On Mon, 17 Feb 2003 at 18:26:31, Phoebus Dokos wrote:
(ref: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
>Oh I see :-) Isn't the UK a signatory of the Schengen though? Greeks
>for example can go to Italy or France without a passport...
No we aren't.
The ferry companies actually are the only check both ends routinely, but
they are firm. We had to dump Bill at Dover once.
In the days of temporary passports from the post office, one used to be
able to get an ID card from the ports, but France did not recognise
these.
On one infamous trip, Lau Reeves forgot his passport.
We were booked on a ferry from Dover to Calais.
We cancelled that ferry - with a �10 cancellation fee and got him an ID
from the Dover ferry office.
We then drove to Ramsgate, who then did a ferry to Ostende (Belgium).
The fare was �8 cheaper, so we didn't lose much.
On another trip, we (Sturat, Lau and I) were on bicycle/train to
Eindhoven. Lau missed the train at Liverpuddle Street stn - it is a no
smoking station so he was outside puffing.
We left the bicycle and his luggage, after much negotiation, in the
station store at the port (no proper left luggage).
On returning to the terminal we found Lau. He had caught a train to
Colchester, paid �25 for a taxi to Harwich and arrived almost before us!
We ate his supper on the train.
On one trip to Eindhoven by Quanta bus, Phil Borman left my passport on
a table at Dover - he hadn't told me he put it there. We got out,
because he had already cleared our passports. I wasn't troubled until we
got back to Dover. The police had already posted my passport somewhere,
but I managed to persuade them I was not a terrorist.
Come to think of it, in the current climate, I suspect checks are much
more rigorous.
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