Last of Barcelona Pics




I wonder if Target® knows they've ripped off their logo. This was a mall
right off the beach.

There's me in the top..good times!

So I saw a lot of people in Barcelona and especially Madrid who were using these canes which
also braced their arms. Many of these people were young. Not sure if it's polio or what - maybe the doctor will know?


La Playa

Back to Madrid


So I left around 12:30am and caught the metro in Barcelona to head back to the bus station and from there I took the Barcelona bus back to Girona. The bus left at 3am and I arrived in Girona at about 4am. My flight back to Madrid was at 6am. I finally arrived in Madrid at about 7:30am. I spent the rest of the day mostly walking around and lounging in the park.


This one is for Mr. Marca and his love for lion statues


I have never seen such a horrid display of running as I did at this park in Madrid. I pulled out my camera because I thought it was funny that I was sitting down eating potato chips watching people run, or attempt to run.


It was a very nice park, very well maintained.


I decided to take a snooze since I had been awake for about 24 hours at this point. The first bench I grabbed was partially blocked by the sun. I slept on it for about two hours until I woke up with a pool of sweat under my head. The sun had shifted, not a nice awakening. I took this second photo of the bench where I received another two hours of well rested sleep.


Las Ventas!

It was Sunday and I decided to hop the metro over to las ventas and catch a bullfight. Now while I don't necessarily condone bullfighting I realize that it's part of their culture. I have decided to leave out the gory photos... PS Thanks for the info Chad!



It starts with them realeasing the bull into the ring. The amateur bullfighters (this is my interpretation) would wave their pink flags and make the bull chase them before retreating behind a wall.


After the bull would chase the amateur bullfighters for a few minutes the guy on the horse would taunt the bull until it attacked. The horse was properly padded and eyes shielded. At times the bull would almost completely lift the horse off the ground and during one round even dislodged the horseman. -- The guy on the horse would prod the bull with a spear, the first attack to slowly bleed and exhaust the bull.

After the first prodding by the horseman the bullfighters would enter the ring with a pair of spearlike weapons. As the bull would attack, the fighters would jump to the side and stab the bull with the spears near the bulls neck. There were 3 pairs total. These are the things that you see hanging down from the bulls next. The have a fishhook end on them allowing them to stay lodged in the skin.

After that the main bullfighter would enter the ring with his red cape. Ole Ole!


Once the bull is sufficiently tired and the final bell tolls, the fighter grabs his sword, aims it at the bull, and stares him in the eyes. A successful attack would entail the sword being completely entered into the bulls neck/back.