D-Day

I took a weekend trip on September 17th to Normandy from Paris and went to see the beaches of D-Day. I got to the town of Bayeux at 4 and was too late for the busses that take visitors to the beaches. The rain started to pour and I felt disheartened by the entire event, I was so close yet so far.

I was already in Bayeux so I decided to be outgoing (my new found self in Europe) and started making small talk with the french guy working behind the desk at the bus station. It turns out that this 22 year old kid named Maxi, was familiar with the state of Washington because he spent a year of high school in Spokane. More proof that it is really a small world. So I still felt horrible about not being able to see the beaches and I even told Maxi that my grandfather fought in WWII. I decided to go all out and just asked him if he wanted to drive me around the beaches after work. Without a hitch he said that he would love to do it. So I find myself flying down rain drenched streets towards the beaches that shaped the modern world. He was a great tour guide and even charged the beaches with me in a pathetic attempt to recreate the battles of D-Day.

I’ll never forget the vast beaches of Normandy and I’ll never forget the generosity of strangers.

Oktoberfest

I'm writing this post from Berlin and still have a slight head ache, back ache, stomach ache and other aches from what is the biggest and craziest party in the entire world. Let's begin...

I'm travelling with my buddy Ed from the Berlin program and we just arrived to Munich from Paris. I've heard about Oktoberfest and the 6 million people that pack a crowded square to get shit faced, but i never imagined the magnitude of the entire thing. Imagine 14 tents lined up along a square that stretches 6 blocks. Each tent can hold 6,000 people, and the only way to get into a tent is to line up at 830 in the morning.

So Ed and I line up for some random tent that had a bull and a woman on the front, we heard a lot of german speakers around so we need we hit the local favorite. 9 am comes around and one little, tiny door opens up. Immediatly all you can hear are screams and maddness. The line compresses and I am litterally crushed by thousands of people trying to enter a tent through one small door.

We slowly inch our way into the tent and somehow find 2 seats next to some aussies. The beer doesn't flow until 12 and when the keg was tapped waitress upon waitress rushed out holding 12 beers each.

Long story short, 2 and a half liters of beer later and im gone. I remember the dancing on the tables, singing the same 3 german songs, broken steins and big ass pretzels. I then dont remember anything and somehow time travelled to 7 pm, outside walking around the massive carnival.

I apparently did some things that I dont remember but have pictures of it, so once i get my computer running i will post pics. Oktoberfest is everything you hear and then some, and next time I go I hope I remember more.