piwo
Citizen of the World
Co Słychać?
Posts: 1,189
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Post by piwo on Jan 14, 2010 21:22:44 GMT -7
I'm traveling to Poland in June and am considering visiting the folks I stayed with in the Czech Republic back in 2005. They live about 10 kilometers from Cieszyn on the Czech side, village of Hnojnik. My question is this: when traveling from a train that originates in Poland into CZ, where do you get "stamped" and go through the border screening? I suppose it's when you get off the train that takes you over the border? I was wondering because If I took a train, it shows a 12 minute wait for the next train, and that doesn't sound like enough time to go through the border check..........
When I walked across the Cieszyn/Tesky Cesin border years ago, those with Czech passports breezed into Poland, but I got pulled aside because of my US Passport. You US Passport travelers: what's been your experience crossing these borders on trains? How long should one budget on that process??
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Post by Jaga on Jan 14, 2010 21:36:55 GMT -7
Hi Piwo,
how are you? How you were doing all these years we did not hear from you?
I was in Slovakia a year ago, it was very easy, but we went in a car. The Slovakian-Polish and Czech-Polish boarder was never really hard to cross, even during the communism. I suspect that they have one place for Polish and Czech services to check you and 12 minutes is probably enough time. We are now a part of EU, so the crossing should not be hard at all
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Post by kaima on Jan 15, 2010 0:46:13 GMT -7
Since both Poland and the Czech Republic are in the EU there should be no border control! Shocking as that may be. I watched the borders from Germany to Czechia change from a convoluted drive through the village of Schirnding to Cheb in heavy traffic to new roadways, freeways and bridges bypassing the village; to 4 lane inspection borders, and on to the shock of not needing to stop at the border since the EU expanded!
Usually they took a quick glance at the passport (or copied it) stamped it and passed it back as quickly as they could. As an American often driving a German plated car, I hardly ever had to show papers to police. Driving in a German car into Slovakia and back with two female cousins during the height of the white slavery trade, I was never stopped or questioned.
But those tricky police did pass out traffic tickets.
Kai
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Post by tuftabis on Jan 15, 2010 6:59:28 GMT -7
One can travel freely in Europe. Whatever documents you need to enter EU, depending on citizenship, you show them once, when you enter.
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piwo
Citizen of the World
Co Słychać?
Posts: 1,189
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Post by piwo on Jan 15, 2010 18:59:20 GMT -7
While the Czech's traveling with Czech passports into Poland were whisked across the border into Poland without a second glance (Tesky Cesin), the two people traveling on US passports were held back. We waited for at least 10 minutes while people came and went. Questions were then asked, and details of our passports were then monotonously typed into a computer with an incredible indifference to time. This on the Polish side of the border. Since my passport in now "one the grid", it would probably be of benefit. Tesky Cesin is probably not a hotbed for Americans traveling from CZ to PL, so perhaps a bit of a novelty. My brother in laws cousin met us in Cieszyn with his car and when we drove back to CZ, he did something probably not done very often: he made a crossing guard laugh out loud. On the Czech side of the border, after passports were collected, the crossing guard asked: “what are you bringing back from Poland”? Jusz said : “two drunk Americans”.. The lady guard laughed a genuine laugh and waved us through………
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piwo
Citizen of the World
Co Słychać?
Posts: 1,189
|
Post by piwo on Jan 15, 2010 19:00:19 GMT -7
PS: If there is no border patrol, that would certainly simplify things... haha
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