Una Noche en Kapital

(The entrance to Kapital in Madrid, Spain)

Yesterday, I didn't wake up until 11:30. What's even greater is that I woke up on my own, without an alarm clock annoyingly blaring in my ear. After breakfast, I read a few articles for my Economics paper, and then ate lunch with Julia. We had a nice long chat about braces, of all things, (I picked up some new vocabulary there). Then I went back to pretending to be productive. Julia and Paquita had been talking about how nice it was outside, and when I got bored of doing work, I decided to go for a walk before dinner. I checked Google maps (because I can't be trusted to find anything on my own) and found a park that looked about half an hour away and a route that didn't involve making any turns (the only way I won't get lost).

So I headed out, wearing my new scarf, which makes me feel awfully snazzy. It was pretty windy, though, and my new scarf kept blowing into my face, which detracted from my snazziness. I got to El Parque de Rodríguez Sahagún - which was right where I thought it would be - and walked around for a bit. There were lots of people walking their dogs, some joggers, and a few couples playing Bocce Ball (P.S. When writing this I didn't know what the name of the game was, so I went to Google and doubtfully typed in, "italian sport balls court old people" and it came right up). I climbed up a hill and from the top, got a view of Madrid I wasn't expecting. Madrid seems to be built on somewhat of a hill, so their were sloping views off into the distance.

It was getting dark, and after taking some pictures of the view, I walked back down to the park. I saw a jogger coming towards me on the path and didn't pay him any attention until I saw that he was wearing a black mask. It looked like a creepy mask, too. I almost dropped my camera and ran in the other direction. But because (apparently) I would rather get stolen by a scary man in a black mask than actually break into a run, I just froze right there in the middle of the sidewalk. He got closer and I realized that it was just a black ski mask and that he had no evil intentions. Still, it was not cold enough to warrant the use of such an alarming ski mask. I also learned that I'll be a dead duck if anyone ever tries to steal me. . .

I got back to Julia's and ate dinner (calamari and rice) by myself because Julia was off at a concert. I ate quickly because I had to get ready for the one-and-only 7-story discotheque, Kapital! The place is a must-do in Madrid for discotheque loving types, and as I am of the discotheque loving variety, I was pretty excited. Lizzie, my intercambio Jennifer, and her friend Sara, and I were all getting together for the occasion. We were meeting at 10 for tapas, so I met Lizzie at Nuevos Ministerios and we took the train to Atocha. We all headed over to the tapas bar, which is one of Jennifer's favorites.

In most tapas bars in Madrid, you order drinks and then get free food, so Jennifer ordered a pitcher of sangria for the table and we got a plate of sandwiches on the side. There were three different kinds of sandwiches which were all good - hotdogs and cheese, jam and cheese, and a tomato spread. The sangria was surprisingly good, too. Lizzie is a connoisseur of sangria, so whenever she orders a glass, I get to try a sip and learn from a professional. She actually didn't like this one as much because you couldn't taste the wine, but in my records, it's the best one we've tried yet. I finished my first glass and it was refilled so that we could empty the first pitcher and get a second, which would result in a second plate of food - patatas bravas (essentially french fries with a topping of an aioli sauce and a spicy sauce). We plowed through that and the ladies were saying that the second pitcher of sangria was even sweeter than the first. So I finished my second glass of sangria so that I could try the new one (groundbreaking, I know). It was tastier, but I stopped after half a glass on principle. Glasses of sangria: 2.5. Effects: Nada (apparently, those beers given to me as a child by Dziad upped my tolerance more than I would have expected).

Then at about midnight - Kapital! We could have gotten in for free (we were on the list - Jennifer knows one of the bouncers) but we ended up paying 15 euros for admittance and two "free" drinks. Since the drinks at Kapital are upwards of 12 euros, it was a better deal. I knew that by six in the morning, I'd be wanting a Coke, too. Here's an outline of how that conversation usually goes:

Me: "A Coke, please."

Bartender: "With what?"

Me: "A glass and two ice cubes."

So we paid and got in. We were pretty early, so there was no one there and we had the place to ourselves for some photo shoots. We toured all 7 stories and then ended up in the karaoke room (Lizzie and Jennifer are big fans). There was literally no one there, so even I went once with Lizzie. We had to sing Brittany Spears, though, because it was about the only song on the list that I knew. I've accepted that I'm a failure at popular culture and have moved on.

Once people started to arrive we started dancing. One of the bartenders gave us free tequila shots, but I was not drinking that nasty stuff. Then we danced until 6 am. Kapital had lots of cool rooms to explore (which included the top floor, where during the summer, they open the roof and you can see the stars all night from the lounges and beds (?) that are set up all over the place), and on the main dance floor they have go-go dancers and this huge air-conditioning blower thing that they turn on in bursts that blows your clothes and hair all over the place (if only I had my snazzy scarf). There weren't too many people there because it was Thursday night, so no cuties, but plenty of friendly non-cuties that were promptly dismissed. Yay for Kapital!

Jennifer and Sara left at 5:30, when the last night-bus took off, but Lizzie and I stayed and danced until 6. We hopped on the train and I got back to Julia's at about 6:45 and was in bed by 7. I slept until 2 and woke up in time for lunch (eggplant/tomato something - really good). Julia and I talked for a bit and she even told me sit with her on the couch because I was conversing so well. But then she had to leave because her sister called and told her about a sale on meat at the butcher's. She ran off with wallet in hand. I worked all afternoon on Economics and then had dinner. Ever since it's been Christmas music and picture uploading. I'll see if I can get some up tonight.