Ole!--Day 3

7 May 2010
Madrid, Spain
via Rome Italy (9 May 2010)

Our last day in Spain started out well. We went to one of my favorite parts of the trip--the Traje Museum. This was a costume museum which showed a lot of clothing that was worn throughout the history of Spain. I LOVED this museum. We got in free somehow, so Josh didn't hate it. He was a good sport.

Then we went to West Park and took the teleferico across Casa de Campo. This is a cable car ride that takes about 13 minutes to travel across the park and a river. This was really very cool, and thankfully Josh refrained from rocking our cable car. I've discovered that I'm somewhat afraid of heights...but if I keep my mind off of it, I can manage. Obviously, rocking the cable car would have been a clear indication that we were awaiting death. Thus, I talked him out of it.

Then we headed to the Templo Debod which is a temple that was sent to Spain from Egypt and reconstructed on the edge of West Park near Plaza de Espana. This was really very neat (and free!). You can go inside the temple, even up to the second floor. There are even Egyptian drawings. There are two or three doorways assembled in front of the temple as well. A pool of water surround these doorways.

Next, we went to lunch at a place called canas y tapas. We decided to go for tapas, since we'd discovered they were so tasty the night before. We had paella for our first course. I actually ate octopus tentacles and squid tentacles too. I tried not to think about it while I was actually eating it, so it really was pretty good. Paella is a rice with vegetables and seafood such as squid and octopus. For the next course, I had swordfish. Josh had veal. At some point after this, a homeless man wandered into the restaurant. He was talking to me and Josh and somehow managed to distract me. He put a paper on the table and was talking to me in Spanish, and I didn't understand him of course. That sneaky little homeless man stole my camera! Sadly, I didn't notice it until at least 20 minutes later when we were getting ready to leave. This was probably the most distressing point of my trip, and definitely the day. However, I decided that at it was better than having my debit card OR my passport stolen. Also, sadly, I can't share with you any of the amazing photos from that morning.

After this, Josh and I went to Retiro Park where we sought out the Crystal Palace. This is a structure made mostly of glass that overlooks a small pond filled with koi fish. It's really pretty. We visited during a cloudy day, but it would have been even more beautiful in the sunshine.





























Then we went to Las Ventas to pick up our bullfighting tickets. From there, we headed back to Silvia's to rest for awhile before going to the bullfight.

The day got a lot prettier when we headed back to Las Ventas. We had seats in the upper level, which is really closer to the center of the stadium than the upper level of Neyland. We had really good seats. Bullfighting is pretty intersting--and controversial, even in Spain.



The fight begins by letting the bull into the ring. Then several guys wave pink capes around to anger the bull.







Next, a few guys on horses come in. There is a special name for them, but I can't really remember. The bull doesn't care much for the horse, so he attacks the horse. The horse is not hurt, thankfully. I was really worried about this at first, but the horses are protected by thick blankets that they wear. The horses are also wearing blinders so they have no idea what is going on. The guy riding the horse then uses a spear to get the bull away from the horse. This weakens the bull.


Next three guys with speared sticks come out. They each get a chance to poke two sticks in the bull's back. These sticks actually remain attached to the bull.

Then it's the matador's turn. He brings out the famous red cloth and taunts the bull for a bit. The people in the stadium seemed to know when a matador was good. They cheered and stood up selectively. Josh and I weren't really sure.





Then the matador eventually kills the bull with a sword that he carries. The bull is then dragged away by a team of horses, and the next fight commences. We saw four bullfights before it got cold.

We headed back to the apartment to wait for Silvia who had gone out with a friend. We went to dinner at the same place as the night before, so I can share pictures with you in reenactment of the previous night's deliciousness =)

Once we got back to the apartment, we caught a few hours' sleep before getting up at 4:00am to catch a taxi to the airport. Avoid this at all costs, seriously. We have to do it again for our flight home, and I'm not looking forward to it at all =/