We spent 3 nights in the Spanish capital, taking in the amazing amount of culture the city has to offer. There were ancient Egyptian ruins accompanied by a cathedral that took over 400 years to complete. We visited two renowned museums, the Prado and the Renia Sofia, to see works by masters like Picasso, Dali, Goya, Raphael, and many others.
After some moral debate we also decided to attend one of the most classic Spanish events, bull fighting. The spectacle is deeply ingrained in the Spanish culture and Madrid is the famous epicenter of the sport. It turns out that while the main events are held on Sunday’s they actually have fights every single night of the week. We were told that during the week only Novilleros, or apprentice bullfighters, perform rather than the true Matadors, but as first time observers we wouldn’t really be able to tell the difference. We decided to go on a whim and showed up about 10 minutes before the fight assuming there wouldn’t be much of a crowd on a Tuesday night….wrong. The stadium was completely packed. We managed to get some cheap seats in the rafters for 5 Euro, which was fine as we didn’t really need to see the action too close up. The whole event was pretty interesting as it seemed to be a serious and passionate pastime for the locals, even if it was pretty sad for the bulls.
Our visit to Madrid also happened to coincide with some peaceful political protests following a recent election. For the past 2 weeks or so hundreds protesters, feeling disenfranchised by political structure (and lack of jobs) have occupied Puerta del Sol in make shift tent city. It was quite interesting to walk through the square/tent city and see all the posters (mostly in Spanish) as well as song and drum circles.
We have now headed to Portugal in time for some summer festivities!
The tents and tarps of Puerta del Sol, The name means the sun gate, as it was the eastern most gate in the city walls of old Madrid. The plaza is also the literal center of modern Spain's roads as all distance markers throughout the country are measured from there.
A protester waving the old flag of Madrid, a symbol of the protest against the current republic.
The Royal Palace housing 2,800 rooms.
The changing of the guards.
Santa María la Real de La Almuden Cathedral above the old Arab wall believed to be build in 852 AD.
The bright interior of the cathedral.
Churros to be dipped in thick melted chocolate....so good! True Spaniards eat this for breakfast.
Plaza de Toros- the bullfighting stadium.
The bulls were "softened up" by lances from horse back. The horses are armored and blindfolded to keep them from panicking too much as they are rammed by the angry bull. The lances also test the bulls strength, if it appears too weak to fight after a few pokes from the lance the bull is spared and led out of the ring.
While the weeknight fight was on;y supposed to feature the rookie Novilleros, there was a surprise appearance by a real Matador. According to some people sitting next to us he was apparently ranked as one of the best in all of Europe. He was seriously full of himself and quite a show off, dancing around the bull, taking his shoes off and even giving the bull passes while on his knees! Crazy.
Templo de Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple donated to Spain in the 1960s and reconstructed in a park, complete with hieroglyphics in inside.
Parque del Retirio where we spent most of one day relaxing in the sun and people watching.
The well groomed garden in front of the Royal Palace.
A HUGE bouncy ball by the crazy artist Yayoi Kusama in the museum of modern art, Renia Sofia.
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