La Nochevieja.... New Years Eve, Madrileña style

So we spent New Years Eve in Madrid trying our best to assimilate to the Madrileño traditions. This included two nights of festivities:

Night one: We gathered at puerta del sol (center of Madrid) around 11:30 (2300) and bought each of ourselves a little baggie of 12 grapes. Then we wondered through the plaza looking for a fun group to stand by. When we found one, we waited for the clock to strike midnight, and then ate our grapes when the Spaniards told us to.

Why are we eating grapes you ask? Well, each grape symbolizes one month of the year. And each grape successfully eaten at the bell signifies a month of good luck and prosperity! (just watch out not to choke on the seeds!)

So after our practice run, the next day was time for the real deal. La Nochevieja is a family holiday. Families usually have a nice big dinner that night. Although we are not lucky enough to have our families with us, we were lucky enough to have each other (so grateful for my girls Addie, Amber and Rosemarie!) So we cooked ourselves up a delicious meal of fish and veggies (and goat cheese stuffed mushrooms as well mmmm)

Next we got on our dancing shoes and headed down to Puerta del sol again, this time, pushing through a few extra thousand people! We waited for about 45 minutes for the bells to strike as we fought off pushy crowds and wondering hands

When the clock struck twelve, it was very hard to know when to start eating because it was so loud in the plaza! But we went for it and quickly chewed one grape after the other, popping them in our mouths like the next year of life depended upon it!

After pushing our way back to the metro, it was time to celebrate. We celebrated in true Madrileña fashion by dancing the night away at a discoteca and leaving when they kicked us out at 7 am. Then we followed it up with chocolote con churros and wondered back to bed around 9am!


So what are some of my propinas (resolutions) for el año nuevo??
1) More exercise (i will no longer count lugging suitcases around airports and different cities as exercise)
2) Try to enjoy Valencia a smidge more
3) Love myself
4) Journal more often
6) Always look for the silver lining
7) Stay calm in stressful situations
8) Make friends wherever I go
9) Give someone a compliment (wholeheartedly) every day
10) Live my life to the fullest