Singin in Spain! Cher's Karaoke -Written By: Trey

We were to be at MU at 8PM. We have run late with Andy and Roxanna before and we didn’t want to mess it up this time. We arrived ten minutes early and they were already seated and waiting on us… and we realized there is at least one couple in Madrid that doesn't run on Spanish time! We were greeted by the owner and feel very welcomed. This Argentinian restaurant off Grand Via in the busy shopping district of Madrid is small and cozy and we were made to feel like celebrities as soon as we walked in quite an awesome feeling if I do say so myself. The celebrity treatment had more to do with Andy and Rox than us and that was because they are from Uruguay, so they know good Argentinian food and frequent the establishment. Roxanna helped us with the ordering and after we put our order in we continued on with a wonderful evening. 

The food was fantastic! Fresh empanadas, tasty salad, warm bread, then a mouthwatering steak with fries. We finished with a little sweet, and I ordered the flan and Roxanna talked them into putting some dulce de leche on the side, which is extremely popular in Uruguay, on the house. If you ever get the chance to try dulce de leche do it, you won't be disappointed! We finished our meal, settled with the owner, said our goodbyes, and are whisked out the door with hugs and kisses all around. Once we turned around the table was ready for the next set of guests being welcomed in. What a great restaurant with amazing food and great owners! We will return, thanks Mu!

We were then off to the next part of our double date, karaoke! We got to Cher's Karaoke Bar which has some real cool retro gear like an old gas pump, a car couch, and a Spanish looking James Dean statue propping himself on the wall by the bar. We got settled into our reserved car couch and found our songs to sing. We put our songs in and Roxanna bought us a round of drinks. We were enjoying our time together and the energy in the bar was really happy. It was fun to listen to Spanish karaoke as they like songs that aren't even remotely known or popular in the US. Some of the songs had never been heard by Roxanna, who is a native of Uruguay and native Spanish speaker, and the Spaniard patrons were all singing in unison together like it was a number one on the chart that day. Andy got up first and rocked out an excellent AC/DC song and then we waited and waited more. Almost two hours later Chelsea's song comes up and we sang "Wild Horses" together. We got a great ovation either because we are finally finished or because they liked it, and then we exited the bar. 

As we walked down the road we continued our great conversation with our two friends. We feel so lucky to have met Andy and Roxana here in Madrid and feel that every person we encounter on this journey is for a reason. We are looking forward to more exciting nights with our fellow expat friends.