Border Town Scares
It was a conservative town, small, actually
a divided town, half in Italy, half in Slovenia.
Just north of Trieste.
After having walked around a little bit at night,
too early for dinner (they weren't really serving
until 8:00), we looked for the car. Up this
street, down that. It's easy to forget where you
park in a new town. We had just arrived at the
car when one of those little Italian police cars
passes us, drives onto the sidewalk, passenger
side door opens blocking our path.
Hello, we said. Documents they said. No
problem. (In the past, the U.S. passport was
always a--"Pass Go" document. Briefly looks
at my friend's Slovenian passport, takes mine
into the car. 5 minutes later, I ask, is there
a problem? (Also, can I take a photograph which
they decline to allow.) Another 5-10 minutes pass.
All is alright. It used to be all you had to
do was flash you U.S. passport.
In these border towns (I also experienced
a lot of customs/border questions between
Croatia and Slovenia) there is a lot of
checking up. Illegal immigration, stolen
passports, drug traffic. I'm told this is
all a crackdown of the members of the E.U.
Maybe they didn't like the hundreds of braids
I had.
I've heard other and more serious stories
of lost passports and the complications that
have arisen as a result, once it gets into
that European computer.
--Tequila
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