My Lonely Planet book told me that Spain is officially the second loudest country in the world after Japan. I believed them immediately because I believe everything I read. So far Madrid has not proved or disproved this to me. I have had, however, 2 nights out that were completely different from any nights out in the states and from each other. The first night was not what I planned and the second was more than a success.
Friday night... less than 24 hours after I got into town we all planned to paint it red. We came to Madrid to be young and fun and daring and that´s what we decided our Friday night was going to be. Basically the coolest, trendiest barrio in Madrid is the gay barrio, Chueca. It is wild and crazy, has the highest rents and the most outrageous parties in the city. As soon as I read about it in my book, I knew this was the place for me. Before I even boarded my plane in Reno, I knew I was going to be spending time there.
We made our plans to meet up at midnight at the Metro station. I should have forseen trouble when I realized that I was the only one in the group without a cell phone, but I did not. I was too stoked to be going out for my first all nighter in Madrid.
I ran into problem after problem when I tried to go out later. First, my Metro stop was closed. Technically it runs until 1:30, but the gates were closed on my entrance. What I did not know was that the other entrance on the next street over was still open. Since I am now older and wiser, I know this. I began walking to the next stop, which is a transfer station and a way bigger deal than my little stop... I knew it would be open. By the time I arrived there, it was already past midnight. At this time at night, the trains are far fewer than during the daytime as well. I had to wait about 15 minutes for each train, including the 2 transfer trains on my way to Chueca. By the time I walked out of the Metro stop there, it was about 12:30 and the streets were filled with crazy Spanish kids. Another thing I discovered this night: Spanish payphones don´t accept 2€ coins. I learned this the hard way by inserting my last coin and losing it. I had to go buy another Metro ticket to get change to call my friends.
When they finally answered (after the third call), there was something wrong with the phone I was using and they couldn´t hear me. I found out later that they tried to call me back all night because they thought that was my cell number. Long story and it all boils down to this: I ended up not meeting up with my friends and being alone in the liveliest and most exciting barrio in Madrid.
My philosphy on being here, though, is no outing out of the apartment is a wasted experience. Even though the night ended up not going as planned doesn´t mean that I could not have a good time. I ended up exploring the neighborhood of and around Chueca for the next hour by myself, while all the crazy nightlife happened around me. There will be plenty more nights to meet and party with my friends here, but I don´t want to waste a single minute not experiencing the city. I ended up jumping on the last train out of Chueca at 1:35 and heading home. I was a little disappointed but not at all discouraged.
Saturday night... all my friends had a great time on Friday, but when we all met up for our scavenger hunt on Saturday morning at 10 in La Plaza Mayor they were all sporting sun glasses with huge bottles of water in tow. I, on the other hand, woke up really early and took my time getting there, walking around the entire plaze neighborhood (including Sol) before being the first one in the plaza half an hour early. Susan, Gabriela and I ended up just standing there and chatting while we waited for everyone. They all stumbled in around 10:15 complaining about how early it was. I guess my mishap night worked out for me...
We made more plans to go out that night. My friends had to take naps but I was ready and raring to go so I took another stroll around la Puerta de Toledo and the surrounding neighborhoods. I have become a big fan of exiting the Metro at an unknown stop and exploring the area around it. It was in this area that I consumed the most delicious pastry that ever crossed my lips. The entire time I was eating it, I kept thinking of how I was going to smuggle some through Heathrow (they´re pretty tough there) and back home for everyone to try. I have since discovered that the pastry was called un pastel manzana and is sold in every panederÃa in Spain. I have had 2 since but neither were anywhere in the same ballpark as that first one.
Anyway... I met Lauren at Sol that night and it was already a succes for me because I was with a friend and she had a phone! We met up with some more girls and some obnoxious American guys and headed for this Irish pub nearby. Now, I do not plan on hanging out in this pub the whole time I´m here or anything, but we decided we´d go to this place to watch the NFL playoffs... Green Bay was playing the Seahawks and I wanted to send Favre some good vibes. So, we began our night there.
After the game (good work GB) and 2 Long Island Iced Teas, we headed to this small club down the street. The drinks were 10€ here so I gave them a big peace out and began looking for a new place to go. We had met some Argentineans at the Irish pub and they invited us to go to this place they knew down the street. You may all think, "why did she go with them? That is the first rule of girl life, don´t go with boys you just met to a place you don´t know!" I wasn´t completely stupid, however. I was with my friends, Lauren and Toby, and these guys brought us to this underground techno club that was huge and pretty legit.
We ended up having the greatest, perfectly Euro night. We danced to the same techno song until about 7 am when we left and walked through the city back home. It was beautiful at that time in the morning and just gave us another taste of Madrid at a different point during the day. I had the greatest time and look forward to having another great Madrid night one of these days...
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