Brian.Maucere's Profile

Contiki takes a serious turn

So after college, I decided it would be a good idea to take a 20 day Contiki bus tour around Europe with my friend Rachel. It was mostly filled with debauchery and nights of drinking, but I also got the chance to see the world from a different, non-American, view. 

OK, so the bus driver had a habit of playing particular songs during the trip for one reason or another. For example, every time the bus started rolling, he played "Clint Eastwood" by the Gorillaz, and "I Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue every time it was about to stop. After a while, your stomach would begin to growl when Kylie started singing. While in Germany, we stopped by a concentration camp for a tour. To this day, I cannot accurately describe the chills I felt while being there or the smell of gas that still eminated from the concrete chamber walls. It was sadness personified. As the 50 of us walked back to the bus, some sniffling, some crying, the bus driver started playing this song. Sometimes a song so perfectly fits a situation in life that the two events can never be untangled. For the rest of my life, when I hear this song, I am instantly transfered back to that place, my eyes begin to well up, and I can again smell the gas.