traveling usually involves a lot of waiting, sitting and doing nothing. today i went by bus. a 7 hour trip it was supposed to be. during the morning everything went smooth (the bus left at 7.15. that was the only thing, getting up so terribly early) and i remember at what point i was thinking; ooh, how great this is. im sitting nice and comfortable, i have a book, when i look outside the window i see all these new and often pretty places.... then the last stop before the border. the driver saying; "dont get off the bus, your new driver will be here soon". soon became an hour. "sorry, your driver is stuck at the border coming back". 2 hours... and all the while the engine was running (aarrghhh!!). another driver.... yesyes, soon we go. then, finally, the border. "get all off the bus, get all your luggage"
"where are you living? when are you going back to the netherlands? how do you know your friend? where did you meet? wait in that room and do not go to the restroom." "now you all get out, place your luggage in front of you, step back, wait". (i had no clue what was going to happen and because i am reading the hunger games, the most weird things suddenly went trough my mind) and then dogs came to check both us and the bags. "thank you. now wait here. you can stand in the shade if you want". they did this with all passengers, lined up in groups, then the bus. we just crossed the border from us to canada. funny, what people do, and other people do to prevent that, and what people then do, and.... and so on and so on.
then a small road and endless farms. so green, so pretty! but all my photos with the ugly reflection of the window. they should have washed the windows, too. then... traffic jam..... a delay of almost 4 hours, but now i am in montreal for the weekend. jeeejj. why? tell you tomorrow...
8 comments:
O, that is a troubled travel so far. I hate those checks, so intimitating. Hope the trip is going well, I am curious what you are doing in Montreal (looking at the church where Celine Dion got married? hahaha)
Interesting name for this object..
Westphalia in Germany?
so the guards were canadian?
yes, the guards were canadian. the dogs i dont know...
and those objects were ubiquitous, every farm one or two. most had a name... but was that the name of the family, or..?
Westphalia in Canada. The dogs were German...
It's not as convenient from Boston as from NYC but it's much better to cross the border on the train. I would never cross the border by bus.
actually, i once went by train from montreal to NYC (and back). that journey was amazing, really beautiful. but whereas for the canadians and americans crossing the border was fine, all other nationalities were ordered to a special wagon where they were submitted to "further questioning" (and a fee to enter the US). a fellow passenger was asked, based on the type of clothes she had in her suitcase, whether she was a dancer. they then even asked her what kind of relationship she had with the friend she was visiting (and they asked it more to the point). eventually, she was taken off the train; i dont think she was allowed to get into the us.
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