Well, I was 24 and this was before smartphones. I was young and eager for knowledge and information. I spent six weeks there working for an international school.

At the square, they'd come up to me and asked me questions. We chatted, they asked me if I like the square and I said "Well, it's quite famous because of the massacre of 1989" and it was like a switch. People took off.

There were no recomendations of subjects to talk about. No "nono-subjects". Twitter wasn't invented. YouTube hadn't started. If you wanted to know things, you had to ask.

Also, I'm from Northern Europe. I have no problem taking tourists around talking about assassinations, political situations or the Stockholm syndrome. Sensitive subjects wasn't really a problem for me. And is still not today.

I spent a few times in LA in 96, New York in 2001 etc. Never had any problem asking americans about politics or riots. They are very open-minded and friendly.

Would I go there now and ask about this? Nah, i'd probably get arrested.

But back then - still quite a different world.