"La Noche en Blanco" is basically a one night special event done in Madrid from 9pm Saturday 22 of September to 7 am Sunday 23 September in which the museums stay open a lot later and are free, there are art exhibits, and free theater productions. It is also done in Riga (Latvia), Rome (Italy), Brussels (Belgium), and Paris (France), but all on different dates.
My flatmate and I left at 4:45ish to meet up with a church group she had been in contact with. Their church is centered in Madrid, but most (if not all) of the congregation speaks English. So, we met up in Plaza de Santa Ana and got introduced and looked over the program to see what we wanted to do. There was so much to choose from that it was a somewhat daunting task to even select what you wanted to try to see. I didn't really have anything in particular I was dieing to get to go to, so I just decided to do whatever the rest of the group wanted.
As we waited we got some Gelado (always gelado with me :) at an amazing place, right near the plaza on Huerta street (or something with that name). I think it was called Ricci, and it had a neon-green door frame (for those of you who someday visit Madrid, go here as the flavors are great and the price is right). I had cheesecake (or the type of cream taste that is used in cheesecake/creme brule) and hazelnut (my personal favorite as they don't have peanut butter anything in Spain).
We eventually went in search of dinner around 830 or 900, a kebab place. Actually, it appears that kebabs are quite popular in Spain. The street we happened upon seemed to be kebab-row or something. Dinner was very enjoyable as it was really interesting for me to hear about the lives of these individuals. Most of them were in their 20s or early 30s, just graduated and such. It was just cool to see what had brought them to Spain and what they were doing for working or studying abroad. Some were helping plant churches, others were studying abroad like myself, and some were there to teach English. Many ideas and options to put into the back of my mind as I am not sure what I will do once I graduate, let alone the rest of my life. They were also so friendly and fun too. Most were from the states, the UK, and a few from other countries.
After dinner we kind of wandered aimlessly trying to go to stuff. However, ironies of ironies, it started to pour. Early that day had been perfectly sunny, so I had not even thought to bring anything for a light shower...or a down pour for that matter. So, I was caught in the MASSES (no exaggeration here, literally a sea of people, I don't believe I have ever seen that many people fill the streets at one time), with my blue jeans and rainbow sandals. Although wet denim is not a favorite of mine, it wasn't cold out so being damp wasn't torture.
Although we tried to take in some of the activities, every time we showed up somewhere it seemed that we had just missed it or the line was too long to wait in. Still, I got to walk in one of the busiest round-abouts in Spain, hang out with a really cool group of people, and just be part of the madness and chaos of that evening. We even walked through a huge "botellon". For those who don't know what it is, to my understanding (the synopsis which was given to me) is that it is a very large drinking party that the police frown upon (aka it is illegal I believe), in which everyone gathers in a huge group in the streets and drinks beer from cans or large plastic cups. It was actually kind of comical when I first saw it, because all I saw was a big group of people all standing around but there was nothing that they were looking at (no stage, no music, no museum in the area), but then someone enlightened me most kindly.
At about 1:30 (very early for the Spanish mind you) we were exhausted and went back to one of the apartments of one of the girls from the church group to rest and get out of the chaos. She offered her spare beds for my flatmate and I to stay the night so we would not have to try to navigate our way back to Alcala that night, or walk around aimlessly any longer. Her apartment was great and it made me want to live abroad! She was just so hospitable, and it convicted me in a good way to be more so in my own life.
We went to sleep dirty and damp, but very content with our experience of La Noche en Blanco. We left around 7:45 to catch the metro to the train back to Alcala.
HIGHLIGHT OF LA NOCHE EN BLANCO: Getting to hang out with a really fun group of Christians while walking in the craziness of late-night Madrid in the rain.
1. Rain Clouds!
2. Images of La Noche en Blanco
3. El Botellon
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