We awoke early to skype with our families (for whom 2010 would arrive sooner), then slept a bit more...then awoke in the afternoon and wandered around in search of a liquor store. We didn't wander far; after investing in a rather interesting bottle of strawberry "champagne" (from Patagonia, of all places), we opted for an early dinner at El Pezcador. Underestimating the size of the plates, we ordered four raciones (portions), not even realising that the table of four next to us only shared two between the lot of them.
Maybe the comically large glasses of sangria should have tipped us off.
The waiter did not know much English, but he did manage an "Oh God!" and a shake of his head as he brought out each dish. When I asked for a plate of chorizo he steadfastly refused, indicating that I had quite enough food already. I stubbornly finished everything laid out before us. We worked our way through meatballs, scrambled egg with ham, chorizo and mushrooms, chicken croquettes and fried anchovies (well, I ate those...Nik didn't).
Our perseverance was rewarded with free shots at the end of our meal - luckily chupitos (shots) is a word I recognised. When the waiter asked if we would stick around for them I practically fell off my chair saying "Si! Si!"
Significantly happier, we made our way back to the hotel. Javier was working that night, so we asked him to join us for a drink. Initially he said he shouldn't (in a hushed whisper) - then he had a look at the Patagonian strawberry bubbly and said "Maybe just a glass then". What started as one drink with Javier turned into an impromptu party in the front room of the hotel. A Spanish gentleman joined us for a toast...then a Puerto Rican woman from New York joined us...then a mother and daughter from Massachusetts. Pretty soon our drink was gone...but everyone had a bottle to share, and Javier brought out more ("If I keep having a drink with every guest...")
Javier had also given all guests a bottle of champagne/cider, some fortune cookies and a card - which was very sweet. Starting the night that way made me feel so much more at home, and I think Javier at least enjoyed his night (which would otherwise have been spent working).
At about 11:30pm we walked down to Puerta del Sol where the big celebrations were occurring. The Spaniards really do love their wigs and hats - everyone was wearing a colourful headpiece of some sort - and blowing whistles/throwing confetti. There were about one million people packed into the square (or so we were told). It was crazy.
There is a Spanish tradition of swallowing 12 grapes (one every second) before the clock strikes midnight. So a lot of people had bunches of grapes with them. Apparently the tradition celebrated its centenary in 2009. We were told that it started when there was an excess of grapes one year in the harvest, so to get rid of them they started this custom. Who knows if its true, but it seemed pretty fun.
At midnight the fireworks went off, and music played whilst most people were dancing drunkenly/singing and screaming. The people who live around the square were throwing balloons and confetti down from their balconies (I was still removing confetti from my hair and clothes one day later). Here is a video from the night:
After the festivities at Sol we wandered around the area. I had wanted to go to Villa Rosa (supposedly the oldest pub in Madrid), but a lot of places did not open until 2am. We passed a lot of bars, but many were charging exorbitant prices to even enter, so we grabbed some things to eat and went back to the hotel for one last drink (then wound up still awake at 6am).
It was a really relaxed NYE (apart from the brief mad period at Sol), and a nice way to ring in the new year. And we learned how to say feliz año nuevo (happy new year) - which we can now add to our repertoire of cerveza, sangria and chupitos.
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