The joy of getting drunk for free

This past week I went to two popular events in and around Geneva: "Nuit des Bains" and "Caves ouverts". These are essentially just two varieties of the same event, where one takes place in the area around Rue des Bains in Geneva and the other one is spread out in the Genevois countryside. Sure, they have their differences, for instance, the former claims to be a night of art gallery openings (where the "night" lasts for three hours and stretches from 18h00 to 21h00) whereas the latter is marketed as a wine tasting festival. The truth is though, that most people don't really know this. What they know, and what they care about, is that they are going to a place where there is free wine and a good chance of running into someone you know. The majority of the people who go around the galleries at nuit des Bains couldn't care less about the art. I know, because I tried to look at some of it last Thursday but failed because of the groups of mingling wine drinkers that blocked the pictures on the walls. I also had great difficulties even entering some of the galleries, since the crowds around the wine and snacks table were clogging up the entrance. I'm generally pro free wine, but since I'm not drinking at the moment I noticed the down side of this generosity more clearly than I have done before, when I have been one of them. If you're not one of the freeloaders yourself, the crowds tend to grow more annoying and the whole experience becomes rather disturbing and muddled by the lack of space and possibility to focus on the art.

It may seem pointless and even stupid to go to a wine tasting festival if you don't drink wine, I am aware of this. But it's also kind of a nice and festive event, and if you can't drink, you can always eat. And indeed I managed to get myself some free dinner, which made it all worthwhile. The wine drinkers did seem to enjoy it vastly though; the sun was shining on this what seemed to be the first summer's day of the year, and the wine was flowing. But much in the same way that the visitors at Nuit des Bains don't have any persistent memories of the artworks, none of the wine drinkers at Caves ouverts that I talked to seemed to have any idea of what they had been drinking... Apart from the ones that actually bought some bottles of course - they had the labels to go by.

It's strange how the joy of getting drunk for free can make you so much more tolerant towards crowded places than if you're sober; I remember last year's Caves ouverts as a joyful and relaxed day and wasn't really bothered by the crowds in front of the bars and the waiting. I suppose being sober turns you into a more bitter and intolerant person.