Rolling down the ramp of the ferry at Ijmuiden near Amsterdam a few weeks ago, we were motioned to stop by a Dutch immigration official.

"Good morning, how are you today?" he said in easygoing English, squinting into our car. "And where are you off to? Poland? Germany?"

"Belgium," I responded.

Suddenly he looked up from our passports, eyebrows raised. "Belgium? Really?"

Please enable cookies in your browser to display the rest of this article.