Welcome to the town of Baarle-Hertog, an ordinary town in Belgium, except that it's also in the Netherlands, and if you lived there, you might very well not know what country you're in at any one time. Here's a map:



It looks like somebody dropped the town and it shattered.


The city is split between the Netherlands and Belgium in 24 separate divisions of land, some no larger than a Little League baseball field. This madness came about back in the Middle Ages, when feudal lords would gamble with chunks of their land instead of money. Today, having international borders running rampant through the streets like this has led to some quirky situations where the border will run straight through houses or buildings that have been built since. Or, through the dining area of a cafe:



"Hey, you spilled your coffee." "Screw it, it's Belgium's problem now."



Some have even taken advantage of the screwy legal situation this presents. Like when Dutch laws required restaurants to close at a certain time, restaurants on the border would simply move their patrons to the Belgian side.

Then there's one story about a bank that had an ingenious method for money laundering -- Dutch authorities knew they were doing something criminal, but couldn't get to the vault since, even though the entrance was in the Netherlands, the vault was in Belgium. But likewise, Belgian authorities couldn't enter the entrance because it was in the Netherlands. So they both had to sit idly by and watch it happen, until someone had the amazing idea that the two nations should work together to make the bust. Now that's thinking outside the box.



"... and eventually, we all just sort of decided 'Bleep those guys.'"

@Poster
Thanks i have been laughing over this. This location now moves to the top of my MUST VISIT PLACES. I hope i will find a hotel where my room is in Belgium, The diner in Netherlands, The bar in Belgium(Dont want to meet quer people after a few glasses).

But for the Euro one may need dual currencies. Wondering which Visa will be faster for summer. I think i will go with Belgium.

Thanks poster again and lovely pix.