The performance under the Bavarian statue Sunday morning

1 Liter of beer!

Katrina and I with a Bavarian lion

Me in front of the "new" town hall

Early morning at the castle

Nyphenburg Castle

A view of the streets. It got a lot busier than this on Sunday.

The Bavarian statue

Our group in a patio of one of the tents

People who couldn't handle the fun

Lisa and Katrina dancing in the streets

Our waitress. . . Isn't she amazing!

Oktoberfest

We left for Munich late Friday night and slept on the bus that evening. When we arrived in Munich we were given a short tour of the city and stopped at the Nymphenburg Castle for a fabulous early morning picture opportunity. After this stop we were taken for a short walk in downtown Munich for more photo opportunities and a look at the "new" town hall which holds the famous glockenspeil that plays out at 11:00 am (which we didn't see because we were at Oktoberfest by then). I found a couple great sites online that show panaramas of both areas if any one is interested in seeing what I saw. http://www.panorama-cities.net/munich/castle.html
or http://www.panorama-cities.net/munich/town_hall.html After our Munich tour we headed to Oktoberfest and appove arrival quickly found a tent and tried our first authentic beers. Since we arrived so early we were very surprised when we left the tent a few hours later and saw how many people were wandering the streets of the festival. We joined right in the crowds and rode the roller coasters, found food to eat and just walked around. On Sunday we also returned to the "Weisn" for more fun. It was a really interesting day because we were able to see the brass band perform on the steps under the Bavarian statue and then march through the streets and into the tents of the festival. It was also a family day so the streets were even more packed then the day before. We had another great day and left before the evening with our tour so we could make it back late Sunday night just in time for a great Monday at school!

Heidelburg/ Bad Durkheim

The last group of pictures are from our weekend trip around the area. We first took the train to Heidelburg and spent the evening celebrating a birthday with a German friend of Lisa's. The next day we found a great hostel near the train station and then headed to Bad Durkheim for what we heard is one of the best wine festivals in Germany. We had a great time at the festival! We were able to shop, participate in a wine testing, and eat tons of German food and desserts. After wandering through the venodor booths, we spent the rest of our time in the huge tents that were lined with tables with a band and a dance floor in the center. We were surronded by hundreds of people drinking, singing, and dancing. It was a great atmosphere and a fun celebration to participate in!

More of our hostel. Very comfortable beds.

Our hostel

Trevor, Lisa, and Katrina having a great time!

There was so much food!

One of many large tents where people celebrated with food, drink, and dancing.

Fountain near the tree covered walkway that lead to the wine festival- Very beautiful!

View of wine festival in Bad Durkheim

Train station in Kaiserslautern

Even More Paris

Allright here we are to what I think was my favorite part of my trip to Paris- Visiting the Louvre! Of course since Katrina and I had never been there we made a run for it (literally) to the Mona Lisa :) We saw some great things along the way since it is very easy to get lost in there. I absolutely loved the museum though and hope to make another trip to Paris just to spend more time there. Besides the Mona Lisa, I was able to spend some time looking at other Italian paintings, Italian sculpture, and Egyptian antiquities. Just the building was amazing since the museum was created from a palace and contains 3 seperate wings, a shopping coridor, a few resturants and an outdoor garden and fountain area.

The Rest of Paris

Our first night in Paris was packed with things to see and do. After an entire day of sight-seeing we continued our tour with an illumination river boat cruise. Most of my night pictures didn't come out with the digital camera, but I got some great shots of the Eiffel Tower. When we departed from the cruise we were met by our tour guides with champagne and orange juice. Later that evening we attented the show at Moulin Rouge and didn't get dropped off at the hotel until early the next morning. The next morning we had plenty to keep us awake. We first stopped at the Notre Dame Cathedral just before a church service ended. We were able to quietly slip in the back and watch the congregation participate in communion. After visiting the cathedral we re-visited the Eiffel Tower so that we could take the elevator up to the first "floor." On our way out of town we were given a verbal tour of the sites, and also stopped briefly at the Opera House and to eat lunch at Hard Rock Cafe Paris before returning to Germany. On the way home Katrina and I met some military people who are stationed here at Sembach and they have already stopped by to check up on us and make sure we have everything we need. Overall, it was an amazing opportunity and I loved every minute of it!

More Paris

Napolean's Tomb
Our second stop was the current and hopefully final resting place of Napolean. Ninety years after his death his body was brought back to Paris with a ceremonial march through the Arch d' Triomph and eventually placed in with his brothers in Les Invalides. There was no expense spared for the tomb and Napoleon Bonaparte's body lies within six separate coffins. They are made of iron, mahogany, two of lead, ebony, and the outer one is red porphyry.
The tomb sits on a green-granite pedestal surrounded by 12 pillars of victory. This stop was just quick enough to get some pictures.

Paris

I just returned late last night from my weekend in Paris. Katrina and I were picked up late Friday night and slept through the night on the way to France. We arrived in Paris around 7 am in time for breakfast and a packed day of sight-seeing. We had an amaizng time! There is beautiful things to look at all over the city. As you can probably imagine I have tons of pictures so I am going to begin with pictures from our first stop which was the Palace of Versailles. There are several seperate tours through the palace and gardens. We were able to see one wing which included the state apartments and the famous Hall of Mirrors. Many of the furnishings were stolen during the French Revolution but the walls are still covered in orignial fabric and many rooms have been restored. Besides the palace the gardens were amazing and were actually 3 times as big as the palace itself.