blnymph
Posts: 1613
Joined: 11/13/2010
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Ah yes the passport procedures.... Yes I have one and was trained to because I had relatives living at the border to Austria and in pre-Schengen times everybody had to have one to show within a certain range (30 kms when I remember right) from the border, so the real change came with Schengen. Yes no more passports, no more border controls, old customs stations broken down, free move, take care of changing speed limits because you have to pay for the ticket even if it's a foreign one, and I enjoyed it from the start to now, you could ignore those borders almost completely. Now passport is no longer a must, but it helps since border controls the old-fashioned style are coming back occasionally to restrain immigration but further inland usually.
But the UK and Éire never were Schengen treaty countries so I always needed one when dipping my toe in Channel waters or on an ferry to show properly at Dover (btw I faintly remember there was a Scotland/Edinburgh??? to Hamburg ferry once if then you could avoid your S-Tweeders). Since I hardly flew I don't know the planes but I had the impression the Edinburgh-Munich connection had been backed by a plane link.
The UK visa for us nasty Continentals is rather new, 20 quid I read, but you won't need to pay an entrance fee here. A passport you indeed need, always did. Maggie defended the UK from any of these nasty ideas of Schengenisation because it left to the French to keep back any undesired ones at Calais, and the Irish border open. Would have been far too practical for the simple folk, had to be avoided. After all some could have got those weird fancies that changing of currencies might have been the next thing to avoid in the future and the good Sterling needed protecting from these continental follies.I remember in my days over there a London train station with an experimental ticket vending machine accepting Euros... IMAGINE!
I could imagine the Sun and Daily Male headlines already: "Is THIS what we kicked these nasty Jerries' butts for. TWICE?"
And yes the Schengen idea is no more border controls from Portugal to Bulgaria (new) and Iceland to Malta and in theory it still works. Even crossing the Swiss border, which was the most bother (Eastern bloc apart) in former times, as a non-EU country. Even the Swiss and Liechtenstein joined the Schengen area since they were so annoyed with all these border bothers - they were, and are surrounded by EUsians.And here a few odd facts: Denmark is a Schengen country, but the Faroes and Greenland aren't, or while France is but Guadeloupe or St.Pierre and Miquelon (does Trump know about these? no offer yet, no invasion threat yet; how odd) aren't so passports are needed even when you fly from Paris or Copenhagen.
And yes the western coasts Atlantic beaches are gorgeous, I missed the Scottish ones yet (shame) but tried some Irish from Co Antrim to Kerry. The water a bit chillier than the South Seas but at least as splendid, who needs Tahiti.
< Message edited by blnymph -- 5/7/2025 2:50:13 PM >
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RE: so profiles in review are being thrown away in the ... - 
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though sadly found only one kitty there.
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