First Time for Everything!

Our first night out was definitely a fun one!! The Spanish custom is to drink one glass of whatever (usually wine) and have some “tappas” (or appetizers) and then move on to the next bar, aka bar hopping. That is just what we did! First we went to el Tigre in Sol. Sol is a SUPER popular district of Madrid and el Tigre is a bar that study abroad students flock to from all over the city. El Tigre was PACKEDDD! We couldn’t even get to say hi to Rob, Zach, Lauren, Dom and Darnell. After we finished devouring our tappas and drinks, we figured we would go look for somewhere else to mingle. No one in our group except for me had been to Sol before. Being familiar with the area, I led the group to Plaza del Sol, a popular tourist attraction one block from el Tigre. It was neat to see this place at night since I had already seen it during the day. Two Brits tagged along with us since they knew no Spanish and it was their last day in Spain after spending a few days in the city. Soon enough I became tour guide Barbie. I pointed out where the exact of Spain is to the 0^th km.  After Plaza del Sol came Plaza Mayor. Plaza Mayor is the big square red building that surrounds the open area. Being such the good tour guide that I was, I told everyone a little history about the Plaza and how it is establish because of Felipe I, Felipe II, and Felipe III. Matt, one of the Brits thought I was just fooling around at that point when I really wasn’t. Then he went on to say in his British accent, “Man I’ve learned more stuff about Spain in one night from you than I have in my whole life!!” We continued walking and decided to stop at a pub called Meson del Champinon. When we walked in we figured it would be something quick. Then all of a sudden people started singing in the back! Curious to see what it was, we all ventured and found KARAOKEE! This place was definitely a good pick. Everyone (Christina, Jasper, Jen, Matt, and Rita) sang at least one song. The natives were so into this it wasn’t even funny. And first of all there were people of ALL ages and I mean all ages; baby, tween, teen, mom and dad, elderly people you name it). 

This shocked me complete. I didn’t expect young kids to be out at a bar/restaurant at midnight!  All in all it was a fun night. I spoke a TONNNNN of Spanish and did pretty well I must say. On to the next one.