Algeciras

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From Berlin I headed straight to southern Spain. Flying through Malaga, I arrived in Algeciras three days before the wedding of my step brother Peter Gaffney. We stayed in a tremendous bed and breakfast that we had exclusive use of for the first week. Just outside Algeciras in Pelayo, it was a short drive to Tarifa or Algeciras. The wedding was very intimate, held at a small church in town called Iglesia de Santisimo Corpus Christi. The dinner and reception were fantastic and a surprising number of guests were able to stay up until 6am dancing, smoking and of course drinking tinto de veranos (red wine with seltzer and lemon), valentines (whiskey with orange fanta), and cervezas (cruzcampo). After the wedding we spent another week just lounging, enjoying wonderful food, beaches, and sun. A stop at 'La Feria' in Algeciras one night led to my first bullfight viewing. The pictures are a little gruesome but it is what it is. I don´t know exactly what´s next but I´ll be sure to let you know after the fact😊

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Photos

Amy & Al´s
A very nice British couple run this beautiful property that has been operating as a B&B for about a year now. It was our home for the week of the wedding.

Las Terrazos
The private pool of the bread and breakfast in the hills of Pelayo. Just above us is a nature reserve full of cork trees.

Andy
The groom´s nephew Andy, son of his sister Cherise and her husband Shanti Oram. A real trouble maker this one;)

Bride and Groom
Peter & Esther

Flower Girls
Outside the church in Algeciras

Spanish Coins
A tradition in Spain involves the pouring of these coins from the groom´s hands to the wife´s hands and back again. Here, family members count the coins to make sure the all goes well.

Wedding Band
This band who played in the church during the wedding wasn´t your typical choir. They sang a rendition of Ave Maria that was very beautiful.

Macarena?
And you thought the Spanish were too good for the Macarena?! Not at our wedding. Notice my pops in the white hair getting down to it:)

The bullfight
This spear wound proved to be too much for this bull. As it staggered around the arena, the crowd erupted in a frenzy knowing that it wouldn´t be noble to have such an injured animal face the torrero. However, this bull will not escape the butcher´s knife afterwards. When the bull was granted it´s brief reprieve, the crowd cheered the mayor for his merciful decision, knowing that each bull cost him many euros.

The Torrero
Of course all bulls are injured and tired out before the torrero enters the ring with great fanfare. Here, he makes the deadly final strike with his blade.

The End
This very stubborn bull fought off death for a couple minutes whilst the sword was deep inside him. As an american, there seems to be a conflict of emotion. I was there to appreciate the culture that is the bullfight, but you can´t help but feel a little sick for the bulls who are condemned to the arena.