One day back in late 2003 or early 2004, I happened to be in Riga in the evening when Latvia voted about joining the European Union. And I happened to have dinner with someone who actually had an invitation to the official event. So we got a little drunk and then went there, where we met all the ambassadors and politicians and influential business people; where we were a little underdressed (the only other people as underdressed as us were some German journalists I believe); and where we had some more drinks.
At one point, the Latvian president showed up, it turned out the voters had decided to join the European Union, everybody was happy and cheering, the president gave a speech and then disappeared, and we had some more drinks. Some of them together with some countries' ambassadors which I rather won't specify, they were pretty pissed as well, and enjoyed the party.
Later, everybody had disappeared, including my friend, and I started walking out with two guys I had met on the party, one journalist from Germany and one from Russia. On the way out, we just sort of semi-acidentally removed the Europe flat that was there, a nice piece of Europe flag, made of shiny fabrics. We walked off towards the old town to grab some more drinks, and on the way must have left a funny picture - because we were actually playing Batman respectively Superman with the Europe flag, using it as a cape, running around the streets.
You can interpret it as cheering the EU...
At one point, the Latvian president showed up, it turned out the voters had decided to join the European Union, everybody was happy and cheering, the president gave a speech and then disappeared, and we had some more drinks. Some of them together with some countries' ambassadors which I rather won't specify, they were pretty pissed as well, and enjoyed the party.
Later, everybody had disappeared, including my friend, and I started walking out with two guys I had met on the party, one journalist from Germany and one from Russia. On the way out, we just sort of semi-acidentally removed the Europe flat that was there, a nice piece of Europe flag, made of shiny fabrics. We walked off towards the old town to grab some more drinks, and on the way must have left a funny picture - because we were actually playing Batman respectively Superman with the Europe flag, using it as a cape, running around the streets.
You can interpret it as cheering the EU...
Once I got searched by the police in downtown Zurich at 3am. Well, I was often searched by the police at a certain age, probably because I looked like one of these guys who would carry marijuana around with them (often enough I actually did). Anyway, there are two times I was searched that I enjoyed.
One was when on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, in the tiny little village near the German border where my ex girlfriend used to live, near the railway station. Empty place, no people, peaceful countryside mood and atmosphere, and suddenly this normal type of guy walks up and shows a police ID. I had never expected to be searched there, then, from a policeman in civil clothes.
The second one was provoked by me, and only because I was bored. I was around 17 or so, came from some workshop in Zurich, and missed the last train back to my city, so I had to spend the night in Zurich. I started walking around with my rucksack, was pretty bored, tried to walk into the more active districts of town but couldn't find much activity there either (and also didn't have any money to even get a beer). So at some point around 3am, I walked past a police station, where two of the guys were standing outside in front of the main door. I took my chance for some nighttime entertainment by walking up to them and asking: "Good evening Sirs, would you like to search me?". No need to mention, they wanted, so they started to search my bag and stuff for marijuana (or whatever). The nice point about it: I just came from that workshop, so I had about 100 or 150 big fat marker pens with me. Of each of them, they opened the cap, looking for hidden stuff near the pen's tip. It took a while...
One was when on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, in the tiny little village near the German border where my ex girlfriend used to live, near the railway station. Empty place, no people, peaceful countryside mood and atmosphere, and suddenly this normal type of guy walks up and shows a police ID. I had never expected to be searched there, then, from a policeman in civil clothes.
The second one was provoked by me, and only because I was bored. I was around 17 or so, came from some workshop in Zurich, and missed the last train back to my city, so I had to spend the night in Zurich. I started walking around with my rucksack, was pretty bored, tried to walk into the more active districts of town but couldn't find much activity there either (and also didn't have any money to even get a beer). So at some point around 3am, I walked past a police station, where two of the guys were standing outside in front of the main door. I took my chance for some nighttime entertainment by walking up to them and asking: "Good evening Sirs, would you like to search me?". No need to mention, they wanted, so they started to search my bag and stuff for marijuana (or whatever). The nice point about it: I just came from that workshop, so I had about 100 or 150 big fat marker pens with me. Of each of them, they opened the cap, looking for hidden stuff near the pen's tip. It took a while...