Schengen
VALGA, Estonia – Not much time for reflection at the moment, but enough to confess that I ended up going to Valga for the Schengen festivities after all. Watched a small display of fireworks, listened to an Ode to Joy and became part of the historic event as Latvians and Estonians crossed the border en masse leaving the border control checks a thing of the past.
It’s a great day to be a European.
December 21st, 2007 at 12.59
I was the last foreigner to get my passport stamped by border guards on both sides: I went to Latvia around 23:30, took a beer at the casino a few hundred meters from the border on Semin?ra, then came back just before midnight. The Estonian border guards got emotional as they were handing me my passport back, right when the first of 12 bells was ringing before the two mayors’ speeches.
December 21st, 2007 at 13.12
I understand that Ode to Joy is the EU anthem. Prieka and Santé to a united Europe!