Madrid, Spain: (12 pictures) - Days 9 and 10


Bullring - On my first evening in Madrid, I heard there would be a bullfight in the bullring.  I also heard it had been sold out, but I wanted to go to the area to see the ring anyways.  It turned out that I found a scalper and bought a ticket for about $20.  I'm definitely glad I went as it was quite an experience, as you will see in the next few pictures.



Bullfight - These pictures are actually out of order in regards to the sequence of each bullfight, but they are in the order I took them.  This was the final stage in each bullfight.  The bull is of course dead as it is being dragged away by the two horses.  I didn't really expect the bull to die at the end of each fight, but it turned out that by the end of the three hour event, six different bulls had died.


Bullfight - This is the third stage in the bullfight, after the bull has been weakened enough so it won't actually kill the matador.  The matador "plays" with the bull for a while until finally when the bull has lost almost all it's energy and the matador uses his sword and stabs it between the bull's shoulders directly into its heart, hopefully killing it right away.  I guess none of the matadors I saw were very good though as it took a few tries for each one.


Bullfight - This is the first stage of weakening the bull for the matador.  A blindfolded horse comes out with a rider who has a spear.  As the bull rams into the horse who is protected with a heavy jacket, the rider continuously stabs the bull's back with the spear.  During the following stage, the matador's assistants come out and stab the bull with flags that hook into the bull's back and stay there for the rest of the match as a decoration.  Then finally the bull is weak enough to face the matador.


Madrid from the top of the Moncloa Tower - Another running theme of my trip was to climb the highest thing (whether building, tower, or hill) in each city to get a good overview and of course a good picture.  This was just an observational tower that I went up to the top of to take this shot.


Plaza Mayor -  This is a big square in Madrid filled with outdoor cafes and a lot of people walking around.  A lot of history has occurred in this square and I celebrated it all by eating a fried calamari sandwich at one of the eateries here.


Cathedral of Almudena - This church is right next to the Royal Palace of Spain.  It was finally finished in the last ten years after over 100 years of construction.


Inside the Royal Palace - This is the Grand Stairs inside the Palace.  I wasn't going to go inside because it was too expensive, but then I found out they had half price student tickets.


Outside the Royal Palace - This is supposedly the third greatest palace in Europe behind Versailles and Vienna's Schonbrunn palace.


Palacio de Comunicaciones -  Believe it or not, this is actually the main post office in Madrid.  Quite beautiful isn't it?  I came across this as I was walking to the Prado Museum.


Inside the Prado (Goya’s The 3rd of May, 1808) - I remember studying this painting from either high school or college.  It shows a massacre of Spaniards by Napolean's troops.  The Prado Museum is the most famous museum in Spain.


Retiro Park -  Before I left Madrid, I had just enough time to take a subway to this park and spend a few minutes walking around.  There were a lot of people offering me drugs here, but it was still a nice area.

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