I was watching “To Catch A Smuggler: Rome,” the other night and I learned a new word – “Schengen.”
This guy was trying to sneak into Rome with a fake passport and he did not have Schengen authority and was banned from all the Schengen countries. There are 29 of them!
If you don’t know, like I didn’t, The Schengen Area encompasses 29 European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their mutual borders. They are sort of treated like states. For instance if you are in Italy, you can easily go to France or Spain or Austria, Germany, Greece, etc. Just as we pass through from Maine to Vermont, to New York.
From Wikipedia: “The common visa policy allows nationals of certain countries to enter the Schengen Area via air, land or sea without a visa for stays of up to 90 days within a 180-day period. Nationals of certain other countries are required to have a visa either upon arrival or in transit.”
This started in 1985 and grew to the current roster and became an official thing in 1995.
I find it interesting, because these days, I often think of moving to Italy and getting my Italian citizenship – and having two – U.S. and Italian.
I was at JFK in NYC once and a TSA agent grabbed my luggage. “Whose luggage is this?” he bellowed. (JFK, NYC, TSA – sounds like code language).
“Mine!” I said, as I raised my hand. I walked over to the luggage.
“Don’t touch it!” he yelled.
“I know, I watch, ‘To Catch A Smuggler!’ I answered.
He laughed and said, “So do I.”
It was a pair of tiny scissors that set of the alarm in the end. It was a funny experience and I tell it often, in fact, I have told it here before.
Anyway, happy Schengen!
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