The Night Train from Budapest to Venice

27 April 2010

What I'd forgotten to take into account when booking a night train from Budapest to Venice is that it goes through Croatia which isn't in the EU - so around midnight there was pounding at my cabin door by a border guard demanding to see my passport. She was a young woman, sleek and trim, with carefully varnished nails.  I noticed her nails because she was clutching my passport, holding it inches from my face so all I could see was the red of Great Britain and her painted fingers.  She was pleasant enough but for some reason she decided to give my document a thorough inspection and took it away with her.  I didn't see her or it for about ten minutes and by that time I was starting to wonder whether an old passport of mine that had been stolen some years ago hadn't fallen into the hands of drug dealers, people smugglers or (heaven forbid) the Israeli Secret Service.  After a half hour delay she finally gave it back.  But by that time I was already planning what to do if they held me for questioning after the train took off (not that I came to any sensible conclusion).  Thankful to be on my way again, I tried to go to sleep only to be woken once again at the other side of Croatia for exit checks and then at Slovenia for passport checks again.  By the time we reached Venice around 7 the next morning, I was exhausted.