|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 29, 2021 0:52:48 GMT
Since a lot of people are not traveling internationally I thought I would open a thread to share some experiences about our coming trip tomorrow.
Tomorrow night we fly from Newark, NJ to Zurich, Switzerland with a short connection and continue on to Prague, Czech Republic. Once in Prague we pick up our rental car and drive to Germany.
Thought some of you guys might be interested in hearing what is actually going on when you travel.
Today included covid tests for everyone in the family. Of course we all tested negative or the trip would have been over before it started... Let's see what tomorrow brings!
dB
|
|
|
|
Post by allthumbs56 on Jul 29, 2021 1:08:32 GMT
Cool!
Are you going to Prague because you can't get directly to Germany or is it a part of the trip?
Safe travels!
|
|
|
|
Post by Bill h on Jul 29, 2021 2:40:32 GMT
Since a lot of people are not traveling internationally I thought I would open a thread to share some experiences about our coming trip tomorrow. Tomorrow night we fly from Newark, NJ to Zurich, Switzerland with a short connection and continue on to Prague, Czech Republic. Once in Prague we pick up our rental car and drive to Germany. Thought some of you guys might be interested in hearing what is actually going on when you travel. Today included covid tests for everyone in the family. Of course we all tested negative or the trip would have been over before it started... Let's see what tomorrow brings! dB Enjoy your trip!!!!! |
|
|
|
Post by infant on Jul 29, 2021 2:46:40 GMT
Have a great trip DB! Keep us posted and send pics!
Safe travels!
|
|
|
|
Post by zontar on Jul 29, 2021 7:14:07 GMT
Since a lot of people are not traveling internationally I thought I would open a thread to share some experiences about our coming trip tomorrow. Tomorrow night we fly from Newark, NJ to Zurich, Switzerland with a short connection and continue on to Prague, Czech Republic. Once in Prague we pick up our rental car and drive to Germany. Thought some of you guys might be interested in hearing what is actually going on when you travel. Today included covid tests for everyone in the family. Of course we all tested negative or the trip would have been over before it started... Let's see what tomorrow brings! dB A case where negative is a positive Have a good trip, even if it's not all fun & games... |
|
|
|
Post by johnreardon on Jul 29, 2021 8:03:10 GMT
Have a good trip and take care
|
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 29, 2021 10:10:19 GMT
Thanks all! zontar- yes, not all fun and games, but luckily the funeral is on Monday 8/2, so fortunately we get it over with... @allthumbs- where we are going to in Germany is a remote area literally on the Czech border. Berlin is 3 hours away and Prague is only 2 hours. Dresden is only an hour away but flights were almost double the price ($1200-1300 per person instead of $750). The other advantage is for some reason cars are way cheaper- maybe because we booked the trip the day the Czechs allowed Americans in and nobody had booked? Our car, a Golf Estate, would have cost over $1500 in Germany, whereas the same car in CZ was $500, including insurance and extra driver- a steal. |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 29, 2021 19:57:25 GMT
So here's the first update/ observation pre-departure.
The electronic pre-check-in procedure is a royal pain in the neck. I'm not sure if this is the fault of the carrier, the countries we are going to, or our being clueless. Before I got home from work, my wife spent hours going through menu after menu trying to figure out how to do the Swiss pre-immigration forms before I bailed her out and did it for her. But it isn't very easy. The link to the Czech pre-validation stuff, simply didn't work so I guess we're going to have to try our luck when we land unless they can help us in the airport. Some of this stuff could simply not be done easily without a smart phone and they now text or e-mail you your boarding pass. Of course we have smart phones, but these are good things to know to those of us who are used to paper tickets...
|
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 30, 2021 22:44:18 GMT
So we made it and I have some interesting observations about the travel.
The flight to Zurich they kept telling people to wear masks but once the lights went out I doubt many did. I had to take mine off at one point- I just couldn't stand it. Once in Zurich they didn't ask for any vaccine documentation at all. We did have to fill out the tracking fork but nobody asked about that either.
The Czech Republic was the most interesting experience. I went to the immigration desk and told the guy that since we weren't staying in CZ I couldn't fill out the electronic tracking forms which require an address. He looked at me and said "you're not staying here? " I told him that we were picking up a rental car and driving immediately to Germany. He told us, just go through and don't fill out the form. We all went to him to show our passports, and he refused to look at them, he simply waved us through!
So neither country required a negative test and neither wanted to see our vaccine cards. They wouldn't even look at our passports...
|
|
|
|
Post by infant on Jul 31, 2021 1:31:26 GMT
So we made it and I have some interesting observations about the travel. The flight to Zurich they kept telling people to wear masks but once the lights went out I doubt many did. I had to take mine off at one point- I just couldn't stand it. Once in Zurich they didn't ask for any vaccine documentation at all. We did have to fill out the tracking fork but nobody asked about that either. The Czech Republic was the most interesting experience. I went to the immigration desk and told the guy that since we weren't staying in CZ I couldn't fill out the electronic tracking forms which require an address. He looked at me and said "you're not staying here? " I told him that we were picking up a rental car and driving immediately to Germany. He told us, just go through and don't fill out the form. We all went to him to show our passports, and he refused to look at them, he simply waved us through! So neither country required a negative test and neither wanted to see our vaccine cards. They wouldn't even look at our passports... Wow!!!! |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 31, 2021 8:00:44 GMT
I'm curious to see how it is with masks over here.
This morning we had to do some emergency shopping because the fridge was literally empty (my mother in law is on vacation- we pick her up today from the train station). We were in a bakery and a small supermarket and nobody seemed to be wearing masks except a couple elderly people. Soon we are heading to the big supermarket so we'll see if it is any different there
|
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 31, 2021 8:03:33 GMT
So we made it and I have some interesting observations about the travel. The flight to Zurich they kept telling people to wear masks but once the lights went out I doubt many did. I had to take mine off at one point- I just couldn't stand it. Once in Zurich they didn't ask for any vaccine documentation at all. We did have to fill out the tracking fork but nobody asked about that either. The Czech Republic was the most interesting experience. I went to the immigration desk and told the guy that since we weren't staying in CZ I couldn't fill out the electronic tracking forms which require an address. He looked at me and said "you're not staying here? " I told him that we were picking up a rental car and driving immediately to Germany. He told us, just go through and don't fill out the form. We all went to him to show our passports, and he refused to look at them, he simply waved us through! So neither country required a negative test and neither wanted to see our vaccine cards. They wouldn't even look at our passports... Wow!!!! Quite honestly I have never entered a country and not been asked to show my passport- it is a first for me. Because we are staying right on the Czech border the cell phone service overlaps, we keep getting welcome text messages saying we need to abide by quarantine rules and fill out paperwork. Easy to ignore, as neither apply to me. |
|
|
|
Post by johnreardon on Jul 31, 2021 9:08:08 GMT
I'm curious to see how it is with masks over here. This morning we had to do some emergency shopping because the fridge was literally empty (my mother in law is on vacation- we pick her up today from the train station). We were in a bakery and a small supermarket and nobody seemed to be wearing masks except a couple elderly people. Soon we are heading to the big supermarket so we'll see if it is any different there I played for the first time inside a pub, last Thursday. It was a local jam. I only saw one middle aged person wearing a mask and she eventually took it off. The lady I was playing with was a bit reluctant to sit inside, so stayed in the garden area until we played. More and more people over here are removing their masks. Right or wrong, we all have to take a leap at some time. |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 31, 2021 13:58:33 GMT
Well I answered my question. No masks in the large supermarket- not a single person. It is weird here because there seem to be strict written rules that nobody follows? I'm curious to see what happens when we try to go to a museum or into a larger city.
|
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 31, 2021 14:00:02 GMT
I'm curious to see how it is with masks over here. This morning we had to do some emergency shopping because the fridge was literally empty (my mother in law is on vacation- we pick her up today from the train station). We were in a bakery and a small supermarket and nobody seemed to be wearing masks except a couple elderly people. Soon we are heading to the big supermarket so we'll see if it is any different there I played for the first time inside a pub, last Thursday. It was a local jam. I only saw one middle aged person wearing a mask and she eventually took it off. The lady I was playing with was a bit reluctant to sit inside, so stayed in the garden area until we played. More and more people over here are removing their masks. Right or wrong, we all have to take a leap at some time. Truthfully if you are going to a pub you probably don't want to wear a mask anyway. I know I wouldn't want to. If I had to wear a mask ina pub, I'd rather just take beer home from the off license, which is what I normally do (but not because of mask regulations) |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 2, 2021 19:03:21 GMT
Tomorrow we are going to a travel agency to enquire about our next phase of the trip next week. Corona regulations are somewhat byzantine, in Europe varying from country to country and seemingly everchanging.
Originally we were planning to go to Budapest but Hungary is unwavering in excluding Americans, so I guess we won't be spending any money there. It looks like Austria and the Czech Republic are the better bets at this point.
|
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 5, 2021 15:24:13 GMT
Some Updates... travel agency basically told us that everything in Germany is completely booked, which is fine because I didn't really want to stay in Germany anyway. Austria however doesn't seem to be a very hot destination this year, maybe because the Germans don't want to go out of country? Ultimately I had to book everything online in the Czech Republic. Vienna Was very easy to find reasonable accommodation. Walked across the border to the Czech Republic today Sebnitz/Dolni Poustevni. No border Checkpoints, no nothing. They did have signs everywhere that masks are required in shops and most people wore them except some elderly German scofflaws  . BTW in Dresden yesterday every store We were in had mask mandate and many people were wearing them in the street. A huge contrast from where I am staying in eastern Saxony... |
|
|
|
Post by Bill h on Aug 6, 2021 4:42:59 GMT
Some Updates... travel agency basically told us that everything in Germany is completely booked, which is fine because I didn't really want to stay in Germany anyway. Austria however doesn't seem to be a very hot destination this year, maybe because the Germans don't want to go out of country? Ultimately I had to book everything online in the Czech Republic. Vienna Was very easy to find reasonable accommodation. Walked across the border to the Czech Republic today Sebnitz/Dolni Poustevni. No border Checkpoints, no nothing. They did have signs everywhere that masks are required in shops and most people wore them except some elderly German scofflaws . BTW in Dresden yesterday every store We were in had mask mandate and many people were wearing them in the street. A huge contrast from where I am staying in eastern Saxony... I visited the Czech border in 1981 while stationed in Germany with the army. It was a typical DMZ, their soldiers standing there looking at our soldiers and the dmz in between. If you tried to cross the border during those years it would have ended badly, I was very young at the time and it had a huge impact on me. Years later I visited the DMZ in Korea and it was the exact same thing. I just find it interesting that you could waltz right in there unchecked. |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 6, 2021 7:27:58 GMT
Some Updates... travel agency basically told us that everything in Germany is completely booked, which is fine because I didn't really want to stay in Germany anyway. Austria however doesn't seem to be a very hot destination this year, maybe because the Germans don't want to go out of country? Ultimately I had to book everything online in the Czech Republic. Vienna Was very easy to find reasonable accommodation. Walked across the border to the Czech Republic today Sebnitz/Dolni Poustevni. No border Checkpoints, no nothing. They did have signs everywhere that masks are required in shops and most people wore them except some elderly German scofflaws . BTW in Dresden yesterday every store We were in had mask mandate and many people were wearing them in the street. A huge contrast from where I am staying in eastern Saxony... I visited the Czech border in 1981 while stationed in Germany with the army. It was a typical DMZ, their soldiers standing there looking at our soldiers and the dmz in between. If you tried to cross the border during those years it would have ended badly, I was very young at the time and it had a huge impact on me. Years later I visited the DMZ in Korea and it was the exact same thing. I just find it interesting that you could waltz right in there unchecked. Well the Czech Republic is Schengen area so normally no passports would be required but the border had closed for a time due to Corona. It is mixed messages. On the one hand they have a myriad of strict regulations and on the other it doesn't seem like people obey them. You don't want to be the one guy who gets fined however... |
|
|
|
Post by johnreardon on Aug 6, 2021 8:08:39 GMT
Some Updates... travel agency basically told us that everything in Germany is completely booked, which is fine because I didn't really want to stay in Germany anyway. Austria however doesn't seem to be a very hot destination this year, maybe because the Germans don't want to go out of country? Ultimately I had to book everything online in the Czech Republic. Vienna Was very easy to find reasonable accommodation. Walked across the border to the Czech Republic today Sebnitz/Dolni Poustevni. No border Checkpoints, no nothing. They did have signs everywhere that masks are required in shops and most people wore them except some elderly German scofflaws . BTW in Dresden yesterday every store We were in had mask mandate and many people were wearing them in the street. A huge contrast from where I am staying in eastern Saxony... I visited the Czech border in 1981 while stationed in Germany with the army. It was a typical DMZ, their soldiers standing there looking at our soldiers and the dmz in between. If you tried to cross the border during those years it would have ended badly, I was very young at the time and it had a huge impact on me. Years later I visited the DMZ in Korea and it was the exact same thing. I just find it interesting that you could waltz right in there unchecked. Back in the 70s, I was on a field exercise with a Harrier Squadron, about 30 miles from the East German border along the River Weser. I had to drive between our two sites, which were about 10 miles apart. I got lost (no sat nav back then) and was driving along in my land-rover, with an SLR slung behind me, when I turned a corner on a country road to find my way blocked by two tanks angled across the road. I didn't recognise the tanks or the uniforms of the men who suddenly jumped out of the hedgerows pointing rifles at me. I turned the engine off and one soldier, who appeared to be an officer came up and asked me in almost perfect English, where I was going and what for. He obviously recognised the land rover and thought stupid English. 
It turned out that they were actually the Dutch Army on the same exercise that we were. I showed him the map I was using and where I thought I was. He moved his finger across the map and said 'No you are actually here'. The East German border was only a mile up the same road I was on and if they hadn't been there, I would have really been in the sh*t.
He gave me directions to where I was supposed to be going, so turned round and finally got there a couple of hours late. Nobody had missed me
|
|
|
|
Post by johnreardon on Aug 6, 2021 8:11:30 GMT
I visited the Czech border in 1981 while stationed in Germany with the army. It was a typical DMZ, their soldiers standing there looking at our soldiers and the dmz in between. If you tried to cross the border during those years it would have ended badly, I was very young at the time and it had a huge impact on me. Years later I visited the DMZ in Korea and it was the exact same thing. I just find it interesting that you could waltz right in there unchecked. Well the Czech Republic is Schengen area so normally no passports would be required but the border had closed for a time due to Corona. It is mixed messages. On the one hand they have a myriad of strict regulations and on the other it doesn't seem like people obey them. You don't want to be the one guy who gets fined however... When I was based in Germany for 3 years in the 70s, in my RAF days, I never used a passport going between the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Germany or even Switzerland. Most border controls were unmanned. |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 6, 2021 13:31:11 GMT
Well the Czech Republic is Schengen area so normally no passports would be required but the border had closed for a time due to Corona. It is mixed messages. On the one hand they have a myriad of strict regulations and on the other it doesn't seem like people obey them. You don't want to be the one guy who gets fined however... When I was based in Germany for 3 years in the 70s, in my RAF days, I never used a passport going between the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Germany or even Switzerland. Most border controls were unmanned. That's still largely the case I'd imagine. Maybe I'm too skittish about the whole affair with traveling across borders. There is lots of tough talk here. My brother in law and his family are not vaccinated and they said they won't cross the border because there are stories of Germans getting €400 fines from Spot checks in Restaurants or stores. |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 6, 2021 13:33:36 GMT
I visited the Czech border in 1981 while stationed in Germany with the army. It was a typical DMZ, their soldiers standing there looking at our soldiers and the dmz in between. If you tried to cross the border during those years it would have ended badly, I was very young at the time and it had a huge impact on me. Years later I visited the DMZ in Korea and it was the exact same thing. I just find it interesting that you could waltz right in there unchecked. Back in the 70s, I was on a field exercise with a Harrier Squadron, about 30 miles from the East German border along the River Weser. I had to drive between our two sites, which were about 10 miles apart. I got lost (no sat nav back then) and was driving along in my land-rover, with an SLR slung behind me, when I turned a corner on a country road to find my way blocked by two tanks angled across the road. I didn't recognise the tanks or the uniforms of the men who suddenly jumped out of the hedgerows pointing rifles at me. I turned the engine off and one soldier, who appeared to be an officer came up and asked me in almost perfect English, where I was going and what for. He obviously recognised the land rover and thought stupid English.
It turned out that they were actually the Dutch Army on the same exercise that we were. I showed him the map I was using and where I thought I was. He moved his finger across the map and said 'No you are actually here'. The East German border was only a mile up the same road I was on and if they hadn't been there, I would have really been in the sh*t.
He gave me directions to where I was supposed to be going, so turned round and finally got there a couple of hours late. Nobody had missed me
You'd like to think that there would be signs before you came to the east German border! Those east Germans were pretty well known for being no nonsense |
|
|
|
Post by johnreardon on Aug 6, 2021 14:33:25 GMT
Back in the 70s, I was on a field exercise with a Harrier Squadron, about 30 miles from the East German border along the River Weser. I had to drive between our two sites, which were about 10 miles apart. I got lost (no sat nav back then) and was driving along in my land-rover, with an SLR slung behind me, when I turned a corner on a country road to find my way blocked by two tanks angled across the road. I didn't recognise the tanks or the uniforms of the men who suddenly jumped out of the hedgerows pointing rifles at me. I turned the engine off and one soldier, who appeared to be an officer came up and asked me in almost perfect English, where I was going and what for. He obviously recognised the land rover and thought stupid English.
It turned out that they were actually the Dutch Army on the same exercise that we were. I showed him the map I was using and where I thought I was. He moved his finger across the map and said 'No you are actually here'. The East German border was only a mile up the same road I was on and if they hadn't been there, I would have really been in the sh*t.
He gave me directions to where I was supposed to be going, so turned round and finally got there a couple of hours late. Nobody had missed me
You'd like to think that there would be signs before you came to the east German border! Those east Germans were pretty well known for being no nonsense To be fair, it was a small country road Not quite a Berlin Wall |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 9, 2021 19:37:10 GMT
Some more observations in the Czech Republic from the past few days. Although they do a lot of tough talking on the country's Website about having to prove that you are vaccinated or have received covid Tests before entering buildings, I have not witnessed anything like this. People do seem to wear masks inside most shops, Nobody does in Restaurants and Cafés. Quite honestly it seems pretty lax here. I did see written on one Business in Czech that they required covid Tests prior to entry but nowhere else.
Both Pilsen and Budweis seem like very liveable cities with relatively few Tourists. Where we are going tomorrow, Cesky Krumlov, will likely have much more Tourists, as it is a big tourist destination and a UNESCO site
|
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 11, 2021 18:36:15 GMT
Today for the first time since we got to Europe someone asked for our vaccine cards (in a restaurant). At the pension where We are staying, the owner had advised us to carry our vaccine cards because some venues are demanding them for admittance, unless you Show a negative test. He also left some rapid Tests for us just in case but I'll just Show our cards.
Masks demanded in all shops, few people wearing them in the streets.
Interestingly Vienna is not really overrun with Tourists, lots of people out and about but it isn't ridiculous like some places in summer, probably due to corona. Cesky Krunlov Was also pretty light on Tourists from what I could tell
|
|
|
|
Post by Bill h on Aug 11, 2021 18:48:41 GMT
Today for the first time since we got to Europe someone asked for our vaccine cards (in a restaurant). At the pension where We are staying, the owner had advised us to carry our vaccine cards because some venues are demanding them for admittance, unless you Show a negative test. He also left some rapid Tests for us just in case but I'll just Show our cards. Masks demanded in all shops, few people wearing them in the streets. Interestingly Vienna is not really overrun with Tourists, lots of people out and about but it isn't ridiculous like some places in summer, probably due to corona. Cesky Krunlov Was also pretty light on Tourists from what I could tell I was wondering it corona had an impact on how crowded tourist areas are abroad. Has it been like that everywhere? |
|
|
|
Post by johnreardon on Aug 12, 2021 7:54:31 GMT
Today for the first time since we got to Europe someone asked for our vaccine cards (in a restaurant). At the pension where We are staying, the owner had advised us to carry our vaccine cards because some venues are demanding them for admittance, unless you Show a negative test. He also left some rapid Tests for us just in case but I'll just Show our cards. Masks demanded in all shops, few people wearing them in the streets. Interestingly Vienna is not really overrun with Tourists, lots of people out and about but it isn't ridiculous like some places in summer, probably due to corona. Cesky Krunlov Was also pretty light on Tourists from what I could tell I was wondering it corona had an impact on how crowded tourist areas are abroad. Has it been like that everywhere? Our pubs have opened up and less people are wearing masks. Went to a jam last night. We played outside in a gazebo but only saw one person wearing a mask outside and the same lady inside. |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 12, 2021 13:10:13 GMT
Today for the first time since we got to Europe someone asked for our vaccine cards (in a restaurant). At the pension where We are staying, the owner had advised us to carry our vaccine cards because some venues are demanding them for admittance, unless you Show a negative test. He also left some rapid Tests for us just in case but I'll just Show our cards. Masks demanded in all shops, few people wearing them in the streets. Interestingly Vienna is not really overrun with Tourists, lots of people out and about but it isn't ridiculous like some places in summer, probably due to corona. Cesky Krunlov Was also pretty light on Tourists from what I could tell I was wondering it corona had an impact on how crowded tourist areas are abroad. Has it been like that everywhere? Weird, I tthought I replied to this but what I thought I wrote seems to have disappeared... I haven't been to Vienna in over 25 years and the towns We are going to in the Czech Republic are generally new to me so it is difficult to make a fair comparison as to what normal would be. If we go to Prague I could tell you for sure. I must admit Vienna certainly doesn't seem overrun. |
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Aug 13, 2021 19:04:59 GMT
Some additional interesting observations over the past couple days.
We did get vaccine carded in a Cafe today and before going on a Ferris wheel yesterday- no really...
|
|
.