Oktoberfest! Munich, Germany

What an experience! I can't remember ever laughing so hard and having so much fun!! Oktoberfest is a 3 week annual event in Munich. The weekends are busier and the 2nd weekend, when we were there, is the busiest. It is a big carnival that has 14 huge tents full of tables and benches. You can only get a drink if you are in a tent at a table. When the tents are full they close and dont let anymore people in, which can be as early as 10am. We were couchsurfing with the nicest couple ever, Hilmar and Manuela (and their friend Laren from France). We got in Friday night and went straight to oktoberfest at 5:30pm. The tents were already closed but since we were with locals, they knew how to get us in and they had a table in the Ochsenbratenei tent.  The band played music all night long and everyone stood on the benches singing and dancing and drinking out of 1 litter steins. Their friends were so welcoming. We said we were from America and they all said "AMERICA! Here's to America!" And we had a cheers and drank to America. Of course, they slam their beers together so hard and cheers every 5 seconds but it was still really sweet how easily we were accepted. They explained an Oktoberfest rule that if you leave your beer and you haven't drank below the Spatan symbol, then anyone can take it and drink. Haha. We had so much fun what an incredible night!!

The next day we woke up at 8:30am and started a full day of: Zumba dance class with my host, BBQ lunch, and sightseeing. Munich is a beautiful town full of Bavarian culture. We saw the surfers that surf in the river, we walked this cute little market, viktualienmarkt, and the central square. It has a clock tower and when the clock chimes at 5pm the little people spin around. In the evening we went to an Irish pub to catch the hurling final. Our county, Clare, won!!! Yay! Up the banner. 

For breakfast our hosts cooked us a traditional German breakfast of white veal sausage, pretzel and beer. We absolutely loved everything about the Bavarian culture and Munich. Oktoberfest was definitely an experience of a lifetime!!!

Perfect european city-Prague, Czech Republic

Today the stars were perfectly aligned for us. It was an absolutely beautiful day! Prague is exactly what I think of when I think of a European city. It has all the historic charm, beautiful rivers, cobble stone streets, and  old buildings. We visited the New Jerusalem area, the Astronomical clock tower (built in 1490), Charles Bridge, and the Czech Palace.  Compared to the last few cities we have been to, it was much smaller. It was easy to walk around and still have time to relax over a beer and lunch. 

We got off to a really good start today because the owner of the campground we are staying at is the sweetest old man ever! The campground has free wifi, showers, phone chargers,  toilet paper, and city maps. Then the owner was helping us get train tickets and showing us the places to check out. I now realize the importance of being nice to strangers. Being a foreigner is really tough! When someone helps you figure out how to buy a bus ticket or gives you directions when you are lost it really makes a world of difference!

Deutschland! Berlin-Germany

Berlin was a huge city. We really only had time to visit about half of it.  We saw the TV Tower, the Berlin Wall, the holocaust memorial, checkpoint Charlie, the topography of terrors and the east Berlin Wall museum. The city is full of WWII history. Going through the "memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe" made me cry. It's a part of history that is so hard to even imagine. I didn't really know the history of the Berlin Wall. People were shot trying to escape to West Berlin up until the wall was taken down in 1990. That's really recent if you think about it. Berlin has preserved its dark history and not sugar coated it at all. The memorials and museums are all over the city and they were all free to the public. 

In recent years Germany has re-established itself and is now becoming one of the wealthier countries in Europe. They have a lot of construction on the roads and buildings, they have free public bathrooms, free museums and free highways. Their freeways are so perfect, they make LA freeways look like Mr Toad's wild ride. There are no speed limits on the freeways. Our little Rover, Cloe, was doing 80 and every car on the road was flying by us. Even the soccer moms with a car full of kids were driving by us like we were standing still. Berlin is also legendary for their Curry- wurst. They lived up to the hype, they really are delicious! 

Sensory overload- Amsterdam, Netherlands

What an intense city! There are sights, sounds and smells in every direction. It's hard to take it all in. We walked through the three main canals, Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Kiezengracht. They have buildings all along them that lean in all directions. A local told us the city is 700 years old so overtime they have sunk. There are also really modern house boats along the canals making them so beautiful and interesting. It is a beautiful city full of history. We also saw Anne Franks house, Heineken factory, the flower market and of course, the Red Light District. Prostitution and smoking Marijuana are legal in Amsterdam. As you walk though the red light district they have red fluorescent lights above the glass doors. Inside are half naked women waiting for their next customer. It's actually really sad because most of the girls are young and almost all look like foreigners. We walked through one section of the streets and its so quiet it gives you the creeps, then we got out of there. To really see the whole city of Amsterdam you would need to spend a few days at least. There is a huge biking community but the bike paths are not well distinguished from the walking paths. Every time you cross a street you have to look in 20 different directions or you will get taken out by a biker. Yikes. You have to constantly stay on your toes in Amsterdam.

Beer, chocolate and waffles- Brugge, Belgium

A country known for beer, chocolate, and waffles, what more could one ask for? We had a great time in Brugge. It is a great town that you can pretty much walk in a day or two. It is getting to be fall so everyone had their boots on and their fall decorations out. The city also has great antique stores and tons of lace doily stores,  not sure whats up with that. We saw the center square with the clock tower, the windmills, the famous churches and of course had beer at 'T Brugs Beertje. They had a huge selection of incredibly delicious beers. They have such great flavor but you have to watch them because they are like 9% alcohol. 

We camped, despite the fact that it was like 30 degrees at night. I'm really putting my 20 degree rated sleeping bag to the test. Our car is completely loaded up with 30 days of food, camping gear, our bags, etc. When we parked it in the free section, so we could walk into town, we could barley get the door closed.  Adam rolls his eyes and says "it looks like a bunch of homeless people are living out of that thing". I thought for a second and then said "I think the definition of homeless is 'someone who doesn't have a home', so... I'm thinking that's probably us." lol... thats when realization hit me... my life is so strange right now.

4 countries in 24 hrs- an emotional roller coaster

We had 4days of saying our tearful goodbyes to Ireland and all our friends. Our generous hosts (Alan and Laurie), our neighbors (Marilyn, Mary and Joe), our friends from Northclare community church (Steve, Leslie, Brian, Eliena, Peter, Susan, Sheryl, Shamrock, Lucas, John, Rachel and so many more. The last goodbye was to my chickens Freckles and Ruby, who are going to a very loving home :)

We have been so busy packing for the last few days I haven't even had a chance to think about the fact that we are going to 4 countries in the first 24 hrs and about 23 countries over the next 3 months. That's crazy if you think about it! We were driving to our ferry in England and just South of London, on the M25, at about 3:30pm we hit this massive traffic jam.  The ferry was leaving at 6pm and you are supposed to get there an hour early. We were completely stopped until 5:15pm. We still had an hour of driving and we were so pissed to miss our ferry. We started making plans for another ferry. Wondering about camping in England if we couldn't get across. Adam was doing 80 the whole way in our poor little Cloe. We we low on gas and he asked if we should stop or just get there. Since we already missed the ferry we weren't sure but we decided to drive. When we pulled up at 6:20 we decided to go straight to the "already with a reservation" section. We got stopped for our immigration stamp, we got stopped for the car inspection. We finally pulled up to the window and I said "I'm sure we already missed our ferry. We got stuck in 2 hour traffic in London" she asked for the reservation number and I gave it. I was hoping she would say "the ferry left but since you already went through security just wait in the line for the next ferry 2 hours" or more realistically "you missed your ferry so it will cost you 60 dollars and then wait in the line for the next ferry". Instead she says " actually your ferry is delayed and they are still here" Because she said it smiling I started laughing and asked if she was kidding and when she said "no. I'll phone them to let them know you to wait for you because you are the last car to make it on". We couldn't believe it. We were so ecstatic. Adam literally shouted "praise The Lord". Haha. So happy right now!