Border crossing

April 24, 2020 | Berlin | 20-29 years

I took the early morning high speed train from Berlin to Fribourg in the south of Germany. I arrived around noon and since I had my road bike with me, I went for a day trip in the black forest. After a few hours in the saddle, I needed to stop for refreshment on the other side of the German-French border. I walked into a small casino and had a cold Coca-Cola. With the first sip, I realized that we were living in times of the corona virus and I wasn’t supposed to cross the border. A police man walked in the bar and while there were dozens of other people present, he immediately came to me: “You’re arrested for illegal trespassing the German-French border. Come with me.” Unable to say anything to my defence, I followed him to the station. A tribunal read me my charges. The authorities had flown in my dad to defend me but I heard he was arrested upon arrival as well. I hope he’s fine.