Prost!!!

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Today was another early morning as we have 3 countries today. We left Lucerne and made our way on the coach over to Mt. Stanserhorn. Arriving in the small town of Stans, we all got our funicular ticket that would take us all the way to the top of the mountain with views of the surrounding Alps. The entire group took this optional and we all boarded this little train that would take us to the furnicular. It was a very relaxing ride with cool crisp air mixed with the sounds of cowbells ringing in the distance. We then all got into a very tight squeezing funicular for the rest of the ride. Everytime the funicular dipped, I got a little uneazyness in stomach and some people let out a few gasps. For those in the front, there were really cool views of the surrounding area as it was a perfectly sunny day. It was definetly no place for someone afraid of heights. We finally arrived a the top, and we had an hour to walk around and explore before heading back to the bottom. Suzanne, Clay, and myself decided to do a little exploration down some random trail. We thought this trail would lead us somewhere interesting but apparently it was only going down the mountain. So we decided to turn around and we found the correct trail that lead us higher up the mountain. However, being out of shape I decided not to go any further up the mountain and was content with just enjoying the fantastic views of the valley below. The rest of the time up here was just spent shopping for souvenirs and having a light snack. While riding back down the mountain on the funicular, my ears desperately needed to pop but despite my best attempts was not able to. My inner ear was in agonizing pain and I spent the next half hour yawning and chewing gum trying to get them to pop. We had a lunch stop over in Liechtenstein, one of the world's smallest countries. There wasn't much to do or see here. The highlight was getting my passport stamped for 2 euros. We had lunch at a small gyro shop, looked around a bit, and saw the castle from a distance. Other than that it was back on the coach for the drive into Germany and the beginning of Oktoberfest in Munich. We drove along the Autobahn for a while where Matt began his usual speel on the history of the country we were about to check out. I could usually count on his talk to put me into a good sleep but this time his lecture on German history was really interesting and kept my attention. Matt was proving to be a wealth of knowledge when it comes to European history and so far is turning out to be a great tour manager. We finally arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in the suburbs of Munich. Patrice and I got a room overlooking the courtyard and when I looked out over the balcony, there was Patrick below trying to get my attention. He had apparently missed the coach again in Paris and took a train to Munich to meet up with us. This room was by far the best of the entire trip. Finally, a nice comfortable bed with huge fluffy pillows. Too bad, the rest of the hotels couldn't be like this. We had about 2 hours to kill before we were to head on over to the center of Munich. I just took a walk around the courtyard of the hotel while Amy and Mar walked over to a nearby Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies. We all met up in the hotel lobby and proceeded to walk over to the nearby subway station to take us to the center of Munich. It took forever for all of us to get our subway tickets. Some of us just couldn't figure out the machines. Finally we all got in, boarded the subway and within a few minutes were standing in front of the Glockenspiel. Being the night before the beginning of Oktoberfest, there were a lot of people out and about. There wasn't that much to see and do in Munich so we decided to just walk around before going to the Hofbrauhaus to meet up with everyone. The Hofbrauhaus is a famous beer hall in the heart of Munich complete with a traditional German band and waitresses in typical German attire. We found a restaurant to have dinner at not too far from the Hofbrahaus. Being that it was really busy, we had to separate into 2 tables. Patrice and I at one table and everyone else at another. I had the schnitzel which turned out to be really good as well as a Radler, which was just lime soda mixed with beer. After dinner, we decided to try our luck at the Hofbrahaus which was totally packed. As we were trying to get in, Suzanne was pulled off to the side and wasn't allowed to get in. Apparently, they won't let you in if you have sandles on. After trying to argue with the security and seeing others with sandles get in, we decided to leave and go searching for a pair of cheap shoes to buy. Already a bit annoyed at having to leave the Hofbrauhaus, it had now begun to sporadically rain. We visited a few shoe stores and there wasn't anything that Suzanne found acceptable in both looks and price. She finally settled on a pair of shoes and we made our way back into the Hofbrahaus. Once we got in, we weren't able to find any Contiki people nor anyplace to sit. We wandered for a bit still trying to find any place to sit but to no avail. It was so loud and packed and I can tell everyone was a bit irritated so we all decided to just leave. Suzanne had bought a pair of shoes for nothing. We walked around a bit trying to kill time and found an internet cafe to check up on e-mails. Suzanne and Clay tried to call their airline to see if they can extend their stay all the way to Athens. They were unsuccessful unless they wanted to shell out another $1,000 to change their flights. We just all decided to call it a night and hailed a taxi to head back over to the hotel and hang out in someone's room. Back at the hotel, we all changed into more comfy clothing and brought some snacks and met up in Mar and Amy's room where we began to play some cards. Clay ran into Fridge somewhere in the hall and told Clay that the Hofbrahaus was staying open late tonight. According to him, it was going to be happening tonight and that we should head on over. Back in the room, Clay, Suzanne, and myself realized when is the next time we are going to be in Germany for Oktoberfest? We decided to put our party hats back on and head back out. Patrice, Mar, and Amy decided to just be party poopers and call it a night. So the 3 of us hailed another taxi and went back over to the Hofbrahaus. By now, it was a bit past midnight and when we got to the front doors, they were letting people out as they were closing for the night. "This sucks" we all thought. As we stood there not knowing what to do next, we ran into a few Contiki people who said that they were all going to meet up at the Hard Rock Cafe right across the street. We waited in line to get inside Hard Rock with Kevin and a totally wasted Patrick while being pushed and shoved from behind by all these drunk and loud people. It was total madness and once we got in, it was completely packed and the music was blaring. We had lost Patrick at this point and we tried to find some other Contiki people without luck. We decided to make our way over to the bar and get a few beers. On our way to the bar, we ran into this group of 10 drunk guys wearing skirts. One of the guys drunkenly fell to the floor totally exposing his twig and berries. All of his buddies then proceeded to feel him up. It is only the night before the beginning of Oktoberfest. I can only imagine what the next few weeks were going to be like here. We finally got to the front of the bar and ordered our beers and a water for drunk Kevin. We searched around for a place to sit when we found Michael from South Africa, and the 5 girls from Australia later to be known as the Aussie gossip crew. We made our introductions, watched all the drunks, and hung out with them for the rest of the night.

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