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| Africa | Florence | Germany | Greece | Interlaken |
| Lugano | Milano | Monaco | Prague | Venice |
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One of my missions at
the beginning of the semester was to plan a trip to head out to Munich,
Germany for Oktoberfest. My
friends Chad, Marissa, Kana, and I rented a 2000 VW Passat and took off
for Munich for the last weekend of Oktoberfest (supposedly the craziest
weekend of them all). We stopped
to make our first gas fill up in a small town along the way.
When I went to go pay for the bill, I realized that the currency
they were asking for was neither Swiss Francs nor German Marks...I was
confused - it turns out that Chad had directed me into the boonies of
Austria! We drove through the
Alps of Austria in the middle of the night and ended up sleeping in the
car in some rest stop along the way. Chad
and I folded down the rear seats and slept in the trunk while the girls
got the nice, cozy front seats. In
the morning we made our way into Germany. We crossed the
boarder early in the morning and ripped through the autobahn at
excessive speeds. We stopped at a
town called Fussen, a small town in the German countryside, to check out
a castle that Marissa and Chad were raving about. We touched down in
Fussen in the morning and walked around town to gather some information
on where the castle was located. We
ate lunch and made our way to Neushwanstein (the castle that was used by
Walt Disney as a model for the Cinderella castle).
As we approached the parking lot, I felt as though I was a part
of some fairytale, amazed by beauty of the castle.
The gang and I relished the sites and made our way towards Munich
for the biggest party in the world: Oktoberfest! We got to Munich in a timely fashion thanks to the high-speed and efficient autobahn. Nearing the venue mid-day, we saw countless drunks passed out on grass fields in some of the most ridiculous positions imaginable. We got to the event safely and were blown way by the amount of people in the festival. From my observation, Oktoberfest is one big carnival with lots of potent beer for all ages. There were fights, cat calling, singing, yelling, puking and stuff that you could never imagine drunken people doing. We got some drinks at the Hof Brau tent. Don’t let the word "tent" fool you! These “tents” were literally the size of a warehouse lined with wooden tables and chairs and filled with beer-guzzling fanatics. When we walked into the tent, we were overwhelmed with the number of people that could squeeze into one tent. There must have been over a thousand of them; in fact there were so many people there that you couldn’t even see the tables and seats…amazing. Tall German women with large breasts were carrying steins (large beer mugs) in the bosoms, up to 10 at a time, and slam them down on the table for you to drink! In reflection: Oktoberfest is a fantasy world come true if you are a training alcoholic. We passed the night away in the tent hanging out with a bunch of locals and headed home to Lugano in the evening. |
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This picture was taken on a bridge that borders Neushwanstein. The view was spectacular and the weather couldn’t have been any better. Marissa, Kana, and I were speechless. On a foggy day, it is said that the castle looks like it is floating on clouds. (Picture taken by Chad) | |||
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Chad, Marissa, and I in downtown Fussen. I never imagined the German countryside to be this beautiful! (Picture taken by Kana) | |||
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The welcome sign in Munich entering Oktoberfest. Little did we know what was in store for the rest of the day? | |||
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Picture of Marissa, Kana and I in front of one of the main tents. Check out my new T-shirt! I tried to find the most ugly one possible. Funny thing is, I haven’t worn the shirt since. (Picture taken by Chad) | |||
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Marissa and I holding our steins in the HB tent. Some random dude decided to join us for the picture. Check out the size of the mugs. (Picture taken by Chad) | |||
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This is the first thing we saw when we entered the HB tent. A sea of people all drinking and having the time of their lives! | |||
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Picture taken in Fussen by the castle. You can see the Austrian Alps in the backdrop. (Picture taken by Chad) | |||
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Our first view of Neushwanstein from the parking lot. It felt as though I was in some storybook fairytale. | |||
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Group shot of Chad, Marissa, Kana, and I with Neushwanstein in the background. (Picture taken by another tourist) | |||
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Photography by Kohta Tabuchi ::: yossi33kt@yahoo.com Web design by Wilson Tai ::: wilson@racingmix.com
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