We did our first European tour of Europe in an RV in 2007. We had two encounters with law enforcement agencies - one with two traffic policemen in Czech Republic and the second with Douane in Germany (Customs).
We were driving towards a mall early morning when these two policemen came out from their hiding place. We were signaled to stop so we did. We were informed our violation was that our headlights was not on. We were told if they wrote the ticket the fee would be over Euros100 or something but they can settle for half. We told them we only have Cad$20 and even showed them my husbands wallet. Of course we have more money with me but we know how to get out of this situation having learned from the same experiences while living in the the Philippines. The two parties did some haggling but eventualy the two policemen accepted the money and so we went to the mall. In the mall's food shops level, we saw them about to spend our money for their breakfast. How similar is this to the Philippines? It's so funny.
Second and last encounter in 2007, out of 5 months of being on the road in Europe - we were getting out of a parking space when a Duane car pulled us over. We stopped, they approached and asked for our passports. We showed them and we were sent on our way.
This year, we also have two encounters so far - out of 3.5 months of RVing.
First was in Kiel, Germany. My husband was taking an afternoon nap and I was in the driver's seat, deeply engrossed solving a sudoku puzzle, totally oblivious to my surroundings. I did not notice when the police car stopped right in front of our camper. I looked up for no apparent reason and saw two policemen, inside the police car, smiling, obviously they found something funny or amusing. I recognized their presence by looking at them and showed them my sudoku book cover. They nodded their heads still smiling. I wanted to ask them, what's wrong or what's funny, but I decided to wait for them to tell me. Still both smiling, they signaled me to move on. I confirmed my understanding of what they wanted by signaling back. They nodded in agreement and so I showed them I understood and they left. We left that parking spot and went to the mall.
Second encounter - We parked and slept in a Mcdonalds parking space on our first night in Middelburg, Netherlands. On our second night, at around 11pm, we were ready to go to bed when a police car drove past us then came back. One policeman and one young policewoman approached the passenger seat where I was at combing my hair. I opened the door and we were asked if we intend to sleep right there. We said yes and asked if it was ok. He said no and there's a fine of Euros170 if we did and it would be a very expensive sleep for us. My husband asked where we can park for the night. They pointed the locations on the map which my husband provided - there were three options which they said we can park and sleep for free. We went to the nearest one and once we were parked, the police car drove past and signaled "ok" with his thumbs up. For over a week, we kept coming back to that location to free camp.
.
We were driving towards a mall early morning when these two policemen came out from their hiding place. We were signaled to stop so we did. We were informed our violation was that our headlights was not on. We were told if they wrote the ticket the fee would be over Euros100 or something but they can settle for half. We told them we only have Cad$20 and even showed them my husbands wallet. Of course we have more money with me but we know how to get out of this situation having learned from the same experiences while living in the the Philippines. The two parties did some haggling but eventualy the two policemen accepted the money and so we went to the mall. In the mall's food shops level, we saw them about to spend our money for their breakfast. How similar is this to the Philippines? It's so funny.
Second and last encounter in 2007, out of 5 months of being on the road in Europe - we were getting out of a parking space when a Duane car pulled us over. We stopped, they approached and asked for our passports. We showed them and we were sent on our way.
This year, we also have two encounters so far - out of 3.5 months of RVing.
First was in Kiel, Germany. My husband was taking an afternoon nap and I was in the driver's seat, deeply engrossed solving a sudoku puzzle, totally oblivious to my surroundings. I did not notice when the police car stopped right in front of our camper. I looked up for no apparent reason and saw two policemen, inside the police car, smiling, obviously they found something funny or amusing. I recognized their presence by looking at them and showed them my sudoku book cover. They nodded their heads still smiling. I wanted to ask them, what's wrong or what's funny, but I decided to wait for them to tell me. Still both smiling, they signaled me to move on. I confirmed my understanding of what they wanted by signaling back. They nodded in agreement and so I showed them I understood and they left. We left that parking spot and went to the mall.
Second encounter - We parked and slept in a Mcdonalds parking space on our first night in Middelburg, Netherlands. On our second night, at around 11pm, we were ready to go to bed when a police car drove past us then came back. One policeman and one young policewoman approached the passenger seat where I was at combing my hair. I opened the door and we were asked if we intend to sleep right there. We said yes and asked if it was ok. He said no and there's a fine of Euros170 if we did and it would be a very expensive sleep for us. My husband asked where we can park for the night. They pointed the locations on the map which my husband provided - there were three options which they said we can park and sleep for free. We went to the nearest one and once we were parked, the police car drove past and signaled "ok" with his thumbs up. For over a week, we kept coming back to that location to free camp.
 |
| Seaside parking in Kiel, Germany |
 |
| Train Station Middelburg, Netherlands |
.
No comments:
Post a Comment