur 140 for a visa and I think that is the best option for me. A bit more expensive but still ok. Also, I believe that it’s more likely to be granted a visa if the documents are handled by the agent. The news on Bono recovering makes me more confident, so I’m off to get a passport photo for the application form.

Hotel voucher

So, we finally got the visa support letter, also called a hotel voucher from our hotel in Moscow. It's bascially an invitation from the hotel that is required to get a tourist visa. This is a very important key in our efforts to get a visa.

White as snow

What great news today. U2 has asked Snow Patrol to be the support act at the gigs I'll attend, Moscow, Athens and Istanbul. As for the gigs in Denmark and Finland, we'll just have to wait and se who'll have the honour to give U2 lift-off. But for God's sake, Snow Patrol again, oh happy day!

As expected in Moscow

Still loads of GA tickets for sale in Moscow.

Accessible quantity of places: 6997

Stats

Some boring statistics for the GA ticket sales in Moscow. Hitting the refresh button over and over:

3216 @ 12.45
3198 @ 12.46
3189 @ 12.47
3185 @ 12.48
3180 @ 12.50
3177 @ 12.51
3168 @ 12.55
3158 @ 12.57
3155 @ 13.00
3138 @ 13.02
3131 @ 13.07
3135 @ 13.08
3119 @ 13.12
3109 @ 13.18
3101 @ 13.23
3093 @ 13.26
3079 @ 13.35
3064 @ 13.44
3046 @ 13.54
3043 @ 13.59
3049 @ 14.22
3028 @ 14.45
2998 @ 14.54

Ticket countdown

At 12.45 PM Swedish local time, this is the first time I've seen a website stating how many tickets are left for grabs. Quite unexpected for the Russian site.

Dancing in Moscow

Speaking of "Dancing sertificate" and "Fan Zone", they actually changed those texts to "Standing tickets" and "Red Zone". Today is the public sale and this is the info available on the website. Also, I'm starting to wonder why the sale hasn't started yet (it's 10.15 am in Moscow).

Moscow - green light

From my "partner in crime":

Good news! I got an email back from the ticket office that the order was o.k. and paid for. Tickets can be picked up from the main office in Moscow, I got the address and all I need is the order number and my credit card. I got the order number so everything is fine now. Pffff......

Fed up

Poor Lia, she's absolutely fed up with this, but "I guess it is the price of love, I know it's not cheap":

Well, I got an email back from the ticket office, telling me that they cancelled my previous orders and that I could buy tickets again with the presale code. So I did, got through, ordered 2 standing tickets, got through to the payment and got through to the confirmation site. I printed the confirmation straightaway so I got that in front of me now but when I logged in again on the site it said, you've got no orders. Before that I saw the cancelled orders but they are not there anymore now as well. But now I can not log in at all anymore....... I am sure I still got my password right but no..... I am getting really tired of this.
I will send them an email again as I got an order number on the print out to see if this time it did go o.k.

Ivan the Terrible

At 7 am (Swedish local time) this morning the presale for Moscow started.
My friend Lia has a horizon code that is intended for Moscow. I don't envy her. Looking at the website kassir.ru, it was poorly translated to English and I could barely understand how to get GA tickets. You would tell by the prices that "Fan sertificate" is "Red zone" and "Dancing sertificate" is GA. Dancing? Sertificate?

Unfortunately, the payment using a credit card didn't work out. Not even after trying two times. Looking at the payment summary, she has obviously ordered 4 tickets now. She never got a confirmation mail and no money has been drawn from her bank acccount. Quite scary. I hope she'll be able to sort things out today.

Also, the "certificated" you buy shall be changed into valid tickets in Moscow between August 21 and August 25. It's more or less the same story as for London 2009.

Lia's Horizon code is no longer valid meaning that we have absolutely no idea if we got tickets or not.


I guess this was very predictable. Lousy translation of the text to English and lousy routines for selling tickets on the Internet. Many questions, no answers.

Now, by lunch, they have changed the word "Dancing" to "Standing" on kassir.ru and also it's Certificate, not Sertificate.


To be continued...

Staying in Moscow

Booking of hotel in Moscow is now ok. As you can see, I've booked several nights, just in case there will be more shows added and if not, I'll have a chance to see Moscow up close. Suppose the hotel will raise the price a lot in the beginnning of 2010.

Dear Mr. Andreas!
In enclosed file confirmation booking at the Hotel from 23.08.2010 till 28.08.2010.
It's advance booking.In March will we send you Invoice for accommodation for all period staying at the Hotel.If you have change in period accommodation,please inform us about that.If you like receive Visa support letter you should send copy passport of first page of 2 person.It's free by booking.For Payment will send you Payment Agreement Form for payment with your credit card.You should fill this Form and send to our Office with copy credit card customer in bouth side and first page passport.
Room cost xxxx rur per Night without Breakfast.But in new year price at the Hotel will change.