Justin Kuntz's European Blog of Blogs

Prost! Prost! A german word meaning cheers, was pounded into my head this weekend, one filled with excitement, survival, singing, bratwurst, BMW, amazing sour krout, and BEER.  Oktoberfest is most definitely a holiday that is not to be missed.  This past weekend was spent in Munich, Germany where I experienced my first Oktoberfest.  We went through a great program called Bus2Alps that took care of everything the entire weekend.  We met up with our trip leader Mike from Bus2Alps and he gave us the low-down on the weekend, exciting us all even further.  After an eight hour bus ride through the alps at night, with no working tv’s if I may add (just my luck im two for two these days!) we finally arrived in beautiful Germany the next morning.  Having only seen Germany from the Autobahn on my last excursion through Europe, it was amazing to see the German countryside in depth on the way to the camp-site.  Once there, the Australian crew greeted us, oh how I have missed them.  Standing in line for our sleeping bags they handed us all ice cold, frothy cups of beer in typical Australian fashion, beginning a marathon of beer exploration that is Oktoberfest. 

            We left for the festival right away, and followed a mob of tourists and Germans to the main gates.  The suspenders and high shorts of the German lederhosen were a common sight.  Inside the festival reminded me of the Del Mar Fair back home, but on steroids.  Huge white tents along the sides of a river of people seemed to go on for miles.  We entered the quite famous Hofbrau tent right away, hearing that it was the one with the most English speaking inhabitants.  Inside I found 7500 screaming, drunken people from around the globe, not one with out a beer in hand.  At the strike of 10 o’clock a.m. I enjoyed my first liter of true German beer, and it did not disappoint.  A perfect mix of tastes without the weight of a dark brew, I now know why the Germans are famous for their fantastic beer, as they are the true master craftsmen.  Beautiful German beer maids then brought a plate of bratwurst and sour kraut that being the greatest sausage and sour kraut I’ve had in my entire life.   I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to the mulch they serve in America.  We sang songs, drank fantastic beer, and “cheersed” more than I had ever thought possible.  It was a great day.  Day two consisted of a similar experience, however we lost one of our friends that day.   It would not be until a full 20 hours later that I would find him, and figure out the crazy adventure that he experienced in that time.  I listened attentively as he told me how he woke up in a hospital, on an IV, with no idea how he got there.  Not knowing that in Germany one receives free healthcare, and also in shock, he ripped out the IV and made a break for the exit as fast as he could.  Out of nowhere he was tackled by a huge German male nurse, and brought to the ground in his hospital gown in the lobby.  After bringing him back to his bed, the nurse explained that he blew a BAC of .23 and had to be punched and knocked out to stop his insistent resisting.  The entire story he still doesn’t remember.  Not the greatest blackout story to be told about that is for sure.  Finally after clearing up everything in the hospital, he enjoyed the public Munich bus system for 3 hours until he got to the campsite.   It was a crazy weekend for us all, but in my opinion, he had us all beat.