08.Oct.2004
Friday
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Tanner, Steffi, and James, saying there goodbyes as we pack up the vehicle
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The original plan was to leave sometime in the early afternoon, perhaps around 3 pm. Of course, when
traveling with ladies, time is just an abstract term. We ended up leaving a little after 5, which was
pretty close to Brian and my prediction after we settled on a time.
So we were off to Prague. Right, I get it, everything about this page says Munich so far. We'll get to that.
We had been planning for a few weeks to go to Prague. I told my section chief about it, and he told us
something about needing a passport to get into Czech. He's been the only person to say anything about a
passport, so our response pretty much went something like, "we'll chance it".
So we're off in Sgt. Wilson's vehicle. We actually had a plan and everything, not like when James and I went to
Paris. Sgt. Wilson had reservations at a hotel, we had a list of places to go, a book, and even some
rudimentary directions. Well prepared, right?
Unfortunately, this was far from the truth. We get to the Czech Republic border, and wait about 20 min's in a line of
cars. We finally get to the border patrol lady, and get denied with our military ID's, which is supposed to get us
into any country that is part of the EU. Czech is part of the EU, and I try telling the lady, but we only got a
recommendation to pull over and get out to speak with her.
So, I pull over, and Sgt. Wilson and myself get out of the vehicle. The two of us attempt to speak to the czechish
border guard, but she only speaks German and Czechish. However, a "friendly" german offers his translation skills
to us. So we try telling the lady that because we can get into EU countries with our ID's, she should let us in.
She denies, and I start getting frustrated. Partly because of a lack of communication, and because we were all
really looking forward to this trip. However, our translator starts being an asshole too, "what she says, goes", and he's
all threatening about it. Seriously, this was some bullshit. Probably at this point, I was just motivated because
I didn't want to lose the battle, but the translator said it like we were going to go to jail if we kept pushing
the issue, so I backed off a bit. All of a sudden, she's like, "why do you want to go to Czech?" Right on, thinking
there is some opportunity here, we said something like, "sightseeing". This was not a good enough excuse for her though,
and we get shot down immediately. I don't know, I've been going over it recently, trying to think of better things to
say, but I've been unsuccessful. The Czechish lady had our ID's, waiting for me to turn around, and then gave them
back to us on our way out of the Czech Republic. FAILURE.
What a disappointment. We all start tossing ideas around about maybe driving to the Netherlands. I didn't like this
idea, being the driver and really the only one not having any fun yet. Eventually, we agree to go to Munich for
the weekend, but I really didn't want to drive for that long.
So, we settled on a drive back to Nurnberg, spending the night in a hotel (making sure not to go back to Ansbach,
admitting true defeat). I drove the hour long drive back to Nurnberg, and after some impressive parallel parking, Sgt.
Wilson recommends staying at the iBiss hotel, which was only 49 euro per night. Good deal.
We got a room, the decided to go to a favorite army hangout, "Green Goose". I really didn't want to go there, fearing
that I would see someone that I knew, but everyone else was pretty excited about it, and I didn't want to be the
lame one, so we went there.
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Sgt. Wilson telling the DJ to play some decent music
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It actually turned out pretty well. There wasn't any military guys there, which is always a plus. I went to get us a
"bucket" of Long Island Iced Tea, and these three girls come up behind me, saying all sorts of weird things to try
to get my attention. I wasn't planning on giving any though, but one of them grabs my id tags around my neck, and
said something along the lines of "look, he's even still wearing his dog tags". This pissed me off, because it was
pretty obvious i didn't want to have anything to do with them. When I turned around, I couldn't help but notice
the one that grabbed my tags was a little overweight. I was lacking anything intelligent to say, so I just said,
"at least I'm not fat". Fortunately, I was mean enough for them not to respond, and that situation was over.
I made it back to our group, and told Sgt. Wilson that if any skanky girls come to talk to me, that she should get angry
like a "girlfriend" would. Sgt. Wilson was unaffected though, only concerned about how terrible the music they were playing
was. So she decided it was important to let the DJ know that the music he was playing sucked.
A few hours later, the chick I told was overweight, comes up to me again, and then buys me a shot. Seriously,
some of these german girls are just straight messed up.
09.Oct.2004
Saturday
Friday night turned out to be a pretty fun night, but now we have to drive to Munich still a little hungover.
The ladies of the room suggested getting pizza from Pizza Hut, so Brian and I headed off. We made the
huge mistake of taking a vehicle, and it was only a 5 minute walk from Pizza Hut to the room (we didn't
know). However, I know had to park about 10 min's away.
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Slow-Mo: Pizza and Preparation
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We came back with the pizza, and the ladies suggested paying another 49 euro so they had enough time to
get ready. See, we had to check out at 1100 i think, and it was going to be way after. In order to keep
from being rushed, they wanted to spend an extra 49 euro. Yeah, sounds greek to me as well. I told them
we should take our chances, and only pay money if we get in trouble. So I turned in the key, and we left about
6 hours later when they finally got ready. Because it's important to look good for a drive, right?
I drove to Munich now, and of course, we had no plan whatsoever, but things seem to work out better that
way. The plan was to get to the main train station, then find a hotel from there. So we park way down,
4 stories underground, at this hotel. Sgt. Wilson and Jessica decided to go inside and see if they should
get a room. Brian and myself waited outside, hoping they wouldn't get a room if the price was more than 100 euro.
They came out, letting us know they got a room. I asked, "how much did it cost?", "125 euro" was the reply from
Sgt. Wilson. Of course, there wasn't 20 other hotels within a 5 min walk from the vehicle, but it was convenient, and
we really couldn't argue with that. However, our room ended up being on the fourth story. If you understand that
there is two stories before the 1st story starts, you'll realize this is pretty high. Also, you must realize that
4 german floors underground translates into 6 stories underground in the US. So, if you have heard my stories
about elevators, you will also realize that now, in order to get from the vehicle to the room, I have to walk 12
flights of stairs. Lucky me. I did succumb one time and take the elevator, but that was only because it might
have killed me to carry baggage up 12 flights of stairs.
The room was excellent, and the other three in the group were really impressed by our bed. However, I'm not picky about
these things, and will be just as comfortable on the floor. Once again, I didn't pay for it, so I must keep the
comments to myself. Seriously though, how are you going to pay over 100 euro when there are at least 20 other
hotels within comfortable walking distance.
We walked around Munich for a while. If you've seen the movie "euro trip", you might remember the 'mime' robot character.
We saw a similar act on the streets, and I put some money in the hat for entertainment purposes, so we have a nice
video of that. All in all, we didn't do that much in the early evening. I think most of us were still feeling
a bit under the weather from the previous night. Sgt. Wilson decided to take a nap, Brian and Jessica went swimming,
but I still had a lot of energy, so I decided to walk around a bit.
Earlier in the evening, I was trying to convince Sgt. Wilson we should run through some of the huge water fountains
they had on the street, maybe even stop to do some dancing, like what has been done in the movies. I think her
hangover killed that idea though, or maybe just because it was quite cold out and far away from the hotel. I'm still
set on the idea though. It will be cool to have a good picture of dancing in the water fountain, all wet. I don't
know, it's just something I have to do before I leave here. I'll put it on the checklist.
So with everyone else occupied, and my desire to keep doing things, I hit the streets by myself. I found myself
in the bahnhof, and after seeing someone I knew (which was really, really strange), I got an idea. I had walked
past a floral shop on the way in, and while walking around looking for interesting scenarios, I thought I should
buy a flower for each of us, and try to tie it into our personality. It wasn't easy though, and I got into a hurry
because I was excited to show everyone. The whole walk back, i thought of clever ties to each person. When I got
back, everyone was still occupied, so I had to make Sgt. Wilson go into the bathroom so I could hide the flowers.
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The "Irish Car Bomb".
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Then I went outside again, only to get drenched by some heavy rains. My motivation left me now, and I think I forgot
most of the cool things about each flower, but by the time I got back, everyone was there. So we had our "rejection to
czech, end up in munich' bouquet, which we were going to come up with a better name, but never did. I should
write up each little description i had, but i was disappointed with my creativity level when i showed everyone.
We ended up going out to an australian club. We enjoyed the "irish car bomb", arguably the finest shot ever. It was
one of the best parts of the whole trip to me. For me, it was quite fun hanging out in that bar, but then the
waitress suggested we go to a club, so we left, only to find that we couldn't find the place, then I couldn't find
an ATM. Seriously, every time I went one way, then asked for help, I was sent the other way.
After like 30 min's of wandering back and forth, Sgt. Wilson and myself got into a taxi, drove to a bank, where i got
money. I'm sure most of you don't remember the story of me getting stuck in the ATM in Nurnberg, however, in order
to keep myself from getting stuck, I had to take my shoe off to wedge it into the door, insuring it would never close,
and more importantly, never lock me in.
So we end up at this club that really wasn't that cool at all. The music was pretty lame, and it was
just a cold environment. If I could remember the name of it, I'd just remember it as leaving a bad taste in
my mouth. Maybe because I drank too much that evening. You know how it happens, you have so much fun early in
the evening, you think by drinking more, you can prolong that feeling. However, in reality, the exact opposite happens.
10.Oct.2004
Sunday
So I am woken up at like 9 am, and I'm still really drunk. Actually, I don't even remember waking up and feeling the
way that I did. I later found out that Sgt. Wilson woke me up and asked me to go eat breakfast with her, but I don't
remember that at all. I woke up, brushed my teeth and fixed my hair. When I was packing stuff back into my
bag, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to just leave and take a train back. I got a phone
call the night before that my roommate was messing with some of my stuff, and i was drunk and not thinking clearly,
so, without saying a word the entire time, I took the key out of my wallet, showed it to brian, put it on the tv, and
left. I didn't say anything until a while later when I felt I should let brian know what's up.
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German Sunday Sightseeing
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After wandering for a bit, I made it to the bahnhof, where i had some old german lady (who couldn't speak english), watch
me try to buy a train ticket from the machine. There was probably 10 other machines open where she could have bought
a ticket, but she decided to get "in line" behind me, to harass me for my inability to get the machine to accept my cash.
After about an hour on the train, I decided thinking what a moron I was for leaving like that, but I had to make the
most of it. My train was heading for Nurnberg, way out of the way, so I decided to stop at any town that seemed interesting
and get some good pictures. It was such a relaxing day. When you are constantly around people who can't speak
the same language as you, you sort of end up just blocking them out. So I felt like I was exploring Germany all
on my own, with no one watching me, or pressuring me to move faster or slower, and I got back with some
really great pictures. I spent some time in Nurnberg, since I've never really been there during the day, and didn't
have any good pictures of a lot of the sights.
I decided that I really love relaxing days, but I would rather spend them with someone else.
Overall, it was a pretty interesting weekend. It didn't go exactly as planned, but I was glad I was with the people
I was with. A weekend like that makes me glad I joined the army, to see some sights, and to actually get to know
a few people that are actually worth becoming friends with. For a long time, I was convinced I couldn't really
meet any people worth meeting in the army. If that makes sense. The four of us could have been in ansbach and still
had a good time, but we found a way to do something different, and when that didn't go well, we had fun doing something
else. It's not often that I can meet people that it doesn't matter where we are, or what we are doing, as long
as we do something together. That's the type of people I like hanging out. So even though the weekend wasn't
anything super exciting, like a new country, or a place we all haven't been before, it wasn't a waste a weekend. It's
reassuring to me, because sometimes I get depressed that they aren't people worth hanging out with in the army.
Now, I realize the only thing that sucks, is that as soon as you get to know someone pretty well, they are
done with there time in the army, or are getting sent to another army post. Perhaps I'll get my comrades to write
up a paragraph or two on the weekend and ad it to this page.
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