I love this city! What a time I had on Saturday night June 23rd. After having dinner at a friend's house we went over to the Plaza de Oriente to listen to the tail end of the 10 hours of free music that the local merchants and the town hall sponsored in celebration of "D�a Europeo de la M�sica" (European Music Day). This is a yearly event so if you are in Madrid in June 23rd some year, don't miss it. We caught some great Jazz. The only bad part of the night was that I had left my camera at home . This was one of the rare times I have done so and I promise not to screw up again. Saludos, jer...
Gosh, and they tried to tell us when we were in France a few years back that it was a French holiday! Fete de la musique! Those French folks! I think lots of Europeans take the summer solstice much more seriously than we do, and since bonfire jumping went out for the general public, a music festival seems like a good idea.
I'm shocked to discover that your camera is not superglued(or velcroed) to your body! In Nice, it was so crowded, all you could see was other people(I'm short)
Pack light, sleep cheap, eat well.
Posts: 479 | Location: ROCKFORD,MI, USA | Registered: 23 May 2001
We take the solstice seriously up here in Northern Wisconsin. Each year at the summer solstice, we dance naked around a campfire while coated in chicken feathers, supported by the music of our local kazoo band. When we are through dancing, we take a solemn vow to leave all the shackles of the modern world behind, and live off the land, forsaking all modern conveniences. That done, we all shake hands, call out on the cell phone, and have pizzas delivered, along with a barrel of beer...
JP
Posts: 121 | Location: x | Registered: 21 June 2001
Hi All. Sue, it is not that the Spaniards do not like to go barefooted coal hopping and bonfire dancing, in fact, "La Noche de San Jos�" is celebrated just that way, to welcome the Summer solstice. The only thing is that in the bigger cities the bonifres are sometimes frowned upon by the uptight politicians here, "aguafiestas" ("spoil sports", "wet blankets", "party poopers", etc) I like to call them.
As for the French, they would take credit for anything and everything if we let them .
Hi JP, although your ritual sounds very interesting, the Music Marathon was a pleasant alternative to having my "huevitos" ("little eggs", if you get the gist) singed . Saludos, jer...
p.d. Wow, I have not heard or seen the word "Kazoo" in ages.
Jer: from the bottom up, "Kazoo" besides being a wind instrument nearly anyone can play,is also the nickname of Kalamazoo, MI, about an hour south of me, where my fate as a Spanish teacher came to pass(B.A. 1968)
As for your "huevitos", remind me to tell you the story about the chicken smuggling peasant and the nun on the train. I think I have to tell it in Spanish. Do you know it? I don't think it can be translated adequately.
Pack light, sleep cheap, eat well.
Posts: 479 | Location: ROCKFORD,MI, USA | Registered: 23 May 2001
. This was one of the rare times I have done so and I promise not to screw up again.
- rent or buy a cell phone from me for your stay in spain, more info at 
- already have a cell phone, get a spanish SIM card for it at 
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