Chris and Micheal who I met in Prague were meeting me, as well as the Aussie gang that I met in Buenas Aires all were accending on Munich for the Fest. If you are interested in Knowing how beautiful Munich is or what any of the sites look like.....Im sorry to inform you that you'll need to make a trip there yourself, because I have no earthly idea!!! If you want to know the glory of what is called Octoberfest, and the slopy festiveness of it all I can help you....at lease as far as my memory will serve me....and once again that may be limited. In a nut shell ( or if allowed poetic license...in a large Stella Stien ) Octoberfest was a fantastic time. Our first impression was rolling into the Hofbrauhaus.......this is the quinessencial German Beer hall/Garden....you are immediately accosted by thousands of hammered frolicers screeming merriment from the top of their lungs to songs that relish the Bavarian way of life to "Country Road" by John Denver. There were scuffels over there and buxum beauties in their umpoppa outfits  there and men galloping around in their leaderhosen and tiny feathered hats accross there( a look that you could only get away with here!! ). The only beer option for the night were glasses that would hold about 3 pints...when full it was like doing curls with 20 lbs dumbbells. Everyone was so excited and welcoming that it appeared fake. I had heard that Octoberfest was over rated, Im here to say...it was one of the best group parties Ive ever been at....and you all should know..Ive been to a few in my day. The weekend just continued in the same fashion.....meeting and greeting.....booozing and schmoozing, regailing in old and new times. After about four days however I needed to find a dry cleaner and hand over my liver....it was due for a huge cleaning!! So I sliped back to Berlin for two nights and on to the most drinking society Ive ever encountered.....Russia!!

         Flying into Moscow, I had multiple thoughts rambleing in my mind.....How do they precieve Americans in the Post Cold War era, Is the emphasis on the Russian Mafia depicked by the American Media/Hollywood and accurate potrayal, do they drink like fish and are all the woman clones of Anna Kornakova ( Please God make this last one true!! ). I will start by saying , I quickly found out that most people there Do Not speak English. This was a huge eye opener and like my entire trip I arrived at the Moscow Airport with No hotel reservations or an Idea of where the hotspots of the city were to try and lodge nearby. After an hour of frustrating fumbleing with "Information Center" help....we worked out a spot that was in my price range and accessable to down town by metro. My lodgeing was in an old Soviet run down building they turned into a hostel.....Ive been avoiding hostels because of my age and group living Idea but in Moscow your options are four star hotels for $150/night...way out of my budget or $23/night beds in Hostel Soviet....money won out. The Russians have'nt fully caught on to the tourist bug where there are middle range options available.

          I decided to go out to quite a few Nightclubs and enjoy the evening entertainment in Moscow and I will say its quite a different world.....for a country that only embraced Capitalism 14 year ago they sure have gone out full board.....Its the wild, wild west meets Rodea Drive......Everyone is dressed to the nines and the drinks and Cover charges are expensive, the woman are not all Annas....but hey they're not at all far off (WOW). The night clubs all seem to stant out as a kind of mild co-ed strip show.....which to me was a bit bizarre cause we came out to dance and meet folks....everyone is just standing around watching...I guess the philosophy is to get everyones engine rearing and then, the acts get off the stage and all the patrons take over and its all buck wild with intoxicated men punching each other in the name of some woman......I was dancing with this gal traveler from Holland and I think two different fights crossed inbetween our groove steps. It was so far out it was comical and I figured this was the exception but other friends who went to other Hotspots reported the same action. Actually if you could remain out of harms way it was great fun with high energy!!!

         If you can get by some of the little inconvienances Moscow is chack full of things to do and see. I toured the Kremlin, Red Square, St Basils Basilica, Gorky Park and Lenins Tomb. Because the Russians were so successful in so many wars their Museums are filled with Booty no other country I visited yet or after could compare and their archetechture was totally intact. You could spend days rumageing around the city and experiencing wonderful things. I highly recomend it for an interesting, albiet edgey tourist spot.

          "The Culture of Drinking"     ....absolutely like nothing Ive seen before. People are drinking everywhere...and I mean everywhere!!! People and I'll include myself in this catagory ( after seeing the lay of the land) go to the package store before jumping on the Metro....after work on their way home or to meet friends the Happy Hour begins on the ride over. The train makes a turn and hundreds of empties flood to the other side. Men at 10:00am on a Tuesday morning are walking in full business attire to or from work, suit and tie with a briefcase in one hand and a bumper of beer in the other.....woman at 2:30pm sharpely dressed in a sexy mini skirt suit, high heels, folders of work related info in one hand and the open bumper of beer in the other ( Tommy Rayes, Miller lite distributer would retire in a year with the consumption here). I really think it would be great to live here and then I realize Id be dead in six months!!! Wow ...what a country though!! Now its off to St Petersburg to see how the city by the sea is. 

   Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city planed out statigicly by Peter the Great to drag Russia clawing into the west. The city was planed  with large boulevards and canalways that spaned an old Finnish swamp. It is magnificent. It was here that I first tasted the chill of autum at any sea level town, prior to here it was always at elevation where I felt the frost. I had been chasing Summer for so long I almost forgot how it felt. The greatest of all sites in St. Pete was the Winter Palace and the Hermiage, Russia continues to astound me with all of its treasures. Its people are softer and more relaxed then those in Moscow. They also seem to be a bit more associated  with their European nieghbors and particularly with those of Scandinavia.

           My trip was so maticulously planed that until this point I had not deviated from my destinations once, but here I finally altered my agenda and in my mind for the best. I originally was scheduled to head to Heksinki in Finland but having discussed my options with many travelers they convinced me to divert to Tallin the capital city of Estonia. Their reasoning was that although Helsinki is lovely, Tallin captured that charm in a smaller town and was dramatically more cost effective. I was thrilled with my dicision, and found Tallin a true gem! Snugled on top of the Baltic states and captured on two sides by water, the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic sea. Estonia is rapidly clarifying its own identity, shaking off the grip of  Russia and embracing the opportunity to become a part of  EU. It's old world charm drawls you in while its modernism enables you to communicate easily. It's an intact Midevil city, walled in and historic, yet it has a small town feel that gives you instant familiarity. I found a huge American Ex-Pat community here comprised of mostly men....and why you say.....of course, like all these Eastern European cities....Phenomenally stikeing woman!! Oh, and a job opportunity as well. I extended my trip from four days to five days here, enableing me only one night in Stockholm, Sweden because I was so tranfixed to this intoxicating town.