birthday celebrations.

Turning 21 in Europe is nothing special, since the legal drinking age of 18 is very rarely enforced. Luckily for me, I was with a bunch of Americans who were determined to act like 21 mattered.

The festivities started on September 17, since Jessica insisted that we celebrate my “12:01″ as well as my actual day of birth. We went to the grand opening of a new club, Gold, which ended up being pretty close to my house. They advertised an open bar until 1:30am, so it was packed when we arrived. At approximately 1:35am, the place had emptied out quite a bit. We stuck around to dance for a while though.

Jess and I dancing to American rap music from 3 years ago

Wednesday was fun, but Thursday is when we really celebrated. All of my friends and I met up at a bar, Chocita Sueca (and no, I don’t know what it means. Swedish something). The place was empty, which was great because that meant there was plenty of space for us to let loose.

Jen and Justin showing off their moves

Auyon, Alyssa, and Josh

My best friend from Tufts, Erica, is studying abroad in Madrid also, but through a different program. I was SO excited that she was able to come out and celebrate with us, even though she had to be up early the next morning for a weekend trip to Sevilla with her school.

Erica and I at Chocita Sueca

After the bar, it was time for the real dancing to begin. We headed to one of the best clubs in Madrid, Pacha, to finish off the evening. There are a lot of discotecas in Madrid, but Pacha is really great because a lot of Spanish people go there. In a lot of the clubs, especially the ones near Sol (the touristy downtown area) there are a lot of Americans, and the Spanish guys that are there are creepy. Pacha is really nice and all of the people we’ve met there have been awesome.

The outside of Pacha

We danced all night in Pacha, and some of the Spanish friends we made met up with us also. Jess’ best friend from home has cousins that live here, so we’ve hung out with them a few times. They’re the ones that brought us to Pacha the first time, so we thank them for that!

Me, Erica, and Abby at Pacha

We left around 5:30am when we thought we would fall asleep in the club and when our feet hurt so badly from being in high heels for 7 hours. I don’t know how the Spanish girls do it… It was a great birthday though, and I’m looking forward to being 21 in the States where it actually matters!

The dancefloor inside of Pacha