Madrid- Spain's Capital

After Granada, it was back on the train to head to Madrid, Spain's capital city.  After finding our hotel, Hostal Helena, on the top floor of a building on the main street downtown, we walked quickly over to the Prado Museum, one of the most visited in the world.  We had to be quick because we had tickets for a bullfight later in the evening and the museum would be closed the next day.  Our guidebook incorrectly told us that entrance was free on Sundays, so we were quite bummed when we found out we'd still have to pay full price, but this was a museum not to be missed.  The Prado featured masterpieces by many world-renowned artists, including Francisco de Goya and Diego Velasquez.  This was my favorite museum to visit
because through my Spanish studies I'd learned about many of the pieces I was able to see, particularly "Las Meninas" by Velasquez and "The Third of May" by Goya.  Having a background and understading of the pieces you're looking at makes it much more personal and very memorable. 



After spending a few hours at the museum, we headed over to where the bullfight would be held and got some dinner (fancy-shmancy Burger King).  Then we headed to the "Plaza del Toros," the largest bullring in Spain.  It was quite impressive with beautiful architecture and tile mosaics.  We went inside to find our seats, which were just concrete blocks (no wonder those people were renting cushions!) that were about 10 inches from the concrete blocks in front of and behind us.  Needless to say, it got pretty crowded!  I will definitely say that witnessing the bullfight was a cultural experience, and I am glad to have been able to go to one.  I did not particularly enjoy it, however.  It was interesting to hear and see the reactions of the crowd and the spectacle itself, which I found to be rather cruel.  I guess I knew it wouldn't be pretty, I just find it interesting that others get such joy from witnessing these events.  6 bulls were killed at the fight we were at, and each fight follows the same traditional routine.  First, the bull comes out to find 4-5 men with pink sheets to taunt it.  I believe this was to get the bull worked up.  When the bull would run at them, the men would run behind wooden walls that were on the edge of the ring.  After a few minutes, 2 men would come out on horses with spears.  They would draw attention to the bull, who would then ram into the horse.  Thankfully, the horses were wearing protective gear, and they had blinds on so they couldn't see what was happening.  Most of the time, the horse was able to withstand the bull's blow, which is when the man on the horse would push it
back by stabbing it between the shoulder blades.  Sometimes, however, the bull would hit the horse with such unexpected force that the horse would be flipped over.  It was terrible to watch.  We later learned that some bullfights happen completely on horseback and sometimes the horses aren't protected (glad I wasn't there to see that).  After the men feel the horses have had enough, they leave the ring.  At this point, more men are taunting the bull with 2 smaller spears that are decorated with ribbon and sparkles.  They run
directly at the bull and are successful if they can stab the bull, again between the shoulder blades, and the 2 spears stick.  At the end of this portion, the bull will have 6 spears sticking from it, along with the stab wounds inflicted by the man on horseback.  This is when the actual matador shows up.  He will taunt the bull with his red cloth, I believe in an effort to tire it out.  After a while, he will get out his sword, and put it right into the bull's back.  Sometimes before this point, the bull was already collapsing from weakness, and the men would taunt it until it got back up.  After the matador gets the sword in him and the bull collapses, another man comes and uses a knife to stab the bull in the brain, finally putting it out of pain. After the bull was killed, horses pulling a cart would come out.  The bull would be attached to the back of the cart and dragged from the stadium.  The matadors seem very cocky and arrogant, and put on quite a show.  One of them actually got gored in his inner leg, and stayed in the ring for the kill.  After, he was carried from the ring by his comrades. The whole evening was definitely difficult for me to watch, especially since it seemed to be the same thing over and over.  I eventually just resorted to people watching and listening to the music.
I did ask about what happens to the bulls after they are killed, and thankfully we were told that they are butchered and used for meat.  The matador might keep the ears if it was a particularly good kill, and sometimes the head will be mounted on someone's wall.  We also learned that sometimes the bull can live, although it is quite rare.  If the bull puts up a good fight, the president of the bullfight can allow the bull to live, which the crowd also enjoys from what we heard.  I am definitely not an expert in bullfighting, but this appears to be the process just from what I saw and heard.





The next day, we stayed quite busy!  We did another free walking tour in the morning.  We walked through most of the town, learning about Spain's history and seeing lots of great landmarks. We viewed the Royal Palace, the cathedral (every European city has one!), the Opera House (which is one of the best in the world acoustically), and much more.  We saw a statue of Miguel de Cervantes, arguably the best Spanish writer in history, who authored "Don Quijote: Man of La Mancha."  This book is the most translated non-religious, fictional book in history.  We also saw the symbol of Madrid, a statue of a bear climbing up against a Madrona tree.  This symbol can be found throughout the city, including on the sewer grates and the city flag.  The madrona tree produces a berry that is used to make a sweet liquor, which Jon and I later tried in a chocolate/sugar cone shot glass.  It wasn't bad, but I preferred to eat the glass!  After the tour, we stopped and tried some tapas, which consisted of Spanish tortilla (a type of egg omellete), squid, vegetables with ground pork, and fried calamari. 

When we were finished, we left the restaurant to a ghost town.  It was siesta! Spaniards truly do take a daily siesta, usually sometime between the hours of noon and 4ish.  Everything shuts down, the streets are quiet,
and there is so much calm in a city that was buzzing just hours ago.  Part of me loves the idea of siesta, a midday break that allows you to rest up for an evening of fun and social activities (when it is much cooler).  Part of me would get frustrated because everything was shut down, and it seemed we always needed things during this time.  So, we wandered and were lucky to happen upon a store called El Corte Ingles that was open, and just so happened to be very near our hotel.  We found these stores throughout Spain, and also one like it in Berlin.  They are basically "all you could ever need in one stop" shops.  They are a department store, pharmacy, restaurant, electronics, and sporting goods store.  It's basically a multi-leveled Target!  And the strangest thing?  There is always a grocery store in the basement.  In Berlin the store even had a post office inside.  So, we were on a mission for snacks, grabbed some in the basement grocery store, and then I remembered I needed to stock up on a few things.  I grabbed a bar of soap, and really, really, needed floss.  We had not been able to find floss for under $5, so we finally just gave in and bought some. That's right, $5 for floss.  I wonder if Spaniards just don't floss their teeth at that price! Plus, it isn't even good floss, and the very next day in Pamplona we found floss in a grocery for only 1 euro... ok, moving on...

So, we took our own siesta in Madrid and then it was back on the road.  Our tour guide had given us some great tips on things to do and where to go.  He told us that the Museo de Reina Sofia is free to get into every day from 7 to 9 at night.  So we walked there and were able to see some fantastic modern art for F.R.E.E!  The highlights from this museum were the Salvador Dali's, Joan Miros, and my favorite, Pablo Picasso's "Guernica."  Guernica was a small town in northern Spain that was completely annhialated by the German Luftwafa and Italian air forces in 1937, who supported the Spanish Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso wanted the world to know about the horrors that happened to the innocent citizens of Guernica, which is why he painted this huge masterpiece.  Pictures are courtesy of my sneaky husband, who took these photos against orders. 


After the museum, we headed across town to view the sunset from a recommended spot, atop a hill in a beautiful park that highlights an Egyptian temple (gifted to Spain for their assistance in unearthing many Egyptian artifacts and tombs).  It was wonderful!  It had cooled off outside, we had a beautiful spot to watch the colorful sunset over the mountains in the distance, and there was such wonderful people watching!  It was so nice to see Spaniards in their everyday life.  Men playing catch.  People running with their dogs (most often unleashed).  Couples cuddling on blankets. Friends laughing and drinking.  Children playing around the fountain.  Old men standing in circles talking.  Jon and I noted that in the states people in parks at sunset or after are usually viewed quite suspiciously, but here it was just what people do. After the sunset, we headed back to rest up for our early trip to Pamplona!

Adios Madrid!