Labor Day
Isn't it Labor Day in the U.S.?
Everyone in Madrid (or a grand percentage thereof) is back from vacation. It's labor day here too - meaning everyone is back laboring. It's an amazing change from Friday when it was "Summer" still and the streets were quiet in the morning and there was less traffic all over. This morning it's more or less back to normal - though a lot of people do extend or take their vacations into September - but in general there's a noticeable change in the population.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this on my blog before, but the change from Summer to Autumn here is almost instant and certainly disconcerting. First everyone comes back from vacation - whereas August the city was deserted, suddenly the first work day of September (today), everyone just APPEARS. Secondly, the weather just goes from upper 30s/90s to 20s/70s in like a week. It's dark now during the morning. The radios also change all their songs... the "songs of summer" disappear. It's incredible.
Pedro posted these thoughts on post-vacation depression (in Spanish) that many people experience here which I can totally relate to. Not that I had a real vacation this year, but Madrid in August is just so nice... it's a real bummer to come back to reality.
-Russ