Our Arrival: Stuttgart

“Hi, are you Daniel?” A fresh faced young woman asked. She was fair and thin with dark hair. She dawned a down filled black coat with stylish boots, suited for the weather. “Yes”, Daniel replied. The woman’s name was Youan, she was the fiancée of the gentleman who graciously opened his home for Daniel and I to stay in for the upcoming week. His name was Ian, his stature was small but strong. He showcased a typical military cut for a haircut, his eyes appeared cunning, but very friendly. They arrived at the station to pick us up. For the next week we were in heaven. We had a warm place to sleep with a very comfortable bed. There was a shower with hot water. Our bellies remained full of both food and beer. And we had good company. Our stay allowed us to catch up on much needed sleep. But let me tell you something, they’re crazy! Legitimately insane. We stayed up one night hitting the town with the both of them until 6 in the morning. I can’t, I’m 24 and I can not party like Ian. I feel old, and as much as I want to, my body won’t let me. We were all over Stuttgart, and it was an amazing night. We learned a lot about German nightlife, and how some clubs and bars won’t let you in if you’re American. But we got to take in the nightlife- and it’s far more exciting than anything in NC. You have people who are sloshed bumping into you, you have no elbow room because it’s that packed. The person to the right of you orders one too many shots and hands you one, while the person to your left cheers you with his beer. The whole night had so much energy and it honestly was just a great time.
We were we’ll taken care of in Germany. Thank you both Ian and Youan for your hospitality and generosity and for all the travel advice, you guys were great!

Stuttgart
When staying at a hostel you have to book it for the amount of people and they give you the same number of beds unless you get a private room which we rarely do because it’s so expensive. We always get these little twin sized mattresses that can barely fit a teenage boy in yet we are so used to sleeping together and holding each other at night that we can’t sleep apart from each other. We tried to sleep in separate beds on the trip and we spent most of the night asking each other how they liked having a bed to themselves, which neither of us really fancied. But in Germany this wasn’t a problem we had plenty of space to toss and turn and not head butt each other like we did one night in the twin bed. Our first day in Stuutgart was a very relaxed day we checked out the city where we were staying in. We went to the zoo which was fairly decent nothing that’s really any different from the states, then we went to check out downtown Stuttgart. Downtown Stuttgart is a mans worst nightmare, there are clothing and shoe stores literally hundreds of them running the strip and of course we have to stop in at least 99 1/2. We spent the better part of the day walking in and out of stores looking for shoes and clothes for the upcoming winter months. After walking around we stopped at a park in the middle of the shopping district and joined the Germans in the grass with a beer. We laid out for about an hour talking and people watching and just taking in the atmosphere. We saw what we thought was a woman get undressed in the middle of the park only to find out once he turned around from the giggles that it was a man in drag. This ended the day at the park and we left to return home. When we got back Ian and Youan prepared a feast like no other with possibly the best spread I have ever tasted, feta and garlic in spicy oil. We went to bed with full stomachs from a homemade meal for the first time in weeks, nothing beats that down south cooking with a European flair.

Oktoberfest
We went to bed pretty early because the famed Oktoberfest was the next day. We were told we needed to get there pretty early in order to get into the tent because they fill up pretty quickly, but waking up isn’t as easy as you think when you actually have a comfortable bed. We set the first alarm for 6, then after a little discussion we set it for seven, then 8, and we finally convinced ourselves at 9 we would get up and start getting ready. We actually didn’t leave the house until a little after 11. We made a couple sandwiches and hit the road. The train ride there was pretty easy two hour straight shot and free with the eurail. After arriving in Munich at about 2 we had no idea where to go we figured we would just follow the people in lederhosen. While following the crowd we ran into our two new favorite Aussies Dominique and Stuart.
Our Australian friends had been to Oktoberfest the day before so we decided to tag along. After a quick ten minute walk Oktoberfest was right in front of us, it looked nothing like I imagined. I thought it would be similar to a frat party, but during the day it’s family oriented like a fair. It had a huge Ferris wheel and games with gigantic Stewies as prizes. Everywhere there is beer, men dressed in lederhosen and women dressed in dirndls. There are rides and blaring lights everywhere. There are tents filled with people who are in song and dance prosting their beers and eating half a chicken. We enter the first tent hoping they have a place for us and we are in luck as soon as we get in a waitress asks how many grabs our hand and throws us down. She holds up 4 fingers and asks 4 beers and with a large grimacing smile on our faces we all nodded in sync. We get our first round and we are expecting it to be a little pricey, but not to this extreme it was 10 euro 13 US dollar per beer for pretty much the size of a 40 (1 liter) but hey when in Rome. A few minutes in after we are enjoying our beer the tent erupts with cheers and our two Aussie friends start joining in. We look around a little lost trying to figure out what’s going on and they inform us that if you stand on a table and chug your beer they will cheer until you finish, but you can’t stop to catch your breath and if you don’t finish you have to pour the rest on your head and people get to throw food at you. A huge smile came across my face as I knew I had to try it. After a German man who was a little past drunk at our table graciously bought us another beer I knew my moment was here. I stood up thinking mom I’m gonna make you proud (I’m not sure if that’s something to be proud of haha) I stood on the table and everyone was staring and starting to cheer, once I started I knew I couldn’t stop. With the adrenaline pumping and I knew I couldn’t fail, I could feel all the cool bubbles go down my throat and the gas and liquid fill my tummy. A few seconds later the cheers starting erupting. I finished my beer and basked in the glory like I just clinched the gold for my country at the Olympics. For a second it sounded like the crowd was chanting my name and I was famous. I took my seat and everyone at the table was in applause. After the initial shock wore off I was greeted with hugs and high fives. This was just the first tent in the first 20 minutes and the day was just getting started.

We left that tent and walked around for a bit until we found another tent and decided it was time for another brew. We ordered a couple of beers and an apple strudel which was pretty delicious, but didn’t sit well with a tummy full of beer. We stayed in this tent for a few hours singing and making new friends. Everyone was in cheer, beer flying everywhere as people raised their glasses to prosit and sing, we all stood up on the small benches cheering joining our German counterparts. Around 9 we left that tent and decided to grab some food outside Oktoberfest, because the prices inside were insanely high. We stopped and got a bite with our Awesome Aussie friends and then said our good byes and headed back to the train station. This was perhaps the longest two hour train ride I have been on and the walk back home was even longer, but we finally made it back into our sweet little comfortable bed ending one of the best travel days we have had thus far.
Thank you Dominique and Stuart for a wonderful experience.