24 Hours in Madrid

Our second trip out of the country was in early May when we literally spent 24 hours in Madrid, Spain.

The back story: The day we went to the beach our friend Pierre mentioned he was going to Madrid the following weekend. He had plans to see a bullfight with a friend of his who lives in Madrid. Pierre grew up in Peru and enjoys the sport of bullfighting and knows all the details behind it. Jim got pretty excited and mentioned that he thought seeing a bullfight would be interesting, so Pierre invited him along. Initially I thought it was a "guy trip" but about 2 days later Jim said he talked to Pierre and he wanted to to know if I wanted to come too. Also, Jim didn't want to crash Pierre's original plans of catching up with his friend and with me there it would give us a chance to do some sightseeing.

So there you have it 4 days before we left, we booked plane tickets, a hotel and tickets to the bullfight for Saturday night. We planned to spend the day at some museums, (I went to Madrid in high school, more than 10 years ago! eek. but Jim was a newbie.) then go to the hotel for a siesta and meet up with Pierre for the bullfight that night.

Saturday came and at 7am we were on the flight. And man was I tired. Fortunately, less than 2 hours later we were landing in Spain. It took over an hour to get from the airport to downtown Madrid on public transportation but it wasn't a hassle. After a quick breakfast Jim and I set off to find The Prado. We managed to spend just over an hour there, which is pretty amazing considering their vast collection. But we had an agenda.

Our next stop was the Reina Sofia, a contemporary art museum. I'm sure you can guess why we had to go there.

By that point it was early afternoon and we were beat. We headed to the hotel to relax.

And have snacks, of course.

After our siesta we got directions to the Plaza de Toros from the concierge, and it was close enough to walk to. Unfortunately, it started raining - a lot, almost immediately after we left. The rain apparently does not stop a bull fight.

Plaza de Toros Las Ventas

The crowd waves white towels when they think the matador was exceptional

We took about a thousand pictures and some video too. But I decided to leave most of them off of this post. They might be a little graphic to some people. It was a very interesting experience. I can see how the people who attend really get into it. It also helped that Pierre was there to explain the rules and various aspects of bullfighting. I can also see how people are against bullfighting. But far be it from me to judge another culture. I'm just here to experience it. And I would recommend the experience to anyone who visits Spain or another country where bullfighting is a part of the culture.

We were cold and wet but after the fight our night just got started. In Spanish culture people eat late and stay out later. So after the fight we went first for drinks and then to dinner. We ate at an amazing Argentinian steak house and had drinks with Pierre and his friend. By the time the cab dropped us off at the hotel it was almost 2am! I felt like I was 21 again...until I had to wake up at 6am to go to the airport.

Just like that we were heading back to Geneva. And I found the smallest can of Fanta ever in the airport lounge. It wasn't until later that I realized this picture doesn't actually have a frame of reference for size. But I would say it is half the size of a normal can.