Mmmmmmmm........Beeerrrrr. As much as senor simpson enjoys his Duff, I strongly doubt that it could ever had tasted so sweet as my first sip (OK guzzle) for the opening of Oktoberfest. My brother, will, and I woke up that day feeling like 4 year olds on christmas morning. The night preceding being filled with anxious antipation and expectations of the following day.

We entered the "wiesn" with a bewilderment rare in my life. Not so much why am I here, more is this really happening right now, where am I going, what do i do once there, how do i get a seat, when can i have a beer dammit. our greatest horrors were realized after standing in line for an hour at our first destination, only to see the masses about face and head off to a new destination. we sent one troop out to peek over the horizon (matt) and will and i held down the fort for the time being. eventually we decided to cut our losses and start all over again. blah blah blah, so were all sitting down at the hippodrom, and the music begins to play. within a few minutes the buzz in the air has tripled and the anticipation of beer can be seen on every face in site, from eight year olds to eighty year olds. then the chaos begins, waiters carying 6, 8, 14 (yeah, 14) 1 liter steins. music and chatter filled the air and the beer went down like water (but tasted like nectar of the gods). with the beer came sociality and we quickly befriended our german counterparts, getting by mainly on numbers, a few choice german words, and oktoberfest spirit.

fast forward a few hours and we leave to check out a new scene. fuck, this is way too long.

There is no way to capture oktoberfest or any great place, event, feeling, emotion. etc. We had an amazing time, drank too much beer, ate too much wurst and pommes frites. The event more than lived up to my expectations. Although the aussie influence was annoying at times, it still felt like i was in the middle of age old german tradition. There are not many times in your life when one can pose the question, 'is there any other place in the world that i would rather be right now' and be able to answer a definitive NO. Well i had more than one of these moments, and with this feeling comes a small dose of guilt. why am i able to be here right now? and even more so, is it ok to feel these content when so many others arent?

Safe to say, this wont be my only trip to oktoberfest. I can only hope that next time I go I can mimic the true unadultered joy that I felt my first time. So, to all the german girls that squezzed into their corsettes for my viewing pleasure, all the waiters that strained their hands and forearms all day for my alcohol consumption and to all the animals that gave their lives for my fat belly, I thank you.

It is sept. 13th, two days before i leave for munchen and oktoberfest. pretty excited about meeting up with my brother and staying in relatively nice accommodations. The reality of my endeavor has now been absorbed and the task, yet accomplihed, seems attainable and even as though i have some say-so as far as where ill stay and what ill do. before, it was like, i just need some place and any job. i know the job situation will be much more difficult to secur, but i hope to land a good gig-most likely as a bartender at an irish pub. ive had a lot of great thoughts and meaningful moments, but there is no way to put all those into words. it is very hard to even remember all of them, but i think the fact that at one point it made sense and went through your head in some way supplants itself into who you are. so it is not important to relay my life altering, mind-blowing, cosmic-shifting realizations and thoughts, but only that i had them.

I find myself in a constant struggle between two differing desires. One part of me wants this to be as foreign and difficult as possible (in the hopes that from the shittiness I grow and become some stronger, a flower from poop maybe if you will). Everytime i step into this realm, i find myself looking for some stability, something to ease my transistion. and then once i find that, i find myself once again wishing to be completely isolated and self supporting. i have made a friend here, a spanish aussie actually, who has acted as my brace to some extent. very cool girl that has for some reason adopted me as her lost puppy helped me so far in getting a good deal on a phone and beginning the apartment hunt. other duties of hers will hopefully include helping me with my resume and finding a job.

last weekend what was once a peaceful weekend in san sebastian for will and i (a romantic getaway but not in the homosexual type of way. kinda like a theme for us, romantic rhine in germany, the alps, quaint little towns, stunning scenery, and late night heart-to-hearts. its actually pretty hard to escape ones romantic side while travelling in western europe, there are so many cozy plazas and moments worthy of being spent with only somebody very special.) anyway, it gave my travelling solo experience a new twist. looking back on my brief solo stint, i realized how much i enjoyed it and how little i enjoy having to mold to others agendas. nuff said, dont travel in large groups, and we didnt for the book, maintained our space and had a quite a relaxing time at the beach and overlooking the city from yet another romantic viewpoint.

so oktoberfest is coming up and i am trying to shake this cold that i have been battling for a few days now. apparently, its hard on your immune system to stay out all night every night and walk all day. since ive gotten back to barca, i have laid low. today i toured a house made by gaudi, casa batllo. yet another time, where words and pictures do little justice, but to enjoy it, you must have an appreciation for almost psychidelic designs and dali-like visions. it was easy to kill a few hours here and was literally 50 yds. from my hostal. not many places do you just walk down the street and find something so amazing. countless times this has happened. walking through the sidestreets of la rambla the other day i come around a corner only to be towered over by the cathedral, which hides in the barri gotic. anyway, okfest is coming and im very excited, prolly blogg it sometime in the next week or so. hope all is well elsewhere, maybe next time i will remember what it is exactly that i have taken from this experience as of now.

Whew! its been quite a whirlwind here, never real feel like i have time to sit down and write a blog and yet, i never have anything to do-funny how that works out. i have decided to let go of the past, and start a more recent blog approach. for those that really want to know an depth, write me an email with specific questions. possible questions might be, but are not limited to: a-how many smelly frenchman have you sat next to on a train b-what makes belgium beer so damn good c-if the moon was made out of chocolate, would you eat it d-if a cow falls off the side of a mountain does anybody hear its cowbell on the way down and e- what is the secret ingredient that makes rosti the delectable treat that it is. Anyway, no more lame attempts at humor, just hardcore journalism from now on out. I will sum up the rest of wilbur and i´s wild ride. the swiss alps--top 5 things ive seen in my life, most likely will remain there my whole life (unless dogs could really play poker, that would be pretty damn cool and might nudge it out). what can i say, 3 hrs of hiking down a mountain in the alps, munching on nuts and chocolate, feeling the cartiledge in my knees disappear into thin air. and the rosti, google it, go to switzerland, eat it, love it. from there we had an anticlimatic fianle in geneva. by far the worst city in switzerland, mainly due to the french influence. a day in barca in which i hauled two bags around the city for literally 6 hours or so a la rat in maze with no cheese at end. i had no plan really. then off to tomatina? not quite, brainless activity on my part leads me to the town of toledo. pretty cool in itself. had a few ¨"who am i" moments, but then rallied to really enjoy the city. then madrid, where i currently am. having a great time here. last night i wandered into a hookah bar, not quite amsterdam, but pretty coo. met a german girl, american girl, and spaniard there. went out, drank some boxed wine in one of many plazas, then did it up til the early morn. it was definitely a moment to savor, soaking in the spanish lifestyle, streets littered with people of all ages, street performers that would put the backstreet boys to shame, and a feeling of, "damn, am i really doing this right now?" the language thing is definitely difficult, but every time a make a little small stride i feel a great excitement. im starting to pick up more words here and there and hopefully will be able to get by a little better in another month or so. i feel very at home here in madrid, pretty comfortable. i like that the travelling solo routine is better. i met a few more people today, they were american girls that had lived in madrid for a year or more. they made me feel good about where im at and were very helpful. they were like the symbol of where i want to be language and comfort wise. im either going to meet back up with them or with the people from last night tonight. so, what did i do today? uhhhhh, hmmmmm, wellll, pretty much nothing. woke up at 10, not on my accord after a long night, went to a cafe, ordered a coke and mejillones, which i ordereed because i didnt know what they were. turns out it was the first time i had mussles, not my favoritte , but i finished them god dammit while people watching. then walked to the park Retiro, met those girls, walked through the park, found a shack and watched the end of the argentina spain bball game with some locals. i was exuberant with them when spain pulled it out. walked and got some food with the americans, and now im here at an internet cafe. next step, siesta baby. going out again tonight. i need to get out before i get timed out.

hasta luego