Oktoberfest...round 2

What's better than Oktoberfest?  Going to Oktoberfest twice.  I've just returned from my second and final trip to Oktoberfest in Munich.  This time I took the more rugged route and camped.  There is a park in Munich that holds thousands of tents filled with thousands of Aussies and a few Brits and Americans.  This campsite was quite the experience.  Definitely not the most comfortable, quiet, or warm place I've ever slept, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.  There is nothing quite like sleeping to the patriotic chant "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!"  I also had the opportunity to explore more of the festival this time and go on carnival rides and try the likes of schnitzel.  I managed to make it to almost every tent, each more festive than the last.  On my final day in Munich, sightseeing was in order.  A tour of the BMW museum made me reminiscent of my high school days and a car I lovingly called Cheniqua.  The museum's aesthetics were just as spectacular as the vehicles it held, (I suppose that's fitting, they are engineers after all).  Just outside of the museum is Olympic Park where the 1972 Munich Olympic Games were held.  It is impressive today, so I'm assuming 40 years ago the park's construction was relatively revolutionary.  The trip to Munich was exhausting but wonderful and I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to go back.  This week consisted of school, a trip to the Prague zoo, a long hike through a vast park/forest, and going to what I would consider the best museum exhibit I have ever seen.  Firstly, a piece of advice: for any of you who visit Prague and go to the zoo, especially with small children, be warned.  While the zoo is beautiful and impressive, there is little in the way of barricades between the animals and their observers.  For example, while examining a hyena (stereotypically not the friendliest of animals) I realized that all that was standing between me and him/her was a two foot tall "fence".  Let's just be thankful he/she wasn't hungry.  And on that note, let's be hopeful that the Czechs are well versed in the use of the electric fence.  But despite the ever-lingering concern for my livelihood, I was able to see some of the most amazing animals.  Two highlights: 1. A kangaroo with a roo in its pouch: unbelievable.  2. Elephants dancing; for those who don't believe me, I took a video, they've got quite the rhythm.  Yesterday I gained further appreciation for the Czech landscape while traipsing through miles of natural park.  The leaves are beginning to change and the colors were spectacular.  Today I visited an exhibit at the Prague National Gallery entitled Controversies.  The exhibit is "not for the feint of heart" but is important and fascinating just the same.  It was an exhibit of the most controversial photos taken since the invention of photography.  Everything from mass graves in Jewish concentration camps to the idea of nudity as art to the sufferings of peoples around the world during their respective civil wars.  It was humbling and maddening at the same time but something I consider an important cultural experience.  This weekend I'm looking forward to three wonderful people coming to visit me from the homeland.  I will attempt to do this city justice as their tour guide for the week.  That's all for now...