Day 1 - May 21 Alcala De Henares

We are all here! Well, almost everybody. Julie and Graham were delayed enroute and will arrive a day late, but by dinner time everybody else had made it through airport delays and schedule changes, and retrieved their lost luggage.

Our hotel is in a suburb of Madrid in the picturesque town of Alcala de Henares

One group got creative with a Spanish cooking class, creating paella, croquettes, and other tasty Spanish delicacies.

Others went on a walking tour of the little town and Alcala University, which is a UNESCO Heritage site right next to our hotel. The university was founded in 1293 and Alcala is the world's first planned university city.

There are street cafes everywhere, which are the perfect place for a glass of sangria and some salty snacks with friends. A table for two in the plaza quickly turned in to a table for four, then eight, then as many chairs squeezed in as possible. Life is good!

We shared our first dinner together and then collapsed into bed! Oh yeah, we sang for our servers at the end of dinner, like one does.