New Year's in Salamanca
December 2001
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Steve and I arrived in Madrid on the afternoon of December 28th.  Luis picked us up at the airport, and we drove with Luis and his sister (Isabelle) back to their family's "country" house in Salamanca (only about 3 miles outside of the city).  We met Luis' family, and then went out with a few of Luis' friends to a bar.  Steve enjoyed himself, as illustrated on the right.

We spent the next few days hanging out with Luis' family, enjoying Salamanca and the local area, eating as many pork products as possible, and going out for Tea Americano and beers.  The highlights included a trip to a countryside village for lunch, hanging out in the Salamanca Plaza Major, and eating tapas.   A few pictures....
Steve enjoying himself at a local bar...
Aaron standing on Luis' half-frozen pool
Steve & Luis in the Plaza Major
Aaron instigating the family pets

New Year's eve began with a feast at Luis' house, and then celebration of midnight.  We then dressed for the party, and left at 1am.  The club, Cum Laude, opened its doors at 1:30am.  We spent the next 7 hours dancing and partying at the club, followed by traditional hot chocolate and churros at 9am.  We were unable to find a taxi to return to Luis' country house, so we adjourned to their nearby city apartment, where we slept until 2pm.  We were successful in finding a taxi in the afternoon, and were back relaxing at the country house by 3pm.  Some pictures from the memorable night:
Everyone dressed for the party
Luis is greeted kindly at the club...
Very late that night...
More pictures to come....

We spent the morning of January 2nd touring Salamanca with Isabelle's friend Racquel, and then left for Madrid.  We stayed at Luis's aunt's apartment downtown Madrid, nicely located near all of the city's most famous sights.  On the morning of the 3rd Steve and I did the walking tour of downtown Madrid, including a brief stop for tapas.  A fitting end to a great New Year's trip!  A few last pictures:
Aaron in front of the Salamanca Cathedral
Steve leading the way in Madrid
Should I be drinking from that?
More pictures to come....