Three months ago, traveling from Brussels to Warsaw included a direct flight for about two hours, in addition to transport to and from airports.
But after the Corona virus pandemic closed the border and stopped most of the aircraft, the 1,300-kilometer journey across Europe took seven times that period, including a canceled flight, train change and car use, as well as traveling through a reopened border checkpoint. General isolation measures to limit the spread of the virus have dealt a blow to ease of movement across Europe, although countries are lifting restrictions, and at a time when some travelers are supposed to make life easier in the coming days. The journey from Brussels to my hometown of Warsaw started with a setback even before departure. On the evening of Tuesday, June 9, my flight to Frankfurt, which was scheduled for the following morning, was canceled after one of the baggage handling companies went bankrupt in Brussels Airport, the latest company to be closed during the Corona virus crisis.
This resulted in the cancellation of travel plans to Berlin via Frankfurt, and then a train ride to the German-Polish border. Instead, I booked tickets for the Deutsche Bahn train from Brussels to Berlin and set out from home the next morning around nine in the morning. As a result of the layover in Cologne, where the station's docks were unusually empty, the journey to Berlin took approximately seven hours. Wearing face masks was mandatory on the train, and banners were placed on trailers and train stations to remind travelers to stay away from each other for at least 1.5 meters.
There were no special controls when the train crossed from Belgium to Germany, but at least 17 of the 26 countries within the Schengen area in Europe imposed emergency tests due to the virus.
After another switch at the Hofbanov station in Berlin, she installed another train in the afternoon to Frankfurt (Oder), a German border town across the river from the town of Supetza in Poland.
I walked for about two kilometers from the station to the middle of the bridge across Oder, which marks the border between the two countries. Polish border guards set up a tent to check passengers, and the signs reminded pedestrians of keeping a distance. After a quick measure of temperatures without contact, a look at my identity and documents confirming travel for business, I was inside. While Poland is setting records of daily HIV cases this month, the country has been excluded from travel arrangements between neighbors, the Baltic states to the north, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria to the south. The Polish government has since announced that it will reopen its borders for European Union travelers from June 13. Supetza is 470 km from the Polish capital. The drive by car on new highways, sponsored by the European Union, took more than four hours, and finally I arrived Warsaw a few minutes before midnight, about 15 hours after departure. In some ways, the trip was fun and interesting. But it brought me back to a time ago, several decades ago, when commuting through Europe was more difficult, and the continent was less wealthy and open.
17
One of the 26 countries in Europe imposed emergency tests for the virus.
Suffering from canceled flights, changing trains, using the vehicle by road, and walking across the border.