Botellón

In Spain, there is a custom where people gather in plazas and parks at night to drink beer, wine, and other strange drinks (like Fanta or Coke with red wine).  These gatherings are called botellóns and seem to be completely acceptable among the youth here.  Local police will walk right by and don't stop to observe or scold the public drinking; it just seems to be another part of Spanish culture which I found shocking but also liberating.

So naturally, since we are pretending to be Spaniards for the next three months, we wanted to have a botellón of our own.  We picked up some bottles of vino that cost only 1 euro each and headed to Plaza de Santa Barbara.  We were surprised that we were the only ones at the plaza, but then we realized it was a Monday and that people normally have a botellón on a Friday or Saturday.  Rookie mistake.  It was still a lot of fun though, hanging out and chatting with our group of Northwestern friends.  Many more botellóns to come. 

Botellón #1 in Plaza de Santa Barbara

Botellón #2