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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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