This is really Claudia's story, so I'll be brief.
When we come to Moldova, we get tourist visas, good for 90 days. Generous! But if we want to stay longer, we have to get special permits called legitimatsiyas. (Pronounced like the first half of "legitimate" and the back end of "not see ya".) With a legitimatsiya, one can breeze in and out of Moldova. Without it... 90 days.
Well: we arrived here in mid-March. In early May we applied for our legitimatsiyas. Normally, we were told, this takes two weeks; in no event should it take more than 30 days.
Six weeks later, we still don't have them.
Well, we couldn't hang around waiting. So Claudia left at 6 am this morning to drive to Germany, with Alan and David in the car.
Long story short: she got stopped at the border, turned around, sent to court, and fined twice -- once for overstaying (about $50) and once for driving a car that had overstayed (about $140). She reached the border around 7:30, but didn't actually get across it into Romania until about 1 pm. On one hand, a huge and incredibly annoying waste of time and money. On the other, everyone is okay and they're on their way -- just half a day behind schedule -- and Claudia wasn't expelled, so she and the boys can re-enter the country.
I'm bringing the two younger children to Germany by plane on Saturday morning. Will my legitimatsiya arrive by then? Watch this space.
Are you still in Fladungen when not in Moldova? I was just trying to find some info about the Oldtimers Fest when I saw your post again. Heading there today from Vienna, on route to Berlin.
Posted by: Tad Palac | July 01, 2011 at 09:07 AM
Tad, we are here now. Let's see if we can meet up!!
Posted by: claudia | July 02, 2011 at 10:38 AM
Hi Claudia! Just saw the reply...should have checked when we were there. We are in Berlin now. Sorry to have missed you. Enjoyed the Oldtimers fest and being in Fladungen again... depite the weather! But got the impression the village seems to be struggling a bit these days. Several places for sale and looking a bit worn; the Post Office closed. We may pass through on the way back to Vienna at the end of July. My email is tpalac@aol.com
Where do you live in Fladungen?
Posted by: Tad Palac | July 17, 2011 at 01:12 AM