At the Greek border we were all asked to get off the bus for Greek Customs...and that’s when things got interesting.
My friend Cecelia and I had taken the Bus (very highly unusual for me) from Istanbul that morning and got to the Greek border about 2 PM. All of our luggage was taken out and lined up and we were lined up nearby. The Greek custom official told us that they would be using the drug sniffing dog to check us and our luggage. I could see some tense at the prospect of the dog sniffing them. Or were they hiding something?
One of the two dogs was brought out which left the other incensed that he wasn’t being allowed to work and he was yapping madly. I noticed the dogs as the bus pulled in and their ears stood up...they knew..it would be time to go to work. The dog was a big, but friendly looking German Shepard.
First he went around the luggage, he stopped and gave a big sniff to one suitcase belonging to a young Greek man. On his second pass he started to bite at the wheels of the same suitcase. It was pulled out of line. The owner had a grim expression and his face went white. Oh Oh, I thought this will mean a delay for sure.
Then the dog was brought over to the humans for our turn. My travellling companion and freind was standing several people away from me. She is a sweet 67 year old woman, with a past, but that was past for sure. At least I hoped...
When the dog came to me it sniffed me and my shoulder bag and showed no interest at all. But when it got to Cecelia the dog sniffed, went to walk on then abruptly turned back, started sniffing madly around Cecelia’s shoulder bag then stuck his nose under the flap and tried to open it...I am thinking to my self Oh My God! what has she done? Visions of Midnight Express (The Greek Version) started playing in my head. The customs guards came alert and moved toward my friend and told her to step out of line. They led her to the table and wanted her to open her bag.
She looked stricken! She fumbled the clasp, her hands shaking, finally got her bag opened, reached in and pulled out an entire bag of Potato Chips. The guards looked at each other. The Dog was sitting nearby wagging his tail, tongue lolling out and hoping for a potato chip. By this time they had pulled me out of line to empty out my bag. I assume because we were traveling together. After a thorough search of both bags it was concluded we weren’t smuggling anything but potato chips into Greece and we and our luggage were allowed back on the bus.
We laughed for miles about this incident on the border and it is these kinds of things that make leaving home worth it in spades.