Bienvenido a España - 8/25/10

MADRID, Spain - After a long 16 hours of traveling, the University of Denver men's basketball team landed in Madrid on Wednesday morning.

The flights were long and crowded, but aside from a short delay in Dallas, everything went smoothly on the way over. Of course, Trevor Noonan and Justin Coughlin might disagree a bit, considering the 6-9 giants were crammed next to each other on the nine-plus hour flight from DFW to Madrid. They basically had to fold themselves like origami, making for sporadic sleep at best. A young child in front of them had a good time staring at Coughlin and sporadically screaming, which added to the fun.

There were certainly no complaints once we landed. Everyone was tired but very excited to see what Spain had to offer. Nobody in the travel party has been to Spain before.

In fact, only four of the 12 players had ever traveled outside the United States prior to this trip, and only Tyler Thalken and Alex Pickert had been to Europe (Kyle Lewis took a trip to Mexico, and Blake Foeman had been to the Caribbean).

The team was met at Aeropuerto Madrid-Barajas by representatives of Harvard Sports Management Group, which made the arrangements for the trip.

We took a driving tour of Madrid, which Mitch Hyder has highlighted in a video package (which will be posted soon), followed by a lunch buffet.

The food was good, although there were a few surprises, which can always be expected in a foreign country. Some of the players were a little surprised when the soup (Gazpacho) was cold and even more shocked when the pudding-like dish turned out to be some sort of seafood with cheese.

Anyone who has traveled abroad recognizes that adjustments are required. Fortunately for the players, head coach Joe Scott warned them that they might have to put their key card in a slot inside the room in order for the lights to work. Of course, it still took some people a few minutes to figure it out since the slot is hidden behind the door when it's open.

Among the other differences from the U.S. were the "doggie door," or second door halfway back in the bus that is slightly shorter and more narrow than the regular door up front, and escalators that only work when someone is actually standing on them (saving energy). The hotel rooms also feature bidets, which may require further explanation for some in the travel party.

The team plays its first game tomorrow against Real Canoe here in Spain.