More Reveling at San Isidro

As we wandered around Madrid during the festival, we came upon a ballroom dancing site. They had erected a stage for a concert, but before the concert began, they were playing traditional Spanish music, and the Spaniards were dancing to the music. In some ways, it reminded me of being at a Garth Brooks Concert - not the dancing, but the fact that all of the people were singing the songs. As they danced they sang, and those that were not dancing, sang along, too.

We were lucky to come upon a group of four couples, about our age or slightly older, who clearly enjoyed dancing and knew what they were doing. Watching them was so much fun! No waltz, fox trot, or cha cha for them . . . they were doing traditional Spanish dancing. One dance was particularly fascinating. The man never moved his feet but instead turned on one foot while his partner danced around him. We never did figure out how he turned, because his partner wasn't pulling him around - or if she was, it was effortless. But it was a beautiful dance with really interesting technique.

Other activities included clowns and mimes, concerts, and walking. Apparently, on Sundays, walking is what the people of Madrid do. Paseando, is what it is called, technically "passing by" in English. During the Festival of San Isidro, we had a lot of "paseando" to do.