Day 15 - July 13th

Trip Start Jun 28, 2008

Trip End Aug 08, 2008

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Flag of Spain and Canary Islands Seville, Spain and Canary Islands
Sunday, July 13, 2008

We slept in this morning!! ...and it was WELL-DESERVED! We were in our air-conditioned room in Seville and boy was it a great treat! We woke up and took showers (side note: the showers here don't have doors or curtains, just a small wall that you have to hide behind to avoid getting water all over the place - to say the least, I haven't been too successful at that...the floors have been soaked when I get out!) and then headed out of the hotel to the train station.

After looking around for some food we boarded the train for our return to Madrid-Atocha. This time I was pretty much awake for the duration of the train ride - I was jamming to my random playlist on my iPod - probably singing too loud, but, hey, I was enjoying myself!

After arriving in Madrid, Chantel and I HAD to get something to eat! We eventually got out of the train station and went to the Atocha metro stop (right outside the Renfe train station) and had KFC. It's different - real chicken, shocking! But, they're missing their whole life - no bisquits - however do they enjoy KFC without bisquits?!?! Well, I gues that's all they know! Oh, and no potato wedges, they're like McDonalds French fries - but whatever, I ate it...it was good.

Then, after arriving back at the dorm, we hung out for a little bit longer before I joined up with Danielle and Nicole to go to the bus station for Las Ventas. I HAD TO SEE A BULLFIGHT! This was the last bull fight that I would be able to see while I was in Madrid (they're only on Sundays and this was the last Sunday they were having one before I left). So, we took the metro station over to Plaza de los Toros de las Ventas. I must say, we definitely fell into the trap of this guy standing outside the bus stop saying that it was sold out and that we had to buy tickets from him. And, as he said, his were more expensive because his were "El Sombre" (meaning they were in the shade) and they were abajo (on the bottom). So, we paid the 15 euro for the tickets and got ready to go inside. Well, we found out that tickets were definitely 9 euro and all of the tickets were in the shade (there was no sun at that time of night) so we definitely got gypped...but whatever...we got to see the bull fight and that was it!

We got tickets!!!

Acting like bulls in the street...

The Bull Ring

Other Side of the Ring

Waiting for the Next Bull

While the bullfight is a necessary stop on any trip to Espana, that was one of the most gruesome things I ever saw in my life. I never have been a friend of PETA or an animal-lover (you all know, I love my pigs...but I love to eat them, too!) but it was just gross! The tickets we got were actually fabulous - we were right near the bottom - right near all the action. We really scored on that! But, it was probably too close for comfort - we got to see too much! After provoking the poor bull and stabbing him like it's all fun and games the matador finally comes in, provokes him even more and then goes in for the final stab. Ole! Ole! The cheers and shouts in the ring were almost disgusting! Then after the final stab, they keep messing with him and provoking him to the point that he can no longer walk and he eventually falls over because he can't stand anymore and is so weak that he can no longer bear the pain. Then once he's clearly on the floor they go in with a smaller dagger and make sure that he's definitely a gone-er! I didn't see this part but apparently they chop his nuts off and serve it on a plate to the matador. How gross! But, I did see that they tie him to these horses that are decked out in Spanish pride and escort the dead bull out of the ring. Then the cleaning men go around and clear up the blood and spatter and within about 2 minutes they bring in another bull for the next fight! Then they do 6 of those before the night is over. Apparently it's a competition between the matadors (the guy the does the final kill) to see who has the cleanest kill - I wonder what they're judging - amount of blood spatter, amount of time it takes for him to die...how gross!

All in all, I'm glad I got the experience and I wouldn't give it up for the world - but, it's probably not something that I would run around saying I have to come back to!