Got the Grapes; need the Bells

It's a tradition in my home to eat 12-grapes as the Campanas en Puerta del Sol chime in the New Year. That's next Monday evening!

Do we have a link to Madrid Radio or Television? Can somebody post the link, please! :jump:

I HOPE to be there! But will also wear my walkin' shoes for afterwards (to get home).

You'll all be able to watch live online via TeleMadrid SAT. You'll find the link on the Spanish Radio, TV, Music, and Movies page of MadridMan.com. I'm sure you listen live via the OndaMadrid link or any of the Radio Nacional de España links there as well.

And MAYBE (but doubtful) you'll also be able to watch it live on TVE24Horas if they break away from regular programming.


I remember I did this for years from my apartment in Columbus, Ohio. I would tune-in and watch live from 5:30pm (Columbus local time) until 6:30pm to catch all the Madrid-based midnight festivities. Then later on that night I'd celebrate my own time-zone's midnight New Year. Two for the price of one!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!!!! :hdspin:

Saludos, MadridMan

I can't wait to watch it live, how fun !!! My favorite place for New Years Eve! I hope to be there one year to experience it live!!!
Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!
Karen

Don't forget! You can watch the festivities LIVE on online TV!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Saludos, MadridMan

Happy New Year to all on the message board! We were able to watch the festivities all the way here in San Diego,CA from Puerta del Sol via satellite!

Be safe everyone! :hdspin:

La duque

I was able to sneek a peak at work and take in the festivities on Spanish TV. The traffic camera in PdS was off as usual.

Does anyone know why they turn off the traffic cameras in Puerta del Sol every time an event happens?

See all of you in Madrid soon!

Hope you all, in Spain and the rest of the world, had a wonderful New Years Eve and today, New Years Day.

I spent it at home with the people about whom I care most. Later, some close friends came to visit me and we stayed up until 3:30pm talking. We also went up to the roof for a few minutes to see some colorful fireworks in the neighborhood.

It's a shame that on TVE and TeleMadrid they LEAVE the Puerta del Sol 30 seconds - or less - after midnight to begin with the lip-syncing performances by the well-known singers on stage. This is a topic which really buzzes me. You have these big stars on stage, moving their lips and hip and you can't hear a word from their vocal chords because their microphones are turned off and the recorded songs are turned on the speakers. Ooooooh, this really burns me. I don't know why they don't let these stars SING FOR REAL, LIVE. I suppose they know or fear there will be some mistakes and then the broadcast will be less than perfect. You'd almost think some of these singers would demand to sing live but I suppose it's in their contract to lip-sync in order to get paid.

I don't know why they turn off the Puerta del Sol traffic camera whenever there's an event but I suppose it has something to do with the privacy laws. No one can/should be identified on camera - and shown on the internet.

How did you all spend New Years Eve? And today, New Years Day?

I'll be staying home. I'd thought to go to Segovia and have cochinillo at Duque but since I didn't wake up until 11am and now am feeling lazy - and no doubt the highways are full - I think I'll leave that for another day.

Once again, Happy New Year everyone!!!

Saludos, MadridMan

I watch TVE from NY. In past years they had the pre-midnight shows from 11pm on....but this year was very disappointing. The news was on, and some very depressing shows about ppl losing family members etc. They did cut live to the Puerta del Sol until about 11:57.....and right after the grapes, they went back to the recorded programming. I did get to see some of the "lip-sync" singers, but not until 6hrs later when I came home from a friends party at 1am EST.

Yeah, this years' broadcast on TVE Internacional was pretty lame, maybe 20 minutes max! I tried to use the link on this site to go to Telemadrid, but I haven't figured out how to install the media player onto this dang Mac laptop...(i'm still a PC person at heart)...

We also spent almost 3 hours today booking our summer flights to Madrid using frequent flier miles. We DID IT! What a great way to start out the new year, planning my yearly trip to Madrid!!!!!

Thanx for your wise counsel, MM. The Campanas got a little ahead of us eating our geapes but we managed: washing them down with generous copas de Cava (Freixenet).

A healthy and Prosperous 2008 to all!

I spent the 31st close to Puerta del Sol. I went to a Cuban restaurant in Callao to eat the cena de Nochevieja which included cava and uvas. Then for the countdown, we all went out front and ate our grapes and wished everyone a feliz año. It was really cool and fun to be with "family" away from home. And then on the way back to the hotel, my friend and I were SMASHED into the metro with a million other people. My face was literally in someone else's face and I could smell everyone's cava/uva breath. And every time the doors opened, we got squeezed even closer together. But it was funny, and fun, and I will never forget it!

And the next time we went to the Cuban restaurant, we got treated like old friends. :-)