Studying in Spain: A Madrileño Weekend - Un Fin de Semana Madrileño

Parks, Pubs, Clubs, and Bullfights

This past weekend, our friends David and Andy came in from Barcelona. They just graduated from Texas State and only had 2 classes left for their degrees so they were able to walk at graduation and go to Barcelona to take their last classes--what an awesome deal.

Our weekend consisted of a day in Parque de Oeste (West Park near our apartment in Moncloa), a swim at the IES pool, a night at a pub, an evening at Parque de Retiro, a night at Kapital (the infamous 7-story club), a bullfight and a trip to the oldest restaurant in the world to finish it off. Successful weekend I'd say and now I'm paying for the lost sleep by having a lovely cold!

I never got around to posting photos of the IES center, so I'll give a photo tour here:

Courtyard

Pool in the courtyard--the building behind it is where the classrooms are

The Lounge/Cafe area

The guys were set to come to Madrid on Friday and we told them we would be waiting on top of the Moncloa Metro Station at 1PM...Which we now realize is much too vague for a couple of American students without phones to reach each other--word of advice: be very specific when meeting up with friends! After around an hour and a half of waiting, giving up and grabbing coffee and checking to see if they were there one last time, we walked right into each other! Lucky! The rest of the day was spent at the park tanning, "Botellón-ing" (a common Madrileño thing to do: bringing beer to the park), and swimming at the IES pool. It was a very relaxing day to say the least.

That night we went to an Irish Pub called "Dubliners" and met all sorts of people--Spaniards, a group of Englishmen in for a bachelor party, Australians, geography teachers, you name it. Who doesn't like a pub I suppose?

After recuperating from the night before and a relaxing evening in Parque de Retiro, we went to the infamous club in Madrid, Kapital. It is a 7-story club that we have been told time after time to go to--so we finally got around to it. We got to the club around 1:30 AM and did not leave until 6:15 AM... I've never danced so long in my life! My feet were swollen for ~2 days after, too...So I must have done something right! The main dance floor was jam packed, with barely any space to dance, but it was still a great time. The music they played was mainly American and techno/electronic mixed in. Each floor has at least 1 or 2 bars, lounge areas, televisions, and restrooms. Overall, it was very enjoyable but I don't think I would go every weekend because 1) Its rather "caro" (expensive) - 20 Euro for entrance + 1 drink unless you get a card outside from a promoter for 15 Euro + 1 drink and 2) It is a commitment! If you're going to Kapital, expect to be there until the next morning, because at 6:00 AM, the dance floor was still as packed at it was at 2:00 AM.

Sunday was a day for recuperation, A Bullfight, and Botín (the oldest restaurant in the world). The bullfight was by far my favorite part of the whole weekend. It is unlike anything I had ever seen before.

CORRIDA DE TOROS

The correct term in Spain for "bullfight" is Corrida de Toros. Before going, I made a point to be at least somewhat knowledgable of what actually goes down at a bullfight--and I'm glad I did! Though bullfights can be very controversial and thought of as cruel, there is another side to it much different than many would think. Some even call it a 'fine art', and I now see why. Here is what happens at a Spanish bullfight:

There are three different toreros/matadors who fight 2 bulls each--totaling in 6 bulls--each of which are between 4-6 years old and must be at a certain weight.

Each torero/matador has six assistants which comprise a unit called "cuadrilla": 2 picadores (lancers on horseback), 3 banderilleros/subalternos (torero who plants the baderillas into the bulls' back), and a mozo de espadas (sword page). To tell which one is the main "torero", look at the sizes of the banduras: the main torero has the smallest bandura. Also, the torero will typically have a distinct suit--usually embroidered in gold.

There are a total of 6 bulls fought. Each "fight" is broken down into 3 stages or "tercios". The beginning of each stage is marked by the sound of a bugle horn.

The participants first enter the arena in a parade, called the paseíllo, during which, band music is played. Next, the bull enters the ring to be tested for ferocity. This is the first stage, the tercio de varas ("the lancing third"), and the matador first confronts the bull with the capote, performing a series of passes with his cape to get a feel for the bull's behaviors.
Next, a picador enters the arena on horseback armed with a vara ("lance"). Don't worry, the horses wear a protective armor, called "peto". However, before 1930, horses did not wear this--which would be really hard to watch. Supposedly during this time, the number of horses killed during a fight was higher than the number of bulls killed. The picador stabs just behind the morrillo, a mound of muscle on the fighting bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and initiating blood loss.

In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("the third of banderillas"), each of the three banderilleros attempts to stab sharp barbed sticks into the bull's shoulders, called banderillas. These get the bull agitated and they help to further weaken the bull for the final fill by the torero.

In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("the third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape, and a sword. Interesting fact--people always think of a torero with a red cape, however bulls are color blind so they are not particularly attracted to red. It is thought that they use red capes to mask the bulls blood that ends up being on the capes. The matador uses the cape for passes and to wear the bull out--this is called a faena. Finally, the torero gets the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta.

Unfortunately, many times the bull doesn't get pierced through the heart initially and repeated efforts must be made to finally bring the bull down and end his life.

The last bull--about 10 minutes after this photo was taken, I was holding this bull's ear!

La Bodega de Botin, The Oldest Restaurant in the World

After the bullfight, we had to hit up the oldest restaurant in the world (according to the Guinness Book of World Records at least). Also, it is said that Ernest Hemingway ate here a time or two. Hemingway definitely mentioned it in his book, Sun Also Rises.

We lunched upstairs at Botin’s. It is one of the best restaurants in the world. We had roast young suckling pig and drank rioja alta. Brett did not eat much. She never ate much. I ate a very big meal and drank three bottles of rioja alta.