Day 1- Wir haben gelandet (We landed)

Mark and Lisa again made a mad dash through the Paris airport, a dash worthy of a spot on the Amazing Race! Those who thought an hour was sufficient for a transfer in Charles De Gaulle should be fired. Good thing we only had carry-on or else we would still be there.

The flight to Munich was filled with Brazilians. Mark would not take Lisa´s dare to run up and down the aisle in his Australian jersey - Brazil plays Australia in round one. But we have arrived, had our first Spezi (lisa) and Radler and Brat (Mark). For those who do not know, a Radler is not a real German beer, but a mixture of Beer and Sprite (Yum). And another piece of advice- it is not smart to wear a Costa Rican hat when you want to order dinner in the Marienplatz as every German will get served before you are noticed. Funny how that works.

The night was interesting. At 1am we awoke to the sound of Ole, Ole, Ole, Ticos, Ticos, Ticos outside our hotel window (Ticos are the name of the Costa Rican national soccer team). Of course Lisa had to investigate. Mark was not interested in getting out of his comfortable bed. Surprisingly the loud noise was from only about 40 Costa Ricans. Everything is still all in good fun between the German fans and the Costa Ricans, but the game has not started yet.

This is Mark`s first World Cup. To say the least, it is intimidating but the intensity of the fans is something that is incredible to witness. We are glad that CR drew Germany in the first game. We purchased an American flag, but still have not seen too many Americans - they must be hiding up in Gelsenkirchen with the MNT (Men`s National Team).

Today´s the big day. It seems like we have brought good weather with us- mid 70´s and sunny. We still have not decided who to cheer for. Lisa is wearing the Ticos colors, while Mark is decked out in German garb. We have received a few double takes walking down the street. That´s all for now. Expect more news later after the game. Hopefully we can figure out how to put a picture on the web, there´s a great one of Mark with an "interesting" statue.