Friday was my first birthday outside of the U.S and with distance between me and my other half. Being six hours ahead, I of course would be celebrating it first.
While living in the hostel I met a German kid named Jakob; were it not for him my night would have been completely different. He met me at the hostel around 9, (he moved out the day before) with a friend of his from Italy. We had a couple of drinks and then left to Puerta del Sol (a large plaza in 10 min from the hostel) to start a bar crawl. Literally ever night in Madrid various hostels and places meet in this area for different bar crawls. They’re 10 euro and go to three different bars and a club. You entrance to the place and a shot of a watered down mixed drink. It’s a great way to meet people. While waiting in line for the first bar we met a group of guys, one from France, the U.S, and Belgium. Once inside we ordered a shot, realized the price was really expensive, left, went around the block to get beer from a corner store and drank it waiting for the next bar.
The next bar was an Irish pub and is where the night started getting fun. We took the free shot, got more drinks and started a dance circle. It was started by taking an empty bottle, spinning it on the floor and forcing (via heckling) the person it lands on to dance. After some time we went to the next bar. Luckily I did some time in Costs Rica because the next bar played salsa and bachata. Because of my dance skills I was able to woo the ladies. At some point I lost everyone I was with, decided to leave and then ran into a girl I met from the BEDA orientation (Holly) and her friend (Monet). It just so happens that Holly and Monet were on a bar crawl so I joined there’s and proceeded to go to two or three more bars with of course, a free shot in each. From what I remember the second part of the night was just as fun as the first. I ended up making it home around 5:30 am. Overall, for being in a new country less than a week my birthday was a huge success because of the people I met along the way. The bitter part about it was that I was unable to share it with Jaclyn.
Sounds amazingly fun Joseph!!! It had to be hard with your other half though 🙁 Glad you’re meeting so many fun people!
Ugh, this sounds so much fun! Missed ya though Jojo. You definitely would have loved the 90s bar I went to. Maybe I’ll start saving this winter & not go out at all here so I can come visit you for a few days haha I want to go on these barcrawls!