Yes! We're in Canada. Our flight was delayed an hour because of connecting flights that were delayed because of fog, so we had to wait for passengers and luggage. Oh well.
We arrived in Montreal at 4pm and thought we'd be honest and declare that we had 400 cigarettes (2 cartons) each instead of the accepted 200. Last time, we also did this and went through without a problem (hey, it's not like we were selling them here!). Anyway, the ladie at the second control sent us through customs. It was a great, big line! Shesh! We were watching as the people in front of us had to open all of their luggage, were questioned and almost treaten like criminals, and that's where we began to sweat! We had declared the ciggies, but not all the schnapps that we had brought. Two for my Dad (one was from Ernst, see previous post), one for my Mom and one for my best friend, Christiane. So we were over by about 1 liter! O-oh!!
After 50 minutes of waiting in line and sweating our butts off (it was also pretty hot in there), we came to this very nice customs officer lady. She just looked at us, at my Canadian passport and then at the mountain of luggage we had on the trolley. She checked our declaration and said:"One carton of cigarettes too many per person?". "Yes", we said. We bought them at duty free, but we're here for 3 weeks. We don't mind paying the extra fee. That's why we declared them." She took another look at our bulk of luggage, then at the line getting longer and just said: "I'd usually have to make you pay for the extra, but the line is just getting longer and I'd have to go through all your luggage. So you can go and enjoy your stay." Ha! Welcome to Canada! I'm not sure if it was the long queue that was waiting, our heap of luggage or OX's charm (I still think it's the latter), but we came through without a scratch.
My Dad was waiting outside and was worried that something had happened to us, so he was really relieved when he saw us finally come out. We were just relieved to have had so much luck. We drove home, unpacked the bare necessities and had a bite to eat.
The next post will be about OrangeX's blooper! Stay tuned!
12 comments:
wow - what a great report. I thought you'd go to Montreal. Very lucky, that nothing went bad! I feel like everyone is always out to get me! I'm guessing there was no information on your passport and so that is why she let you guys through...
Can't wait to hear more...
Oh don't leave us in suspense! I want to hear about the blooper!
Hey...don't you know?
Rauchen ist tödlich. Wenn Sie rauchen, sterben Sie früher.
It says so right on the pack of smokes you left on our balcony table. Your lighter is here too. I hope you remembered to buy a new one.
have a great time!
have a great time!
Welcome Home!! I was talking with my grandparents last night and they said Montreal was getting pretty bad wind storms, but not much snow. Hope your holiday goes well, and you guys stay warm :)
So glad you made it safe-n-sound! As they say, honesty pays, so the gods were watching out for you. :) A nice Merry Christmas welcome to your motherland.
Am looking forward to many posts to come.
Welcome back to Canada. Any snow in the Ottawa valley?
Thank you all for your comments. We're enjoying our time here, but except for a few snowflakes here and there, it's still pretty green.
OX will be the next to post his story :)
Cool border story! I thing we all have one of those! Welcome in Canada!!! I know you will be very busy but if you have time, my invitation to a restaurant in Quebec is still good. Anyway, I will try to reach ya around Christmas Time. And I will e-mail you my phone number. I have some free time (at last) during the Holidays! Take care!
HA! Cannot wait to hear Orange's story.
Enjoy your stay and recover from border adventures. When you come back to Switzerland, don't forget to take 600 kilos of wooden panels with you (without any papers, of course). Swiss customs really like that kind of things, as you might remember...
Have fun!
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