Spain - Day 10 - Madrid in a Day

Shorltly after daybreak the next morning, we said goodbye to the beautiful city of Pamplona and took a cab to the train station to catch a train to our next destination... Madrid.



It was pretty damn early to be catching a train, but we figured we could rest on the train ride, which was scheduled to be a few hours. A solid plan and thankfully, the high-speed train was a smooth ride. I mentioned to Ingrid that the trains reminded me of those in Japan.



After a few hours, some of which was spent sleeping, we arrived in Madrid. As you can see, having been rudely awoken, I was grumpy that morning. Blah.



Ingrid, on the other hand, was as cheery as could be, and even did her best impression of a Japanese tourist. If I didn't know better, with the train in the backgroud, I'd guess this picture was actually taken in Japan.



Same for this picture. The trains look almost identical to the Japanese bullet trains.



The plan was to stay in Madrid for only one night and then head to the next destination. That meant we would have to get moving right away to see the town. We walked to our hotel and dumped all of our bags off and immediately headed out.



We walked around for a while and took in the sights, and then noticed that there were tour buses on the streets similar to the ones we enjoyed back in Barcelona. With such fond memories of our experience there, we decided to hop on and catch a ride around town.



A great idea in theory... The only problem was that these buses were nothing like those we rode in Barcelona. Yes. they were open-air buses. Yes, they took us around town. But they just weren't as cool... especially with the earphones and pre-recorded tour guide.



Despite the inadequacies, we made the best of it and headed for a part of town where we could do some shopping.



At this point, we hadn't eaten anything all day, and after some window shopping on the streets of Madrid, we had built up the hugest appetite.



By sheer luck, we happened to stumble across this amazing little bakery/deli. Words really won't do this place justice. Everything in that place was delicious. Ingrid raves about that place to this day, and I have to agree.



The sights around Madrid were something to behold, and something you don't get too much of back in the States.



This is me doing my tough-guy pose as we wandered the streets to take in the city...



And take random pictures.



As I've mentioned, jamon is big in Spain. They've even got the Museo de Jamon (Museum of Jamon) where they sell more jamon than you could possibly imagine.



The goal was to score some tickets to the bullfight, or corrida, later that afternoon. Just our luck, some of the best bullfighters were in town that day. And just our luck, tickets to the corrida were in high demand. But as in any town, money talks, and after paying a premium, we scored a pair of tickets. After securing tickets, we did some serious shopping leaving us with a huge bag full of bedding and gifts for our friends back home. The only problem with that is that we were already late for the corrida...



Having been to a bullfight before, I expected Ingrid to know what would be involved, and in particular, whether it would be manageable to bring a huge shopping bag into the stadium. Good idea? Well after some reassurance from Ingrid that there would be no problem, we take a cab to the bullfight and try to locate our seats. As I head out into the stadium, I immediately realize there aren't any "seats"! Imagine a series of concentric concrete steps with crowds of people sitting on each step, so jammed in that people are sitting in the aisles. No seatback. No cushion. Just painted lines delineating the boundaries of each seat. And here I am standing around with a huge bag of bedding, a pair of cushions we rented for our "seats," and other crap we picked up. Add to that, the backpack I'm wearing. How in the world was I to navigate that place? With the backpack strapped to my back and the shopping bag held to my chest, I made my way toward the general direction of my seat like a fat man in a foreign country. "Perdon, perdon, perdon..." is what I said repeatedly, as I bumped into people with my "belly" trying to navigate the aisles. To make things worse, rather than trying to sit in our assigned seating, which were rudely occupied by some locals who refused to them up, we took the only two available spots in the place... at the end of the row, no less. Perdon.



When I say people were jammed into that place, I mean it. See for yourself in the video above.



Well we caught the second bullfight of the night mid-action. And action it was. What I didn't realize is that before the bullfighter comes out, there are these guys who thrust spear-like projectiles into the bull's back to weaken it.



The video above demonstrates what to do, and what not to do, as the bullfighter fails to slay the bull in his first attempt, but manages to bring the bull down in his second strike.



Pretty brutal, indeed. Not sure if I liked seeing that, but I certainly appreciated the cultural component of it all.



I love this picture. Not only because the windows make for a great shot, but also because it serves as proof that I had to lug around the huge shopping bag there at my feet.



We ended the night with some tapas, of course, at a local tapas bar near our hotel.