Madrid, capital de España

21 - 23 September

I made it into central Madrid through the excellent Alsa long-range buses mid-afternoon on the 21st. The change in climate - back to hot and dry after the cold, wet Atlantic Coast - was immediately noticeable! I headed into the city centre to my hostel; one of the cheaper ones I'd been in, but still perfectly OK - I did notice Spain was definitely the cheapest western European country.

A NZ girl in the hostel was keen to explore the city a bit so we headed out to find some of the main sights - Madrid, as the centre of what was once the massive Spanish empire, certainly had it's fair share.

Madrid's city symbol - a bear and a strawberry tree?

Plaza Mayor

Some triumphal arch (Puerta de Alcalá)

Fountains and the Spanish flag were a common sight in the central city - a noticeable difference from the Catalan flag that dominates Barcelona

I discovered there was a Real Madrid match on that night, so headed out to Santiago Bernabéu, their massive home ground. Even for a local league match, the tickets to an 85,000 seat stadium were almost sold out!! I got myself the cheapest seat in the house - behind the goal on the fourth level - and that evening headed along to what was definitely the largest crowd I'd ever witnessed - and mostly mad Spaniards too...

I gots me a Real Madrid ticket!

Real Madrid vs Getafe CF

Cristiano Ronaldo broke a nail so everyone had a fight

But Ronaldo is quite a good player, and scored a backheel on fulltime for Real Madrid to win 4 - 1

One thing that is very Spanish is bull-fighting. While I don't really condone the principles behind it, I still find the concept quite interesting and headed out to Madrid's Plaza de Toros (el toro = the bull) to see what it was all about.

The bull-fight is very steeped in tradition and there are still bull fights in Madrid every Sunday (at least) in season. Madrid's bullring is the largest in Europe and third largest in the world, seating 25,000, and is known as Las Ventas.

Entrance to Plaza de Toros

Bullfight advertisements look exactly the same as they probably ever did

Inside the bullring. Seating prices depend on whether you're in the shade or not!
The sandy central area still had a few spots of blood visible from the previous days' bullfights...

It all seemed pretty weird, that bulls are raised especially to be fought in this ring, and several die each week just for entertainment. The arena includes a hospital and vet for gouged humans and bulls alike. There is also a very big "honour" side to the whole affair, with exceptionally good bullfighters getting their names engraved on a board outside, and honourable bulls even getting being sent to the taxidermist for display in the attached museum.

No wonder some people are trying to ban the practice in Spain. It seems, however, that it is so steeped in tradition and custom now that it will probably be around to stay.

As one last thing before leaving Spain, I headed to the royal palace (Palacio Real). I headed on a tour inside the palace, which displayed a vast amount of wealth somewhat contradictory to the financial troubles the country is in. The armoury had some fascinating displays of medieval weaponry as well. Unfortunately, photography was forbidden throughout the palace interior, so you'll have to take my word for how impressive it was.

And then it was off to prepare myself for another change in climate - to Switzerland!