VivAmerica in Madrid

Brian and I just got back from a trip to Madrid. Despite the fact that Brian checked with the Spanish liason for Iberia, we had no idea that October 12 was a national holiday, and that along with that holiday, there would be a parade. Following the parade, there was an unrelated second parade called VivAmerica, which is a festival for Spanish and Central/South American cultures.

Both brought out throngs of people. These pictures, taken from the double decker tour bus, are both of the VivAmerica festival.

Although the Palace was closed for the entire length of our stay due to this holiday, we found that we were able to creatively find alternative things to do. The morning of the national military parade (hey, there were even US military personnel in it!), we were able to go through the archaelogical museum and book museum with hardly anyone else...we had the museums to ourselves. We still managed to catch some of the parade, and could see the colorful cloud of smoke from the air display as we exited to find our way to the train station.

We went out of town about 30 miles away to see a smaller, yet still incredible palace. Upon our return, we came back to what you see here. Loud music, vibrant costumes, flags from all nations Central and South American. Brian and I stood out in the crowd, but so did the German tourists walking near us, who also 'had no idea this was going on this weekend.'

This is why we travel: for unexpected events such as these.