The Series Of My Life - Season 2 - Episode 17

4 years ago

The Series Of My Life - Season 2 - Episode 17

Time to Travel
Johnson came to Berlin early in the morning.
We wanted to travel with the day train. The
night train was cheaper but it could not allow
me the pleasure of knowing the routes we
took. I usualy like knowing every single city I
came across.

Slovakia had just been welcomed into European Union. We believed we needed no visa to visit their country, therefore we just bought tickets and boarded a train to Austria.
Slovakia, former colony of Czechoslovakia had
borders with Czechs Republic, Austria,
Hungary, Poland and Ukraine. It was a
small country that was carved out of the
Former Czechoslovakia after years of
Agitation. Germany and the other EU
powerhouse had quickly recognized them as a
sovereign nation and endorsed them into the
EU. There was still tension in the zone which
translated into a maximum security alert from
the EU soldiers. Russia was still very angry
that its former satellite towns were being
divided into smaller nations.

We took train in Berlin and headed to Vienna
Austria. There was a shorter route from
Berlin to Slovakia through Prag/Praha Czecs
Rep. but since the Czecs were not EU
member, our resident permit were not
permitted into the country without Visas.

We drove past the German cities of Leipzig,
Dresden and Regensburg before we entered
into Austria. There was Police control in the
train. The German Police never missed a
thing.

I had found a young lady in the train. She
was about 21, an Austrian who was returning
to Vienna from Germany. We had introduced
ourselves and started chatting and drinking
JaggerMeister; a mild alcohol of about 20%
volume.

The Police had opened our cabin door and
asked for my papers. I handed it over to
them. They scanned my passport with their
detective lenses and reluctantly gave it to me.
The resident permit card took more time.

They weren’t really convinced that it was
authentic because it was unlike German permit which usually got stamped into the
international passport. They took the card and
left. Ten minutes later, they brought it back
to me and apologized.

We got to Austrian Vienna WestBanhof, the
city’s central train station at about 5 pm in
the evening. It was a long ride, therefore we
decided to sleep over in Vienna before going
to Slovakia in the morning.

On our way out of the train station, I saw a
familiar face. He was a Popular Nigerian
Footballer. I approached him and greeted in
Igbo. He stopped and greeted back. It was
Ifeanyi Udeze. He said he was coming back
from Hungary and was going to Insbruck,
another city in Austria. I took pictures with
him and we parted ways.

Johnson wasn’t interested in who UDEZE
was, He never liked football.

We got into the city center and rented a
cheap hotel. After settling down, we went out
to look for food.

There was a Nigerian Restaurant owned by a
Man named Peter. A lot of Nigerians were
inside making noise and shouting as usual. A
football match was going on. I think it was
Chelsea versus Arsenal. Some group were
giving reasons why Chelsea must win and vice
versa.

We ate semo with Egusi soup and left
immediately after that.

Jennifer called as soon as I switched on my
phone.

” I have been calling you but your line was
off” she had said in a hurry.

” I switched it off, what is the problem” I
asked.

” Nothing, I am just missing you Daddy”
she said. Funny girl.

We slept and woke up around 8am the next
morning. It was time to continue our
Journey.

We called our lady contact in Bratislava
Slovakia and told her that we were already in
Vienna. She promised to meet us at the
border when we arrived. We took our showers
and left the hotel.

Vienna to Slovakia was less than an hour drive
with bus. We boarded a bus and got to the
Triangle border between Austria, Slovakia and
Hungary.

The borders were manned by military men who didn’t understood any English word.
They stopped us and asked us to alight from
the bus. They requested for our papers. They
looked at it and asked where Nigeria was
located.

Johnson talked to them in German. He
explained that Nigeria was a country
somewhere in Africa. They weren’t
convinced. We were taken to their military
bunker and asked to stay there while they
called the immigration Police. We sat there
and waited for over an hour before the police
arrived. We were handed over to them along
with our documents. They checked it and
asked us to continue our Journey.

We got to the Slovakian side of the border
and the Immigration Police told us that we
needed visas to enter Slovakia. The lady who
came to welcome us asked us to return to the
Slovakian embassy in Vienna and get a visa.

We were disappointed but there was nothing
we could do. We went back to Vienna for the
visas.

There was a Nigerian man at the Slovakian
embassy in Vienna. He was exchanging harsh
words with the visa officer who had refused to
give him transit visa to Poland through
Slovakia. The problem escalated to a point
where the Visa officer refused to attend to
us.

There was no other option than to go to
Berlin and get the Visa. Damn! We were
going back to Berlin.