I guess if you would have asked me a few years ago what I would expect to be doing for my 22nd birthday, I don’t think I would have guessed I’d be in Madrid sipping the most delicious sangria and surrounded by friends I’ve made from all over the world.
But that was just the case. This year, I didn’t get any fancy birthday party with my family, I didn’t go on any dates, I didn’t see a lot of my friends nor did I receive any real gifts. In fact, I spent about the first half the day on my own, I visited the Spanish National Library that morning and it’s adjoined museums, I had some good home-made (by me) food and I watched some TV on my laptop.
The second half of the day, or shall I say, the evening, was a lot different, and honestly I don’t think I could have had a better time. I planned to go to one of my favourite bars, Cofi, and I invited the friends I had that were remaining in Madrid. It’s important to note at this point that the majority of my friends here in Madrid had left. Obviously, most of the friends I made in the first semester left in January, and a lot of the friends I made now in the second semester left already, and frankly there are more and more returning home every day, I guess it’s evident that the semester and my study abroad experience is slowly coming to an end (#emotional, but let’s not talk about that…)
Anyways, so I made plans to go to this bar, Cofi, and I forget if I’ve mentioned it in previous blog posts or not, but Cofi is essentially this really small bar close to the main square, Sol. It’s so small that I don’t believe more than 15 people can fit in it as well. The owner, Antonio, is also the sole employee at the bar, and he is without a doubt one of the nicest people I’ve met here in Madrid. It was introduced to me a few months back by my friend Mike, who was introduced to it by our friend Lisa who was introduced to it by our friend Myrthe, and it has become the place to be. Not only does Antonio charge €2.50 for his incredibly delicious sangria, he serves tapas with the food and the ambiance in the place is chill and relaxing, lending itself well to pleasant conversation among friends.
So I had around maybe ten people attend, and it wasn’t one of these big clubbing evenings (I’ve had so many of those in Madrid let me say), it was just a relaxed night socializing with friends, and honestly I couldn’t have had a better time. I would like to once again thank everyone for showing up and making this 22nd birthday, my first (and hopefully not last) in Madrid truly special.
Now, it was a long-awaited reunion, and it finally happened on Thursday May 26th, the day following my 22nd birthday. Really late at night, my mother and sister arrived at the Madrid airport from their flight at Berlin and I got a chance to see them for the first time since late August of last year and we would spend the following nine days together until their departure for Montreal from London nine days later.
It was an interesting time we spent together. For one thing, hosting them at my house was a bit difficult since my sister and I were forced to sleep on my couch in the kitchen while I graciously donated my bed to my mother. Let’s just say that I learned the hard way that the couch is not very comfortable… and I didn’t get any sleep in four nights. This being said, we went out and I showed them all of the best eating and drinking spots in Madrid, including El Tigre, 100 Montaditos and Cofi, but I also gave them a tour of all the best sites to see; both the touristy and non-touristy places, and they especially liked the Matadero, which is a fringy type of place. My mom especially appreciated Madrid for its abundant nature, everywhere you turn in this city there are parks and green spaces, and frankly I believe that if it weren’t for Spain’s economy woes at the moment that Madrid would be the ideal place to settle down.
After an exciting birthday and a few days exploring Madrid with the family, however, it was time to take a family trip to Barcelona! While my birthday did come and go, it will certainly remain as one of the best birthdays of my life, at one of my all-time favourite bars!
-Daniele
