Odd memories that stand out include the day my Deutchmark Bank Account
transformed into Euros, and I got my first real Euro check book and ATM
card - suddenly I was able to spend my earnings all over the place
without being ripped off by bankers - 2 years later the notes and coins
followed.
Then there was our first crossing of the Hungarian-Slovak border, near Aggtelek (North East Hungary) - the guards were amazed to see a UK passport at such an obscure crossing - and both sets of guards came out to wave us on - a decade later thanks to Shengen that little border post had gone when we next passed through it, and the world seemed smaller and friendlier.
A trip to the Ardennes also comes to mind,where there is a thin sliver of France that pokes into Belgium. Believe or not on the obscure mountain road that we were driving along there was a little box with a French border guard who jumped out to stop and search the car - probably the only car he had seen all day. Today of course that barrier has gone too - yet here in the UK we are building walls again, not least with Ireland.
I am going via Brussels, calling in on old friends - denied the right to vote in the referendum - but now stripped of their rights, nationality and personal freedom as a result.
What dreams and hopes we had, as the first post-war generation to see a European Alliance built on trade, culture and free movement - as opposed to a military alliance. Our children and grandchildren grew up as citizens of Europe, free to work, live and study anywhere in EEA - and now trapped in this little island, whose economy is declining, currency is unwanted, friendless and alone - their rights and freedom eroded.
No apologies for being miserable - the next generation deserved something better from us - and that has been stolen from them. We had the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from a United Europe, no-one forced anyone to use those freedoms – but it is wholly wrong that those who did not understand or want the freedom that European Citizenship offers chose to take it away from our children.
Then there was our first crossing of the Hungarian-Slovak border, near Aggtelek (North East Hungary) - the guards were amazed to see a UK passport at such an obscure crossing - and both sets of guards came out to wave us on - a decade later thanks to Shengen that little border post had gone when we next passed through it, and the world seemed smaller and friendlier.
A trip to the Ardennes also comes to mind,where there is a thin sliver of France that pokes into Belgium. Believe or not on the obscure mountain road that we were driving along there was a little box with a French border guard who jumped out to stop and search the car - probably the only car he had seen all day. Today of course that barrier has gone too - yet here in the UK we are building walls again, not least with Ireland.
I am going via Brussels, calling in on old friends - denied the right to vote in the referendum - but now stripped of their rights, nationality and personal freedom as a result.
What dreams and hopes we had, as the first post-war generation to see a European Alliance built on trade, culture and free movement - as opposed to a military alliance. Our children and grandchildren grew up as citizens of Europe, free to work, live and study anywhere in EEA - and now trapped in this little island, whose economy is declining, currency is unwanted, friendless and alone - their rights and freedom eroded.
No apologies for being miserable - the next generation deserved something better from us - and that has been stolen from them. We had the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from a United Europe, no-one forced anyone to use those freedoms – but it is wholly wrong that those who did not understand or want the freedom that European Citizenship offers chose to take it away from our children.
