We are now off to Malaga and I am looking forward to the seafood. It’s a beach town pretty close to Gibraltar and the birthplace of Picasso. Sevilla was the most interesting in terms of scenery. It seems that Disney has stolen all of their architectural ideas from Spain as there are many similarities. When we were in Madrid the restaurants were hit and miss. Either really old and expensive or super cheap and fantastic. Everything was good in Sevilla. From simple baguette sandwiches to chicken alli-olli to fresh pinchos. We made a commitment to try as many new and different things as possible and so far we have done well. However, we have found that we are not always as hungry as we might be back home. We have walked at least 10 miles every day and that seems to keep our appetites low. Now I know how these women stay thin! We opted for a super-touristy thing to do: a waterfront cruise and rode around on rented bikes for a day. Also, we went to a mercadillo (“flea market”), unlike one I have ever been to! This one was all dogs, cats, ferrets, and bunnies! Michael had to drag me away from vendors with baby Sharpeis and Chihuahuas. Cuteness overload!!
The problem with Sevilla was that it was deliriously hot, so hot that many restaurants and stores were shutting down early or not opening at all and staying at home with their air conditioning jacked on high. The streets littered with puddles from the a/c units working overtime.
I have to say I was really excited about the bullfight, but I really should have done some research before going. I knew that the bull usually never wins and I knew there was a Matador (it does mean “killer” after all) that killed him. What I didn’t know was that the bull is taunted by half a dozen matadors (including one on a horse) who stick daggers in him until he is exhausted from bleeding and charging around the ring. After several minutes of this one Matador then comes out, taunts him a little more then goes for the kill. There are six rounds of this, meaning six bulls get killed, and I was sick to my stomach by the second one. I realize that this is a tradition and I respectfully watched secretly rooting for the bull. This is not me being culturally insensitive or imposing my cultural values. I don’t mind that they killed the bull . Hell, those bulls probably went out better than a lot of our cattle does in American slaughter houses. Sitting in the stands, took me back to the cowardly girls that would gang up on me in junior high. Always too chicken to come up to me when they were alone, but magically brave enough to kick my ass when there was 5 more of them. Killing an animal that is already half dead is absolutely not a fair fight. It’s the girl who would kick me in the face and walk away triumphantly after her 5 friends had already had a piece of me.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Travel
Wow, priceless!
What is chicken alli-olli?
And, the bull fights? This is the reason why I never went to one when I’ve gone to Mexico. Didn’t think I’d be able to handle watching the bull killed. I didn’t know that it was more than 1 matador though. That disappoints me!!
When I was in Spain and Mexico I had the chance to see a bullfight but opted out for very much the same reason as you stated above. In Malaga? lol that is where Brian lives, say hi from me….on second thought don’t.