Hi,

even though I come from Vienna, Austria, where we have wonderful,
world-famous pastries, I still love American-style donuts, which you
won't find in Austria. Interestingly, most of the post-communist
countries had a huge influx of American chains, including Dunkin'
Donuts, while we only have McDonald's - but those abound, it seems
that every other town now has one... When I lived in the US, I found
Dunkin' Donuts to be good enough, but on a trip to Canada I
absolutely fell for Tim Hortons. Much, much better, really!

To bring a little border-related stuff into this message: There is a
Dunkin' Donuts at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, near the parking lot.
To get there before the Schengen era, you had to leave neutral
territory, enter the Netherlands, buy Donuts, and then go back. I had
to show my passport twice just to buy some Donuts! But it was worth
it! :-)

Another airport story: Innsbruck, Austria, has a tiny airport with
only one small waiting lounge, from which you cross the airfield and
enter the plane directly. If you fly to another Schengen country, you
don't have to show your passport, just the boarding pass, but if the
flight ends in a non-Schengen country you have to go through passport
clearance. But here's the funny point: Everybody waits in the same
lounge, no matter where they go! Shortly after Austria joined
Schengen, I once arrived at Innsbruck from the U.S. via Frankfurt,
Germany. In Frankfurt, I went through passport controls only with my
carry-on baggage, but no customs controls. So when I arrived in
Innsbruck, I just picked up my checked luggage and left the airport.
I could have "smuggled" anything in my checked luggage without even
having to lie to any customs official!

Greetings,
AntonZ