1 y 2 de mayo

So there were two holidays this weekend. 1st and 2nd of May. The first is Labor Day of course, which is pretty much celebrated everywhere but the US. Unfortunately I missed out on some of the demonstrations held by the labor unions, but I did catch some traditional folk dances going on in Plaza Mayor. Y otra vez there was sun in the city, if only for a day or so. Always enjoyable. by the way, the dances are quite similar to the Filipino-Spanish influenced dances, obviously....I like the Filipino ones better.

Another random discovery is Plaza de Espana, which is pretty much a 5 minute walk from my apt. It has a fountain, a HUGE monument with Don Quijote on it, some kiddies rides, and a mini-flea market. It's pretty a smaller, more quaint Rastro/Whole Earth Fest. It's also where a good pair of 5 Euro Ray Ban, I don't care if they're knock-off, I still like them.
I also found quite a few good chinese restaurants around the area, and a chinese supermarket. Guess I don't have to go all the way to another part of town to get my azn fixin's.

Dos de mayo
Just as a history refresher, the 2nd of May celebrates the uprising against the occupying French (led by Napoleon) which started in Madrid, therefore it is celebrated only in Madrid. The event was depicted famously by Goya . I randomly stopped by Puerta del Sol to see if there was anything going on, and por casualidad, I got there right in time for the military parade. Jets flew overhead leaving a trail of the flag's colors behind them. For a minute, a building was colored by sunlight shining through the red sky. It was pretty cool.



So that already made my day. The only way it was topped off was by the awesome Indian place I ate lunch at in La Latina. Chicken Tikka Masala and naan, Indian tea with milk for desert. Aah I love that it's still good no matter where you go. But the real topper was the sugar packet that came with the tea. True proof of the absolute absence of political correctness in Spain - pics will accompany soon.