Day 16 Return to Denver

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Last day.... Mixed emotions for sure. We got up to the alarm this a.m., got cleaned up and dressed and went down to breakfast. Today we had an omelette with our continental breakfast. We went back to our room, unplugged our electronics and closed up our bags.

Check out went smooth and Jim used his remaining Euros toward the hotel folio balance. We really loved the Hotel Urban and room 433. The doorman flagged a taxi for us for the ride to the airport. Today the bellman from Bulgaria was not on duty. He was so nice. On our first day he was helping to get our bags into the hotel and commented to Jim as he was trying to assist "I have been trained to do this", how cute is that.

Ride to the airport was quick as very little traffic in Saturday morning. We checked in to Delta Sky Priority watched our 2 checked bags go on their way. We found the TSA priority and went through security. I had bought flavored salt in San Sebastián and they wanted to see them. The Delta lounge was by gate B29 and we waited there about an hour then headed to our gate A8.

We are seated in business class seats 1B and 1C. The flight took off right on time by 11am Madrid time. This is a long 9+ hour flight to Atlanta.

Preflight we were served mimosas. Then with lunch we had a selection to choose from and we selected a R & G Rioja 2010 and it was very good. I had several glasses, They served a snack of Spanish ham, manchego cheese, an artichoke, roasted red peppers and olives. The second course was a caprese salad. The main event was a feta crusted roasted chicken breast with vegetables and chickpeas and tomatoes, really delicious. Dessert was vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, chopped nuts and whipped cream.

We both moved our seats into the flat position and fell asleep. I became restless, my hip has tightened up and feels stiff. Did I mention that they brought freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Yum, We both watched a movie and then they served us food again! We each had a chicken Caesar salad and fruit. We have really enjoyed the business class seats for travel, makes it so much easier.

It was raining in Atlanta when we arrived and we had to circle before landing. Once we landed in terminal E, we had to go through re-entry to the US, retrieve our bags, then go through customs and recheck our bags for the flight to Denver. We had to go back through TSA again and headed on the airport tram to the A concourse gate A32. We had a couple of hours so we went to the Delta lounge and hung out, enjoyed a nice cup of hot tea and watched it rain.

Our final flight kept updating and extending the departure but finally we were set to go at 6:30pm ET. We were in business class seats 1A and 1B. Again food was involved but the less than 3 hour flight went quickly as I fell sound asleep. After landing we picked up our bags and went out door 511 and met Jenny our Anthony's limo driver for the relaxing ride home.

By 9:30pm we were home at last! It was 5:30am Sunday in Madrid. From when we left the hotel Urban to home, our return journey took us 21+ hours.



Favorites:

Place visited: 1. San Sebastián, 2. Saint Emilion, 3. Madrid

Meals: 1. Lunch in Bergerac FR; 2. Pintox tasting in San Sebastián, 3. Lunch in Cadillac FR at Chateau d'Arche in the Sauterne wine region

Wines: Rioja wines (Muga winery as we bought several bottles to ship home); Spanish wines overall

Best private tours: San Sebastián Foods both the Pintox tasting with Vicky and Rioja day tour with Lordes

Worst experience: Uniworld easy walking tour to the towns of Bourg and Blaye; Madrid Pintox tasting tour with Andres

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