Unlawfully Dreaded Strife

Well as many of you know I have just returned from my first major vacation. Europe. It was lovely. The culture, the people, the sights, but the lovely experiences are not always the most memorable ones. That is why I have chosen to share with you about my run ins...(yes plural) with the police (Canadian), the polizei (German), the policii (Czech) AND le police (French). I kid you not, I had run ins with the law authorities in every country I visited except for Switzerland. 

It all started in my first airport, yes, within the first hour of my trip. The security guard was adamant on refusing my carryon. He told me over and over again that I had liquids in my backpack, but I knew that I did not. The female security officer took me aside and talked to me and searched my bag three times and finally let me through. Thank goodness for people in power that hold a balance of kindness. 

Security was a breeze in Frankfurt, aside for the 200+ line of people who didn't respect my personal space. But just because I wasn't bothered by the polizei in the airport does not mean I didn't meet them later. My encounter with the German police was one of the scariest moments in my life. The friend who I was staying with and I rented a car to drive us to Prague and back. We invited a fellow Canadian, packed our bags, and headed on our journey at 7:00am on December 27th (which also happened to be my birthday). We visited Neuschwanstein Castle (the one the Disney castle is based off of), the concentration camp in Dachau, and kept trucking towards our destination. It was around 7pm and we were a little distance from what we believed to be the Czech border (there's really no way to tell in those close knit European countries) and we saw a police car speed by. No siren blaring, just lights. They pulled in front of us and headed for the quickly approaching exit. They didn't exit, and instead circled our car again until we pulled over. One of the officers exited the ghost car and started barking at Kaly, telling her where to park. He reached in through the Driver's window and put on the emergency break, and continued to bark until finally I hit the four-way flashers. During this time the first officer was shouting at Kaly (all in German) asking her if she was stupid.

The second officer came to my side of the car and demanded the rental papers, which we had conveniently stored in the glove compartment. They matched the name on Kaly's licence. Then the second officer, who a long with the first was wearing casual clothing, demanded passports. I told him mine was in the trunk, so I got out of the car and raced to obtain my life line. The second officer leaned on the guard rail, and took his long mental flashlight and banged it aggressively on the rail which seemed every three seconds. I opened my pink polk-a-dotted luggage as fast as humanly possible and my hand dove for the passport that was mingled in amongst travel information and boarding passes. We surrendered our passports, and waited for what seemed to be a very long time. The second officer almost cracked a smile when he saw "Great Britain"  on one of the passports, but that moment quickly passed. They let us go, without any indication of why they pulled us over. Their last words were to me, in English: "Be safe, drive slowly." 

Drive slowly?!? We are the people that drive under 100 on the main highways. Of COURSE we are going to drive slowly, especially in a foreign country. Be safe?!? Of COURSE we are going to be safe. You know what was the least safe thing we did on the trip? Pull over on the main highway! The highway we were driving on was the Autobahn, and for those of you who do not know, very rarely does that highway have a speed limit (wikipedia even says so), and if it does....it is 130km. I can assure you we were not speeding. 

If you think that a police officer yelling at you and beating a weapon near you is a scary experience, just imagine that yelling in German, and it is amplified by 10, heck! When Germans say "thank you" "bitte", it sounds terrifying. I should also add that to this day it remains a mystery as to why we angered the German police. 

Our Czech policii experience was much more calm. We were very lost, and driving around the middle of the city of Prague (not a good idea). GPS was having a difficult time showing us where the information centre was....and truth be told we found it on our last day in Prague by just stumbling by it. We ended up in an area where many of the embassies were, and the police were checking vehicles. We really just needed a place to turn around, but that was difficult to communicate with them so we went through the check (no pun intended). An embarrassing part of this story is that we couldn't figure out how to pop the hood. We gave the police the car manuel, and he just smiled and told us to drive through. The two czech officers were extremely friendly, but even still I'm glad we only came across them the once. 

My experience with French police was the best definition of a close call. After a nice day trip in Strasbourg it was time to return to the Black Forest. We were on the wrong train twice, but finally got off of that train before it pulled away. We found out where we needed to be and ran at full speed and just made the train. We took the first seats we could find, but then a man entered that needed those seats, because they are the seats where you can hang a bicycle. We moved to the upper level and rested a bit. A few stops later, two male police officers boarded the train in uniform. I had my back to them so Kaly leaned in to inform me that they were checking people for passports. Mine was sitting on Kaly's nightstand. They checked a few people, and even the man directly behind me was fidgeting for his. I was very panicked. At first I thought there was a dangerous person on the train, like maybe the guy who sat near us on the way into France, who's backpack started smoking, and who was carrying a fancy gun case. Then my mind started spinning. I was sure I was going to end up deported, or worse, in French jail. I put my right hand over my eyes, and prayed with all my strength. The police disembarked the train at the next stop, and I kissed my passport when I returned home. 

Aside from the long lines that almost caused me to miss my connecting flight, security and customs in the airports on my way home were a breeze. I am very happy to be in the land of Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who have never pulled me over, terrified me, or barked at me in a foreign language. 

Road Check in Prague, Czech Republic

Police car in Freiburg, Germany

Police car in Freiburg, Germany