¡La Loca Nochevieja! - a.k.a. Crazy New Years

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to stay in Madrid for New Years. I had heard that Madrid has notoriously crazy parties that night but I was not prepared for what was about to unfold that night. First let me start with the day before, December 30.

At this time Molly and Brian had made it from Switzerland to Madrid to spend the next three days with me. That night we went out to dinner downtown, not to late, around 9 typical for Spainiards. By the time we finished around 11:30, the entire downtown plaza was filled with people drinking, singing, yelling and just hanging around. We knew that this was the place for the New Years celebration but we were all terribly confused. The first thing we did was check our watches to make sure we had the right date. After trying to make our way through the crowd with little luck, we decided to stop and just enjoy the craziness. For those of you that don't know, (which may be most of you,) the tradition in Spain is too eat one grape at every stroke of the clock tower at midnight. After asking a few locals we find out there is a "practice run" with the grapes at 12 midnight. As we panned through the crowd, everyone around us had grapes, party hats and beer cans in their hands. Once again we all checked out watches because we could not believe what we were seeing. After the stroke of midnight we were finally able to make it through the crowd and back home. At least now we knew what to expect tomorrow night.

The next night we started early. We met up at Seara's house for dinner and then barely made it to the downtown plaza in time for the grapes. This time there were police and barricades, a foretelling sign that tonight was the right night. Braced with our Champaign and grapes we waited for the stroke of midnight. At each stroke we shoved a grape into our mouth, and if anyone has ever played Chubby Bunny or the like, you know it is not an easy task eating that much food so quickly. Everything went smoothly but the night was not over. The second half was just about to begin.

Another tradition on New Years is to go to a discoteca and spend all night there until they close at 6 or 7 in the morning. For 40 euros, you can dance all night, open-bar all night, and free party favors and tapas, a good deal if you ask me. Around 1 a.m. we made it to the club and did not leave until 6:30. We were absolutely exhausted but all agreed that this was one of the most exciting and tiring New Years celebrations any of us had endured.

Brian and Molly left early on the morning of the 2nd. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed seeing them once again. I am glad that I was able to save them a couple bucks by letting them crash on my floor. Hostals in Madrid can be a little pricey especially that time of the year. Just when I thought things were settling down after the Holidays, school picked up again and Now I am studying for finals. A finals update will come when I am done studying, as for now I must get back to the books.

Patton

Philips SHN9500 Active Noise Cancelling Headphones

I just bought the Philips SHN 9500 off Amazon.com and they are great. I was worried about buying them online without trying them on first. The last pair of headphones I had hurt my ears, but everything turned out great, these completely cover my ear. There is a nice, tight seal around the ear, which helps a lot with outside noise, even when the NC is off. The noise canceling works great. It only covers the low range sounds, which is perfect for the buses, planes, and metro. I think, but its hard to tell, when the NC is on, the bass is slightly reduced. I saw that mentioned on a lot of reviews of other headphones so I don't think that is something to worry about and plus, you can barely tell anyways. All and all, I think the headphones are an excellent buy, especially for under 100 dollars. They don't fit too tight, nor do they feel like they are going to fall off and they deliver a high quality sound. And the product comes with a convenient carrying case and two headphone adapters. What more could you ask for!

I have returned from Germany safely.

First off, I would like to say that German is a very angry language. Everyone always sounds pissed off when they are talking to you. Thank God I didn't run into any problems.

Christmas was beautiful. Although it wasn't the same without my family, I was able to enjoy it with Seara's family in a beautiful place. We stayed at a resort in Souther Germany in the Alps. The resort was an old army base and now caters only to the army. We were able to go snowboarding one day and the other two days were spent relaxing and enjoying the Christmas atmosphere. I am very grateful that I was asked to come on this trip, Seara's Aunt and Uncle were both really happy to see us together. I am the first boy friend of Seara's that they have met (not that she has had a lot). Aunt Cappy and Uncle Mike live in Georgia along with the rest of Seara's mom's side of the family. The whole experience was absolutely stunning.

As for the first part of the trip, Amsterdam round two was amazing as well. It felt really good to be amongst my good friends again. It had been a while since I had seen most of those guys, some as far back as last spring. It was really cold in Amsterdam though, something I was unprepared for. It was so cold I was forced to buy a scarf, which I swore I wouldn't do. It gets cold here in Madrid but I was getting by fine without one. I told myself that I wouldn't buy a scarf because I would have no use for it when I return to Santa Barbara. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures and I caved in and bought one. Now I use it everyday.

On the flight home, Seara and I got really lucky. Our flight was canceled leaving Munich to Barcelona which could have left us stranded in the Munich airport. Originally we had planned to fly to Barcelona and take a bus to Madrid, that was the cheapest route we could find. But once the airline fixed the problem, they stuck us on a plane that went directly to Madrid. Everyone else going to Barcelona had to catch a flight the next morning while we just went home. Although we were out 25 euro from the bus tickets, the problem was solved in our favor.

The whole trip was crazy but I enjoyed every minute of it. I am not sure I like traveling so much but every minute was worth it. The train rides through Germany were absolutely beautiful with all the snow on the ground. Also not speaking the language can be very stressful but thankfully I had Seara to complain to. I enjoyed Christmas very much and I hope everyone else did as well. I want to wish everyone a very Merry belated Christmas and Happy New year.

Enjoy some new Madrid Pictures. Expect some Amsterdam pictures soon!

Patton