I flew today, as I have done over past three months, to Luxembourg (hopefully the last visit if things remain as originally planned).
Considering holidays are almost here and my alcohol stash at home is dangerously low (believe it or not, mostly because the chemical structure has suspiciously changed, so even though technically it might have not expired yet, it’s hardly something I’d want to offer to guests. At least not to those I generally like) and prices in Zagreb duty free shop on the airport are substantially lower than anywhere in EU, I decided to buy some stuff and ended up with a liter of Jagermeister and half a liter of vodka.
Only later it occurred to me that I’m flying through Frankfurt airport which, for number of reasons (not least of because few years back I was slapped with a hefty fine thanks to 2 boxes of cigarettes I was carrying in transit), I hate passionately. Since I believe only one liter of spirits is allowed, even in transit, I fully expected to pay “idiot-tax” there.
So, there I am, on the Frankfurt airport, going through all the mazes and tunnels to reach my exit, and there awaits a final hurdle-security check with x-rays and all.
Sure enough, there comes a guy and goes through my bottles and asks where have I flown in from. So, I said, Zagreb. He thinks about it for a second and says, Aha, Kroatien!
Next thing I know, he tells me to take all of my stuff and follow him.
I’ve already done few calculations on how many bottles of drinks I could have bought in a regular store for the money he’s gonna charge me for now (a LOT).
Just around the corner, he opens the door behind which there was a machine looking like oversize xerox machine. But, instead of writing me a fine, he takes some kind of swab and starts scratching it on my jacket. Turns around, does something with it on the machine, comes back, repeats the procedure on my backpack, back to machine and then comes back telling me it’s OK and that I can go now.
Being thrilled not to be penalized for my drinks, and curious as hell I asked him what was that all about, assuming it might had something to do with testing on drugs.
But it turns out it’s about testing for explosives!

So OK, I definitely have to work on my appearances. I was cleanly shaven, but I was dressed in my regular clothes since on arrival to Lux I was not supposed to go to the office (which pretty much means I looked like an average bum). It certainly didn’t help that it was a morning flight and as usual, I slept all the way from the moment I sat on the plane to the touch down in Frankfurt and at that point most likely gave an impression of the desperate guy with nothing to lose.
But apparently worst of all, I arrived from bloody Kroatien!