Toros

---

Geo: 40.4167, -3.70327

We arrived in Madrid at 9am in the morning, and prompty went looking for a place to sleep. Since we didn´t have internet in Blois, we couldn´t book anywhere to sleep for Madrid. I had wanted to stay at a place called Cat´s Hostel because its a renovated small palace and very pretty. So we walked there first... hoping they would have openings. And we got lucky ´cause they did! We booked 2 rooms in a 4 bed dorm for 2 nights for fairly cheap! Not bad!

It was early afternoon by the time we were free and in need of a game plan. It was Sunday, so everything closes early. I had heard they do bullfighting on Sundays, so we decided to look into that first (let me preface that statement with... I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS ABOUT TO SEE!!). Sure enough to fights started at 6pm, and since its the off season we didnt really need to worry about buyin tickets in advance. So that being said... next thing was to figure out something to kill time for a couple hours, and then find food. So we walked around the neighborhood and ran into a Botanical garden. Admission was practically nothing, so we walked around it for almost the entire two hours. It was a really nice garden actually. =) For dinner, we went to a place the guide book reccomended that made paella. Yup, it was freakin amazing. Its a giant rice dish thats cooked with various things... ours had carrots, sausage, chicken and random seafood. It also came with a pitcher of sangria. I have yet to eat something yucky in Europe... I know I say everything is fantastic and amazing after I try it... I actually mean it.

The weather didn´t look optimal when we left the restaraunt but I didn´t wanna waste time going back to the hostel for umbrellas... which turned out to be a mistake. lol. The Irish weather followed us to Madrid. Its been overcast for the most part...occasionally its sunny, and then it will rain like hell for a little bit. ...Not the stereotypical sunny, warm Madrid I expected. Oh well. Maybe my shorts won´t get any use this trip. The stadium was huuuuuuge and made of brick and cement. It looks pretty cool actually. Inside all the seats are just cement benches... row after row. They sell ya a cushion for a euro or so... we ended up getting a couple.

The bullfighting... Okay, call me naive, but I really didn´t think they still hurt and killed the bulls. Well, they DO in MADRID. Chris and I didn´t make it the entire time... There´s 3 toreros (the main guys in the fight) and they each fight two bulls. The first two fights we were still interested and trying to figure out what exactly was going on... by the time the fifth bull came out... our stomachs were sick and we´d had enough. It was too hard to watch.. especially when the guy really sucked at killing the bull. Here´s how it works... the bull runs out and the torero along with his assistants (they also get the cloaks to wave) take turns getting the bull worked up. The idea is to get the bull to charge and narrowly miss ya... the more times you do it in a row, the better you are. Then the horn blows and the second phase starts. Two guys on horseback come out... The horses are blindfolded and wearing some sort of matted armor. They only stay on the outer ring and they antagonize the bull til it charges. The bull runs right into the side of the horse (thank gods it armored or it would be screwed and disemboweled), and the guy takes a spear and stabs the back of the bulls neck. We weren´t sure why this was, we spent the entire time trying to figure out why they attacked the bull in the specific ways that they did each and every time. I later learned today that its to weaken the bull´s neck muscles...so that his head hangs lower, a more ideal position for the final lethal kill shot. The horn blows and then the third phase starts. Three of the assistants come out with two small spear dagger like things... they each take turns getting the bull to charge them, double stabbing the bull in the back of the neck at the last second and narrowly doding the bull. Again, its to weaken the muscles. By now the bull is obviously bleeding quite a bit and going into shock, so its slowing down. This is when it really gets hard to watch... After the third guy does his stabbing, the horn blows and the final phase starts, the killing of the bull. The torero comes out, now with a red cloak, and tries to get the bull to charge him again and again so he can narrowly dodge it each time. The bull gets slower and slower and just keeps bleeding. After he does that so many times, the torero takes out a sword. He lines up the shot, gets the bull to charge, and then drives the sword right into the bull¨s neck. If hes any good, the bull goes down within a couple minutes. One guy had to do it twice. Finally, the worst part by far, another guy runs out and jabs the bull until he stops moving... to determine that he´s really dead. If the torero is good, the bull shouldn´t respond. One bull got jabbed 9 times.

Anyway, like I said... it was pretty freakin horrible to watch. I didn´t know it was going to be like that at all. I never want to watch something like that again.

---

Photos

Madrid Train Station
Just arrived and double checkin the bus we need to take into town..

Sangria
My Spanish drink of choice... Mmmmm

Chris and I at the Arena
...happy for the moment...

Horses and Armor
Check out the shoes

Poor Bull
This was the one guy that one of the bulls managed to clobber a bit. Thats the bull's blood all over him, tho.

Chris the Book Nerd
Weŕe in our hostel... neato decor

Comments

[diana Boggs]

I'm sorry about your experience at the bull fight. I wish I'd known that you didn't know about them. I've read a lot about them and I didn't think you guys would want to go there. There have been a lot of protests in Mexico over the year
s over the cruelty of it but in Spain it's a national sport. I'm sure you will have lots of other, much more enjoyable experiences to come.

[Dianasaur]

... Cement blocks on their feet? Are they imprisoned by the mob?

[Fran]

And now I contemplate vegetarian-ism again ;)The paella and sangria sound wonderful!