An Old Spanish Tradition: The Bull Fight

As we were talking about all the things we wanted to do while in Spain the option of going to a Bull Fight of course came up. None of us really knew if that is something we were interested in doing or not. After doing some research, Monica found out there would be a fight on one of the days we were in Seville. We thought about it and decided who knows when we will be back to Spain, or how much longer this barbaric tradition will proceed...so why not experience it! Aunt Margie had already told us that it is something you should definitely do, but you will only do it ONCE!

We read in one of the guidebooks that the arena is open during the day for guided tours. We thought this would be a perfect way to get some information on the sport since none of us had a clue what it entailed. We were really glad we did, becuase we would have been extremely lost during the actual fight!

Here are some pics of the arena from our tour...

 

 

President and Judge's Box

 

 

 

Matador Suit

Matador's Chapel where they pray before a fight.

 

Protestors outside the arena before the fight

On our tour, the guide explained all the rules and order of the Fights. They go like this...

Each Matador has a team of people that help in the fight. During a night's fight, there will be 3 Matadors and their teams killing two bulls apiece. Yes, that means 6 bulls are killed each night.

All smiles before the fight... 

First, all of the Matadors and their teams enter the ring and sing the anthem towards the President or Judge...

Then, members of the first Matador's team warm up and the bull is released...

 

 It is their job to get the bull nice and riled up...

Before the man on the horse comes in to spear the bull in the back...

Then the Matador comes out, first with a pink cape, and toys with the bull...

 and every now and then the bull gets a piece of him...

Then two guys come out, each with two decorated spears that they stab into either side of the bull's spine...

 

The bull is now ready for the Matador to return with his red cape...

Much of the Matador's job is to perform a "dance" with the bull for the audience. They are supposed to be very graceful and entertaining.

When he feels ready he draws his sword and goes for the kill. A good Matador is able to kill the bull with one stab straight to the heart.

Unfortunately, none of the Matadors we saw were very good. They get 6 tries stabbing the bull before someone from his team comes out and slits the bull's throat to put it out of its misery. This was extremely hard to bear! Once the bull is dead, a group of donkeys is brought out and it is dragged out of the stadium.

The parts of the bull are then distributed and sold to meat markets around the city.

 

The arena is then cleaned up and readied for the next bull. We only made it through two of these before we made our exit. It was very hard to watch and very heartbreaking. We were glad we did it to have the experience, but won't be going back to another bull fight any time soon!

Seville

When we were planning the itinerary of the trip, we originally thought we would go to Granada, Barcelona, and Madrid. But after some deliberation and tips from friends, we decided to nix Barcelona and visit Seville instead. Seville is a much smaller city, that can be seen mostly on foot, which is what we needed seeing that we would be pushing a stroller around. I was excited because I had already been to Barcelona during my semester abroad, so I would get to see a new city! We were soo glad we made the switch. Seville is absolutely breath taking and the perfect stop for the day and half we had free!

We took an early morning train out of Granada and arrived in Seville a couple hours later.

Carter had his own seat and made a new friend along the way...

 Beautiful Spanish Countryside

 That Aunt Lynnie seem less than enthused about...

We hit the ground running upon our arrival and spent the whole first day seeing the sights of the city!

Seville Cathedral: Third largest church in the world...

 

 

 

  and houses the body of Chirstopher Columbus.

 

Where we climbed to the top of the bell tower for a wonderful view of the entire city!

  

 

The Real Alcazar: A Palace built by the Moors that now serves as the official Royal Residence when they are in Seville...

  

 

 

 

 

Ran into a random Procession that we believe was for a Religious Holiday...

 

We saw some guys in costume and figured they must know what was going on. I went over to ask and found out they didn't have a clue. They were just out wasted celebrating their med school graduation. For which, they thought they each deserved a hug from the blonde American girl.

Plaza De Espana: a Beutiful Square that we are pretty sure serves no purpose at all after it was built for an Exposition in 1929. Makes for beautiful pics though!



 

 

 

 

 

The Bull Fighting Ring of Seville (Separate post on the actual fight to come...)

and caught a Flamenco Dancing Show!

 

 

We had a very busy couple of days but absolutely fell in love with Seville!