Hey! A bunch of us have been waiting for the pictures! Where are they??

Hope you all had fun!

And we want to see the MM tattoos.....

Hope the party was fun...

Pictures, LiM?

Wyndyl

The pics? The pics? Where are they?

We had great fun in the Virtual Party Room. Can you believe a REAL MadridMan without his shirt called in?

Hope you all had a great time and can't wait to hear about it.

Jo

We had a good cyber-party while all of you were stuffing yourselves on bocadillos de calamares, folks! The conversation flowed quickly and at one point, many of Jo's alter-egos popped in for a visit (poor Jo kept having to log in over again, each time as a new and improved Jo!). We even got to visit with Chica without catching her cold!

But all of us wished we could be with you in Madrid, that's for sure!

Hope it was as much fun as prior versions--and that you spent a bit of time planning for the next time 'round!

Tara

Ooof. Good morning. *BIG YAWN*... I got in pretty late last night, like 3 a.m.! And there were people hanging out when I left! (What's the name of that Irish Pub again?) Whew!

Here\'s some pics!

I wanted to take more, but the battery on my camera died a lot earlier than it should have. MadridMan (Scott, I came to find out) has the most kick-ass camera there is and took a bunch too. I'm sure there will be more and better pics from him...

It was pretty fun last night, but COOOOOLD! Man, I was freezing, as I came dressed for the Spring weather we've been having lately. There were a ton of people, but at first it was a bit slow because we were all in a big long table outside El Brillante and it wasn't very easy to meet new people except those that were sitting next to you. There were 30 or so people I was surprised.

But we moved off to a couple more bars (Viva Madrid which as very loud the Irish place I can't remember the name of) and it was pretty fun chatting with all the travelers and expats there are! I got to use A LOT of English which was great and a bit of Spanish too (which was confusing a bit). As I was joking last night, I've think I've completely lost the ability to smalltalk and socialize I think... Forgive me anyone who was next to me if I rambled on too unintelligibly...

I feel bad for MadridMan! The poor guy crosses an ocean, organizes a get-together and then gets stuck playing host (organizing the check, gathering people, mingling)! I can't imagine that if I was really in love with, say, Australia, and I organized a gathering there to have to then have to play sheepherder when I got there! Next year someone will have to take the reigns so he can relax a bit! Here's another thought: Introducing yourself by your "screen name" is incredibly embarassing... ;-)

Anyways, it was really fun. Great chance to meet a bunch of people. If I met you last night, email me and say hi!

-Russ

WOW!!!! WHAT A PARTY!!!! Like LostInMadrid, I will likely be yawning all day, but this is the sign of a gooood party. It was a STRONG rival to last Christmas´ gathering. This was a surprising success!! I was very happy with the turnout. The official final count was 28 persons. Imagine if we had Fernando, Chica, pim, AND Barry as they had originally planned to attend. If you couldn´t make it this time around, hopefully you´ll have an opportunity next spring.

Thanks SO much to LostInMadrid for posting those photos so fast and in SUCH an orderly manner with the NEXT and PREVIOUS feature installed. Thanks, Russ. You were one of the PREMIER guests at the gathering, always smiling, obviously enjoying yourself, talking to everyone, very kind, and with a good sense of humor.

Okay, enough kissing-butt-for-taking-photos, hehehee.... Sadly, Nuria (of Hostal Lopez), replay and his friend, a the majority of others left the gathering as we left El Brillante at about 11:30pm, but the last 13 or so went on the VIVA MADRID near Plaza Santa Ana and then finally to Daniel´s Tavern until I left at 3:00am, but about 10 others were still there and seemed to be happy to say until... who know when.

It was VERY nice to finally meet Nativo-- what a guy! His English, really, is PERFECT -- no matter what he tells you

Antonio and Andrés were instrumental in choosing and taking the group to VIVA MADRID and Daniel´s Tavern and I thank them so much for their wonderful organizational skill. Thanks, Guys!

We had a nice range of ages too. Samuel, our youngest and son of parents whom, all together, were studying Spanish for a few months in Madrid (WOW! Talk about a family project!), and he was about....oh.... 9 or 10 years old? The media age was about... 30-something, I´d say. I won´t attempt to guess of the oldest ago, but was was very pleasantly surprised.

Everyone seemed to have good time as did I and will be posting my photos upon returning ...but doubt they´ll be as neatly organized as those from LostInMadrid.

I slept until 11am this morning and am already looking forward to the afternoon siesta if I can get one. I can´t imagine that some of those people had to be at work the next/this morning! My goodness!!

Thanks for coming, everyone!!!! And hope the Chat-Room gathering was fun too. One of these years we´ll have to do a kind a online, live party with the group in Madrid and those at home, wherever thy may be, complete with live cam, of course.

Wow.. another party come and gone.. it´s kind of sad in a way. I SO look forward to them, the preparations and all, meeting new people and old friends, etcetera. But then, there´s a certain let-down when it´s all over.

GREAT PARTY, EVERYONE!!!!!!! Right now, I´m off to visit Antonio at Hostal Chelo. Hope he´s there.

Saludos, MadridMan

boo-hoo. I couldn't come. I had to work until 2 am, so I missed all the fun.

Grrrrr, I missed the fun this time... it won't happen again I'm glad you guys harrased Madrid and burnt it with your happiness and willings of party

You rock!

But hey! I WAS THERE in Spirit!

Yes, we had quite a party going on in the chat room! Lemme see....First there was Jes (Jo´s husband) and I. Then came Spike1 and Diana. Wyndyl popped in. Diana came back, Nevado, Jo with her many alter egos(after her choir practice), LittleWing, Roe, Taravb, some "guy" named Chicooo , another named Natalio , and another person named Cookie ...and Madridman nonetheless sans shirt!!! Did I miss anyone? If I did, I am sooo sorry!

We talked about all sorts of things from the life of an Expat, LittleWing´s German birth certificate, Jo´s husband´s ability with the computer and keyboard, Diana´s brownie recipe, the 10lb baby girl that Wyndyl helped to deliver, Nevado´s life in Korea, adobo, Spanish cooking, American baked goods, Jo´s sexlife (or was it Wyndyl´s?? ),Tara´s daughter´s desire for a snack and a bunch of other ramblings!

Thanks Tara for the tip on the airbake sheets. I´ll let you know how the cookies turn out.

Party on Chat room. Pim! We missed you!!

P.S. GREAT PICS LIM! Would love to know who is who!

Thanks for the Pics Russ!! I wish there was a way to get names to those pictures, but understand...Oh well ...I guess if I want to know who is who, I have to be there next time :p ..Well anyway, thanks again....