La Noche en Blanco

La Noche en Blanco (White Night) is an annual event in Madrid where the whole city stays open all night, they close down many of the streets to cars, there's free entry into museums, and there's all sorts of music, art, and revelry. It's a sight to be seen. Think Castro Halloween but much bigger and with fewer costumes or shootings. Also unlike San Francisco, the elderly as well as young children are wandering the streets at midnight along with all the drunk 20-somethings.

Again, in a very un-madrileño way, we started the night at 9:00 PM (that's, like, dinner time!) and made it only until 1:00 AM (there were groups of party-goers literally starting their evening on my walk home). Because everything was free, most places had super-long lines, so we mostly wandered and people-watched. Highlights include:

• Double Rainbow art installation in the Palacio de Cibeles

• Giant game of Twister in Plaza de Colón

• Surrealist Photography Exhibit at the Fundación MAPFRE

• Eating froyo while wearing masks of el madrileño del año in La Plaza Mayor


I tried to post a video that captures el ambiente of La Noche en Blanco, but Blogger wasn't having any of it. Sorry!

Classes start tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the learning but dreading the work. I don't know yet how much free time I'll have but will hopefully still be able to travel and explore (and the post about it) with frequency. Also, I might actually start posting in Spanish a bit! We shall see.