De marcha en Madrid

Friday night A. and I went out, leaving the house at 12 midnight. We met up with his friends/master's classmates at one of their flats near Las Ventas bullring (I still haven't seen a bull fight, though I'm fairly against them).

This was the first time I had met the bunch and I could tell right off they were a fun and smart bunch (something that can't be said for previous groups of A's colleagues). How do I know this? The first topic of discussion we launched into was film; we swapped recommendations for Estrellas de la línea, Amores Perros, Pi, María Full of Grace, Yesterday, and Lord of War, among others.

Around 3 a.m. we caught a night bus to a discoteca called La Botellita on the Paseo de la Castellana by the sculpture garden. We danced to funky '80s songs like Alaska y Dinarama's "Ni tú ni nadie" and Maná's "Clavado en un bar" (pictures forthcoming!). Most of the group we were with are Latin American, so there was no shortage of rhythm and energy. Toward the end, I started falling asleep on my feet in spite of myself, but we went strong until 6 a.m. (when the metro started up again). It was impressive to see the vast numbers of young folks stumbling into the station with us (and some promptly falling asleep once seated).

Late-night clubbing is not something I'd recommend doing nightly (pricey admission, way-too-smoky, requires time to catch up on zzzzz's, etc.), but at least trying it is an essential part of Madrid culture.