Question for Yurpeans:

[XemaSab]

What are the borders like between countries, especially traditionally?

Is there a fence or a wall between say, Germany and France or any other European countries? Do you have to show your passport at a checkpoint? Did you historically, say in the last 20 years?

And how does it compare to the US border with Mexico? Or the US border with Canada? :shrug:

[billyskank]

1. No, all you get is a sign by the side of the road

"Willkommen auf Deutschland, Welcome to Germany" or something like that. If you miss it you have no idea you have crossed into a different country.

[XemaSab]

2. Then where do you get the stamps?

For the passport???

[billyskank]

3. You don't

I have travelled to many places in Europe and never had my passport stamped. The only thing in my passport is from when I went to India, for which I needed a visa.

Historically Britain has had reciprocal arrangements with many countries (the US has now pissed on that arrangement with us, boooo), but since the formation of the EU (and, for us, Britain's membership) that has become even easier. Any EU national has the right of free movement all over the EU. They also have right of domicile in any any EU country, and the right to work also. It's a pretty cool arangement IMO. :thumbsup:

[Robeson]

6. Yes, that does sound like a cool arrangement....

...wish I was there.

[hfojvt]

9. no, it totally sucks

because I went to five European countries - The Netherlands, Deutschland, Schweiz, Frankreich, und Liechtenstein, and I only have one stamp on my passport to show for it and that was in the Netherlands where I never even left the schiphol (airport). How am I supposed to prove I was there? Pictures of castles don't really prove anything. Neither do coins.
I should have demanded some stamps on my passport!!!

[billyskank]

12. Well then you have to do the american tourist thing

and get photos taken of yourself standing next to various famous monuments in all different places. :P

[XemaSab]

15. But due to the miracle of photoshop

anyone can take a European fakation! :D

[billyskank]

19. In that case the only alternative is to get arrested

in every country you visit! :rofl:

[XemaSab]

22. Now THAT sounds like a vacation!

Greece: Drunk in public
Italy: Possession of less than an ounce of MJ
France: Riding a bicycle while drunk
Amsterdam: Participant in a bar fight
Germany: Possession of less than an ounce of MJ and drunk in public
Poland: Drunk in public
England: Drunk in public and possession of hash

:bounce:

[hfojvt]

18. Except I did not go anywhere famous

I guess the WWI monument in Seitingen-Oberflacht might prove something.

I took a picture of the Cheese booth in the Amsterdam schiphol to show it was just like Wisconsin.

But really the last thing I wanna see in a picture is myself. :scared:

[Robeson]

16. LOL. I actually got pulled to the side in the Netherlands....

...and was searched. I guess us DU'ers are a pretty unsavory crew...:rofl:

[hfojvt]

21. I spent two or three hours in Amsterdam

and they asked me a bunch of questions about where I went and what I did. I think they are paranoid about Americans and drugs. Also when I came "home" to America. Welcome home.
I felt sorry for the hot blond girl who did the searching too, because my bags were full of dirty laundry and she wasn't wearing gloves. I was suspicious perhaps because I went on a ten day trip with just a backpack and a duffle bag, figuring to use laundromats instead of carrying a bunch of clothes.

[TheBaldyMan]

58. you can get stamps on your passport but you have to ask.

my friend got his stamped in Denmark when his flight was stopping over to the Far East, he asked the passport guys to stamp it even though he was a UK citizen just to prove he'd been there.

[XemaSab]

8. My mom's old passport is FULL of stamps

From England, France, Holland, West Germany, East Germany (!), Greece, Italy... all over.

[billyskank]

10. US passport, you see

If you have an EU passport, all they do is check the photo to make sure it's really yours, and wave you through.

And that's only if you're passing through a port. If you're on the road or train travelling across a border between two EU member states, like hfojvt said, there is literally nothing to it.

[XemaSab]

13. She was on the train

And somebody stamped her passport. :shrug:

[billyskank]

17. Things have clearly changed a lot

I prefer it this way.

[hfojvt]

11. and isn't that totally cool?

I wish mine was. I should have at least six stamps - even one from Canada. It's not fair. :cry:

[XemaSab]

14. The coolest part is the East German stamp

That was an accident... She fell asleep on the train. :scared:

[hfojvt]

25. Nobody goes to East Germany or East Berlin on purpose

unless they are going with a CIA courier.

I really love the movie "Gotcha!" even though it is kind of a cheesy teen romance movie.

[billyskank]

26. Of course

there is no such place as East Germany any more... :)

[LSK]

4. what about jobs? can anyone work anywhere?

[billyskank]

5. Yes. Any EU national can work in any EU member state

We all have that right. :)

[CanuckAmok]

44. Yes, we sure do!

I gots mine!

But I've never used it. I really should make a point of working in one of those former Soviet mini-states where all the women look like classy porn-stars.

[hfojvt]

7. It depends on EU or non EU

If I can answer as a murkan who went to Europe in 2001.

First off I was kinda freaked out because I walked off the plane in Stuttgart and nobody asked to see my passport. The sign said "nothing to declare" to the right, and through that door was a train station. I expected the treatment we got coming back to America where we formed these lines and everyone had to answer some questions.

In Europe I rode the train from France to Deutschland to Holland just like going from Nebraska to Missouri to Kansas. Except in Deutschland they did have a person on the train checking tickets and she charged me another 8 marks even though I already paid for my ticket to Burbach.

Switzerland, however, is not part of EU. So going from Deutschland to Switzerland I had to pass check-points. A little bit like going into Canada, except I did it on foot in the train station. Going into Switzerland the guy searched my bags for some reason. In Switzerland, my cousin drove me to Vaduz, Liechtenstein, per my request, and there was just a sign for that border.

Going from Switzerland to France, the two border guards were barking questions at some Arab-looking guys (this was in May of 2001) and they just waved me past.

[Heidi]

29. I love your comparison,

"just like going from Nebraska to Missouri to Kansas." That's one of the things I love about traveling here. :)

[XemaSab]

31. I would hope to GOD

That travelling around Europe would be more interesting than going from Nebraska to Missouri to Kansas!!!!!

:wow:

[Heidi]

32. Wait a minute.

I _love_ driving through Nebraska and Kansas. Have you ever done it with a sort of "blue highways" approach? There are some very cool little mom and pop places to get a cold coke and a burger, a sky as big as . . . well, as big as the _sky_, and lots of friendly people.

[XemaSab]

33. I'm sure they'd be cool to tool around in

But honestly, would you rather be in Lincoln NE or Switzerland right now?

[Heidi]

35. This afternoon, I'd rather be

at the Crane River brew pub, just outside the state capitol, watching the Saturday afternoon crowd flow past. I love Switzerland, but I love a lot of places and their vibes and their people. :shrug:

[LSK]

36. i got chased by a severe Tstorm driving from Wyoming to Nebraska

I had to pass up on Scottsbluff because of tornado warnings. :scared:

[hfojvt]

38. according to Goethe's "Sufferings of Young Werther"

Deutschland has its t-storms. I cannot attest to those, only having several days of cold, foggy drizzle. My cousin was complaining about the harsh winters of Switzerland, said they are snowed in for months. But according to historical accounts I have read "Memoirs of a Sauk Swiss" the Swiss complained about the bitter cold Wisconsin winters when they moved there.

[Heidi]

40. I've seen some _gorgeous_ storm skies out by Scottsbluff.

And once, I followed a horrible hailstorm all the way from Wichita, Kansas, to Tulsa.I think I had the only unbroken windshield for hundreds of miles. :scared:

[hfojvt]

37. you know it is funny

because I expected to walk on air in Europe
I thought my soul would dance! Thinking Deutschland :bounce: Schweiz :bounce:
but actually the practical matters seemed to take over, and my mind just said - trees, buildings, people - no car, bags to lug around, sleepy, where's my hotel :boring:
You can lead a soul to Deutschland, but you can't make it dance.
It retrospect I should have taken a pair of rollerblades instead of my laptop, should have spent more on transportation instead of being my tightwad self.
Also I wish I had gone back to Spaichingen. I got my ticket from Stuttgart to Spaichingen, but leaving Stuttgart they stopped at every little town, but nearer to Spaichingen they did not stop at every village, nor did they announce Spaichingen. So I ended up going down the line to Tuttlingen. Instead of taking the next train north I figured that one town was as good as the next. However, from a later brief stay in Spaichingen it seemed way cooler to me besides having way more of my relatives.
Sometimes travel around Wisconsin is a better experience because those familiar roads, places and people are very dear to me.

[XemaSab]

41. I love travelling around the US

But I would hope that going to Europe would be somewhat more stimulating than a trip to the great plains.

[Heidi]

20. If you're traveling on a main highway, there _are_ border patrol

stations. For example, I have to show my passport when I enter Italy from Switzerland, and I've also been asked for it at the borders of Austria and Lichtenstein. They've never stamped my passport, though, even though Switzerland is a non-EU country.

[hfojvt]

23. that's like I said

because CH is not part of EU and neither is Liechtenstein.

Then again, other than going to Liechtenstein, I had no highway experience.

[Heidi]

24. Hi, you.

How ya doin', my friend? :pals:

[hfojvt]

27. horrible

nobody's responding to post #7

Plus I gotta goto work at 3 PM tomorrow and move the clocks one hour ahead. Maybe I better just call in sick :think:
but (does Nixon impersonation) that might be ... wrong.

I still have not bought myself a birthday present (my new shoes do so not count). My sister got me this really hard book of sudoku puzzles and I got the 2nd one but I think it gave me a headache. However, that was Wednesday.

[Heidi]

30. Is calling in sick

really an option? If so, I'd take it. Sleep-deprived _is_ a form of "sick," isn't it?

Happy belated birthday. What do you have in mind as your gift to yourself?

[hfojvt]

34. I would only be sleep deprived

because I stayed up too late goofing around on DU. Then I will wake up at about noon, and 3 is too soon to goto work. I prefer when I goto work at 8.

I am hoping to get an ipod or ipod-clone. :headbang:

[Oeditpus Rex]

28. Xema, thanks for starting this thread

This is something I've also been curious about, but I never thought to post it — even with all our Yurpean friends here. :crazy:

[CanuckAmok]

39. Well there *was* the Maginot Line...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maginot_Line

[XemaSab]

42. You think we should line the Mexican border

with heavy artillery?

[CanuckAmok]

43. I think you should line it with patio lanterns.

That would be pretty, especially at night.

[XemaSab]

45. Sounds like a Christo "art" work

:eyes:

[CanuckAmok]

46. Ony if it kills someone.

Which, of course, I'm hoping it will.

[XemaSab]

48. Flaming objects

on top of rickety columns scattered throughout some of the most rugged and fire prone terrain in North America--nay, the Western Hemisphere--which is routinely traversed by tens of thousands of people travelling through the dead of night without water whilst guided by criminals?

What could possibly go wrong? :D

[Heidi]

47. A hundreds-of-miles long border lined with faralitos

would be gorgeous, and a much nicer way of welcoming our neighbors to the south than armed border patrol and citizen militia. :thumbsup:

[XemaSab]

49. 2000 miles

That's a lot of candles.

[Heidi]

50. Sure is.

It'd be a gorgeous piece of installation art. Give all those border patrol and citizen militia guys fire extinguishers, and you could have a totally beautiful and ongoing welcome-o-rama. :thumbsup:

[XemaSab]

51. What you'd have is a beautiful and ongoing fire season

:P

[Heidi]

52. That's easily resolved,

by making everyone who crosses the Great Faralito Wall a lifetime member of the Junior Fire Patrol. :P It'd be an interactive, ongoing, cross-cultural, community service welcome-o-rama.

[XemaSab]

53. Your suggestion totally dispells any hesitation I had about the idea!

We should totally do it!

:bounce:

[Heidi]

54. You're not just in this for the free plastic fire hat,

are you? :P

[XemaSab]

55. Let me clarify:

I'm in favor of the plan if it means I can get a cheap "Made in China" plastic fire hat that says "Diego."

[Heidi]

56. Uh-oh.

You've challenged me, and I'm fired up, and bound and determined to meet the challenge. Good thing I live in the Italian-speaking part of HeidiLand, where "Diego" is a common name. :rofl:

[radwriter0555]

57. when I went to italy last week, I saw a little sign. It said "welcome to

italy...."

I can never tell where the Monaco border is. Again, another little sign.

Now... coming into France from Italy there is a check point, but they really use it for collecting tolls.

And there is another toll booth at the Monaco to France border.

We're going down to Spain in 3 weeks, I'll let you know how that border is.

No fences. No gates. No armed patrols.

Go figure.

[mwooldri]

59. Border between England and France mostly unchanged.

Except for a little hole in the ground near Dover, it's been the same old water for a few thousand years. Rumour has it England was joined to France at some point but we split off some years ago.

All joking aside, prior to the Schengen Agreement, each country did have its borders, sometimes with fences that were patrolled - esp the Iron Curtain (but that was more to keep people in than out). Some were natural borders like rivers.

On my one and only trip to Germany by road, the most checks I had was on the ferry across from England to France and back again. The UK is not a signatory to the Schengen agreement, and as such there are ID card / passport checks upon entering the UK by sea.

Mark.

[Kellanved]

60. Well, for the World Cup, Germany will start to stamp again

But that's just for a few weeks this summer. O

ther than that, the main importance of the borders are the different speed limits.