015/003.1
Netherlands - Belgium
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Border Crossing No.
015/003.1 |
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| Date and time: | Saturday 5 June 1971, c12.50 |
| Crossing point: | Roosendaal - Essen |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from The Hague to Paris |
| Vehicle: | Train (The Hague - Paris 11.40-17.00) |
| Ticket: | Single Ticket The Hague HS - Barcelona Termino |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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Travelling to Barcelona I entered for the first time an international train, from The Hague to Paris. All seats were reserved except three. Two of them were occupied by Americans and I took the last one. At the Dutch frontier station of Roosendaal our compartment filled up. Two young women, one of them married, told me they went to the Spanish coast with a free ticket from the Dutch railways, their employer. One of them I met two weeks later in a Spanish discotheque for tourists. She had changed her outfit totally: she wore ultra short pants, something very open around her upper body and a fashionable hat that made her look quite dull. I heard some guys gossip about her and her friend, who had slept with some of them. |
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Border Crossing No.
016/003.2 |
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| Date and time: | Saturday 5 June 1971, c15.00 |
| Crossing point: | Mons - Aulnoye |
| Passport check at: | In train between Brussels and Paris |
| Travelling: | from The Hague to Paris |
| Vehicle: | Train (The Hague - Paris 11.40-17.00) |
| Ticket: | Single Ticket The Hague HS - Barcelona Termino |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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story to be written |
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Border Crossing No.
017/003.3 |
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| Date and time: | Tuesday 8 June 1971, c8.50 |
| Crossing point: | Cerbère - PortBou |
| Passport check at: | Station Port Bou |
| Travelling: | from Paris to Barcelona |
| Vehicle: | Train (Paris - PortBou 20.57-9.00) |
| Ticket: | Single Ticket The Hague HS - Barcelona Termino |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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In the night train to Spain I spend the night in a packed compartment with five Americans and a Canadian from Montreal with his girlfriend. At Port Bou in Spain we had to stand in line for the border control before we could enter the Spanish, wide gauge, train. I got my first passport stamp. I found an empty compartment for me and the Canadian, but his girlfriend followed only reluctantly. The guy wanted to talk with me, but she wanted all attention. Together we found a room for them and a room for me in a cheap hotel in Barcelona. The receptionist asked if they were married and they lied "yes". |
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Border Crossing No.
018/003.4 |
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| Date and time: | Wednesday 14 July 1971, c18.40 |
| Crossing point: | PortBou - Cerbère |
| Passport check at: | Station Cerbère |
| Travelling: | from Barcelona to The Hague |
| Vehicle: | Train (Barcelona - Cerbère 15.23-18.50) |
| Ticket: | Single Ticket Barcelona Termino - The Hague HS |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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From a few compartments away I heard a loud discussion. The American tourists there told me they were comparing the jails in the United States. |
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Border Crossing No.
019/003.5 |
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| Date and time: | Thursday 15 July 1971, c12.30 |
| Crossing point: | Aulnoye - Mons |
| Passport check at: | In train between Paris and Brussels |
| Travelling: | from Barcelona to The Hague |
| Vehicle: | Train (Paris - The Hague 10.30-15.39) |
| Ticket: | Single Ticket Barcelona Termino - The Hague HS |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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Spanish pharmacies sold "Bustaid" pills. They were meant to reduce weight and sale was free, but male tourists at the coast bought them in order to be active all night in the discotheques. I also bought some pills. They made me talk around on the beach like a madman and swim far in the sea until I almost drowned from cramp. On my way back home I had a few pills left. After an exhausting night from Barcelona to Paris I found a crowded train to Holland. Walking along the curved platform to the front of the train, however, before each car there appeared to be another one. I walked on and on until I saw the locomotive and entered the foremost car, totally empty. After departure I decided to help myself stay awake with my last pill. It made me walk like a madman from my first to the last car. I found one passenger in the second car, a few more in the third one and after the sixth car the train was overcrowded and people were standing and sitting in the corridor. I found a Dutch guy sitting helplessly in the way with all his luggage and I convinced him to come to my empty compartment. There, however, the drug had lost its power and I could do nothing but lay down with closed curtains, leaving him sitting embarrassed in the dark. |
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Border Crossing No.
020/003.6 |
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| Date and time: | Thursday 15 July 1971, c14.30 |
| Crossing point: | Essen - Roosendaal |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from Barcelona to The Hague |
| Vehicle: | Train (Paris - The Hague 10.30-15.39) |
| Ticket: | Single Ticket Barcelona Termino - The Hague HS |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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story to be written |
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Border Crossing No.
021/004.1 |
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| Date and time: | Tuesday 24 August 1971, c23.00 |
| Crossing point: | Hengelo - Bentheim |
| Passport check at: | In train between Hengelo and Rheine |
| Travelling: | from The Hague to Copenhagen |
| Vehicle: | Train (Utrecht - Copenhagen 20.45-8.21) |
| Ticket: | Return Ticket The Hague SS - Copenhagen |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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According to my archive I changed trains in Utrecht, but my memory tells me I waited outside the station building in Amersfoort, 21 kilometers further. I found a compartment with some Americans, travelling on Eurail-passes. A Dutchman left the train just over the German border, where he worked. In the next compartment Moroccan men showed us the fezzes they had bought in their home country as souvenirs for their relatives in Denmark. |
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Border Crossing No.
022/004.2 |
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| Date and time: | Wednesday 25 August 1971, c5.00-6.00 |
| Crossing point: | Puttgarden - Rødby (sea) |
| Passport check at: | In train before Puttgarden (German) and after Rødby (Danish) |
| Travelling: | from The Hague to Copenhagen |
| Vehicle: | Train (Utrecht - Copenhagen 20.45-8.21) on boat Puttgarden - Rødby |
| Ticket: | Return Ticket The Hague SS - Copenhagen |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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I could not sleep in the crowded compartment and therefore I went a few cars back, where all compartments were empty. I laid down and slept a little until we reached the harbour of Puttgarden and the German conductor came to tell me that this car ended there. I took my seat back between the Americans and saw us being taken onto the ship. |
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Border Crossing No.
023/004.3 |
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| Date and time: | Tuesday 31 August 1971, morning |
| Crossing point: | Copenhagen - Landskrona (sea) |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from Copenhagen to Landskrona |
| Vehicle: | Boat (Copenhagen - Landskrona) |
| Ticket: | Return Ticket Copenhagen - Landskrona (free) |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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In a school in Copenhagen, which provided cheap sleeping accommodation, I met an English guy and two Swedish girls. One of the girls was heavily courted by a Frenchman, although they had no common language. With the other girl and the Englishman I made a boat trip to Sweden, for which we got free tickets. There was no border control. In the Swedish town of Landskrona the girl showed us the central place, where the guys used to drive around to pick up the girls, as was the Swedish custom. When we returned to the school in Copenhagen, we found that another Swede, who did not want to go with us saying he felt ill, had left. From all of our luggage he had taken all the money he could find. |
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Border Crossing No.
024/004.4 |
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| Date and time: | Tuesday 31 August 1971, afternoon |
| Crossing point: | Landskrona - Copenhagen (sea) |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from Landskrona to Copenhagen |
| Vehicle: | Boat (Landskrona - Copenhagen) |
| Ticket: | Return Ticket Copenhagen - Landskrona (free) |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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story to be written |
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Border Crossing No.
025/004.5 |
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| Date and time: | Tuesday 7 September 1971, c0.30-1.30 |
| Crossing point: | Rødby - Puttgarden (sea) |
| Passport check at: | In train before Rødby (Danish) and after Puttgarden (German) |
| Travelling: | from Copenhagen to The Hague |
| Vehicle: | Train (Copenhagen - Utrecht 22.15-9.28) on boat Rødby - Puttgarden |
| Ticket: | Return Ticket The Hague SS - Copenhagen |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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The day train to Holland, which I wanted to take, was overcrowded and therefore I waited until the evening for the night train. I shared a compartment with a guy, who spoke Dutch with an accent that I could not identify. His soft "G's" told me he might be from the south, but he used the word "gans" for "the whole", which sounded outdated. He explained he was French and he lived in Holland. He had a large assortment of drugs. After the train had entered the ship and I came back to the compartment I found him back totally high, unable to answer any question. |
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Border Crossing No.
026/004.6 |
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| Date and time: | Tuesday 7 September 1971, c7.30 |
| Crossing point: | Bentheim - Hengelo |
| Passport check at: | In train between Rheine and Hengelo |
| Travelling: | from Copenhagen to The Hague |
| Vehicle: | Train (Copenhagen - Utrecht 22.15-9.28) |
| Ticket: | Return Ticket The Hague SS - Copenhagen |
| In the company of: | Alone |
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In the morning the train arrived in Holland. I tried to sleep a little bit more. In Amersfoort however I heard the loudspeakers shout. The whole population of another train, which had set fire, was directed to ours, which in normal circumstances could only be used with a supplement. Five elderly ladies who went shopping in the next town forced me to rise. I told them about my night and they listened with interest. |
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