The locals buy funky wigs in Madrid for the week of New Years. We never quite learned the reason but all five of us decided to join in the fun so we bought ours at Plaza Mayor. I suppose we should have noticed that in certain parts of town we were the only ones wearing wigs but you can't be bothered by small details when you're bouncing around a city like a bunch of fools. Anyway, it became very obvious that we were the only people wearing wigs when the security guard at the Prado museum asked us to kindly remove them. We complied.
For the passing of midnight on New Years eve, the six of us (we added a friend for New Years) had the urge for a gourmet meal and decided to go to a nice restaurant a few blocks away from the apartment. The food was easily the best we had in Madrid and the service was equally brilliant. After chowing down, we got a few funny looks from a few of the 'stuffier' patrons when we donned our funky wigs. Surprisingly, no one else had their wigs with them! Anyway, at midnight we ate the traditional 12 grapes and danced around the restaurant until the small party died down.
The walk home took a while as we waded through millions (literally) of people in the Plaza del Sol. It was pretty sick too... I'll sum it up: Drunks, vomit, bottles flying, alcohol everywhere, paramedics mending people who were cut with broken bottles, garbage everywhere. It was nasty. I kept thinking "Man, I'm about 10 years too old to get hit with a flying bottle." Anyway, we finally we made it home and watched some of the action from the safety of our balcony before calling it a year and going to sleep. Pics to follow soon... Ian
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I think it's funny how "the locals buy wigs for new years" and yet you were the only ones with wigs :)
Happy 4th of January!!
Any excuse for these 2 to play dress-up...
Happy New Year, Valen and Ian!!!
Miss you!
Liz
Ok. Now that I am back to reality..the only thing that i am missing is a baguette with jabmon and a 7 euros coke..of course with the greatest company of Zenzo and Fiora Vergatty who were outstanding trip leaders. Now you are probably hitting down to Hotel de Ville in Creteil..jaja on line 8 of the subway with a carnet that suppose to be cheaper and for some reason we always ended up paying more than a single ride. This trip is what life is all about. Ian next time you decide to go to the latin quaters make sure you take your pocket knife just in case the falafel people decide to take revenge. Valen go back to the rebatiña and fight for more of the fine pieces you were able to get for 20. Well i just wanted to touch base with you two and let you know that are plan for 4th of July is up and running. See you soon and enjoy the rest of the trip. Paco y Lucia :(
PACO!! haha
We passed by the Gyro guys a few times and we never saw the same two guys we saw that night... they must've been fired for not cleaning the bathroom.
Also, you would've been proud of my Italian skills... except it backfired. This Italian couple walked up to us and asked us how to get somewhere... I responded in Italian (how else is Zenzo supposed to respond?) that I didn't know. They continued to ask and I continued to tell them in broken Italian that there were a few metro stops close by and I wasn't sure which one they should take because I didn't know where they were going. After that they marched away sort of ticked off... then I realized that I had never told them i was a tourist from America. I don't know how they could think I was French, but they must've assumed I was just a rude Parisian who didn't want to help them!
And I thought languages were bringing the world together. It turns out they're just making everyone angry. :)
Post a Comment