Day 1: Meet the cast of characters **pictures to follow**

.... in this movie we'll call "Our trip to Europe that is the saddest trip in the world because the people that are here miss their daughter..."

Ok - maybe it's a bit much...

But, so far, Germany has been full of...surprises.

Craig said it best when he looked at me yesterday and said, "Doesn't it feel like there are so many people that look like they should be in movies?"

Strangely enough, he's right.

From the mass population of Muslims mingling side by side by the gay folks singing to Blondie at the top of their lungs.

To the monks...drinking beer...but really a bunch of guys dressed as monks.

To the 6 ft tall fairy - or guy dressed like a fairy - or was he an angel - in white spandex hot pants and feather wings that extended over his head.

Cast of characters - speaking all sorts of languages. From English, to German, to Chinese, to Spanish, to Portuguese...

The cast of characters continued as we arrived at our hotel to be met by a sweet German girl who spoke little English. She told us where we'd be staying, instructed us to go up the elevator (or closet that moves), and to enjoy our stay. Craig and I walked into a small, clean room - lacking air conditioning, containing the most dangerous shower known to man kind, and a bed that resembled a futon. Sometimes the reviewers on AA vacations/hotels.com/ and Trip Advisor ARE right.....

Or maybe it was the duo that we ran into at our "meet cute" at the Hoffbraus Haus. With the air in the legendary bar/restaurant thick with smells of tobacco, beer, sweat, potato salad, meat - Craig and I meandered through the crowd to find a table was no where to be found. So, I politely asked the nice couple sitting at a table of 4 if Craig and I could join them.

At our meet cute, we discovered the man was from Sicily, Italy and the woman from Spain. We found out that the man spoke very little English but could speak Spanish. So, our first night in Germany, in the quintessential German bar, drinking beer out of mugs larger than LeBron James' ego...we spoke to our new friends in Spanish and ate sausage, potatoes and one of the greatest things every created....fried pork knuckle...YUM.

We left the bar...3 lbs heavier due to the massive amounts of beer we drank. Cold, wet rain. Remember folks, we're still just 2 Texans trying to enjoy our vacation. So the combination of shorts, tshirts, flip flops, 60 degree weather, monsoon type storms and one small umbrellas was not the picture of perfection we were hoping for on our first day in Germany.

But we made it our little hotel room and slept.

Correction. Craig slept.

I woke up about 2 hours into falling asleep and my heart started to ache for Iz. I didn't think I'd miss her so much and I was sure I'd be ok once we got here. But, my heart still aches, even now. I just want to hold her, squeeze her, smell her, love her.

I try to push aside those feelings and enjoy my time here with my hubs. Because, it's 1 week. I can do one week in Europe. And so far...it's been quite the adventure.

Stay tuned friends as we continue on with our trip and you see how the next few days play out.