Feli(th) Año Nuevo!

So the new year is off, and I started it in the middle of Puerta del Sol, Madrid's No. 1 tourist spot. Madrid really doesn't have one single tourist trap, like Paris' Eiffel Tower or London's Big Ben, Tower of London, etc (you name it). Puerta del Sol is probably the closest thing to a monumental tourist trap, and every noche vieja (new years' eve), Madrileños ring in the new year here, sipping champagne and eating 12 grapes as soon as the clock strikes midnight. Think of it like Spain's version of the hubbub of Times Square in NYC.

I headed out to Puerta del Sol with my two roommates, another friend from our program and her friend visiting from LA. Pushing through the crowd, we realized we arrived much too late to catch a good view of the clock. Instead, we settled for one of the streets leading off from the main square, which was also jammed with excited revelers. As we waited for the countdown to commence, we de-seeded our grapes, took some photos, and talked about how fortunate we all were to be ringing in the new year in someplace completely different than usual, and thousands of miles from home.

About 45 minuotes after the clock struck midnight -- when we were finally able to follow the heard of people out of the Plaza -- the 5 of us headed to the Bilbao neighborhood to find a place to spend the rest of the night. Fortunately, we ended up at my favorite dinosaur-themed bar (and to be honest, my favorite bar in Madrid, period), Diplodocus Rock Bar. Along the way, we met another group of Americans who were being followed by a pair of Austrians and a pair of Australians, and we all joined forces to have a fantastic time jamming along to the 80s metal played at Diplodocus. The Americans were from Chicago and Wisconsin, so I reminisced a bit about the cold Chicago winters and road trips I've taken with friends through Wisconsin and into Minneapolis (Two words... Mall. Of. America. Wait, three words...).

Drinking dinosaur-themed beverages, thrashing along to AC/DC and chilling with friends, both new and old, I must say this new year is off to a fantastic start.

As for my resolutions, you ask? Well, I've decided to try this little thing called optimism. Things don't always work out the way you want them to; in fact I'm sure they rarely do. But maybe that saying that attitude is everything really does have some truth to it. Perhaps going in with a more optimistic and open attitude will make things turn out a bit better in 2009. Here's to hope!