I could go back to Peru at this point and post blogs about what happened the rest of my stay there and then Brazil where I saw the Pope and Mexico where I enjoyed life to the fullest... But that would take way too long and due to my own laziness, I guess you'll have to hear about those stories in person.
Spain... What an incredible country. I arrived in Madrid on September 20th and spent the first couple days just exploring the city. However, on the 23rd of September, I achieved one of my life goals by running with the bulls in a small village called Villaviciosa. Contrary to what most Spanish people immediately assume, I was neither drunk nor hungover for this rare occasion. I wanted to survive. However, I was short on sleep after getting to bed around 3 am and waking up at 7:30.
When we arrived in the streets of this great city, everyone immediately knew I was a foreigner. It probably had something to do with the backwards trucker hat that said CALIFORNIA on the front. I don't know if they were more surprised that a foreigner found this place or that I was walking straight and visibly sober. The festivities quickly began.
My new friends in Spain recommended I at least watch the first bull run by so I can get a feel for exactly what would be happening. I obliged after an assurance that there would be 5 more bulls running by right after. I figured 5 runs was enough for one day.
Here's what the street looked like. The smart people are behind the fence, I am pretty damn well trapped if I fall or forget how to climb a 7 foot wall.
This is what pursued.
Now I realize it looks like I wasn't very close at all, and the reality is I wasn't. But that was also the first run and also I was holding my iPhone which about 25 people warned me not to do. . I did 4 more after that and it got heavy. I started getting a little bit too brave and that's when I decided to enter the bull ring with the bulls and nearly lost my leg as I tried to jump a wall to escape. Playing hockey, I should have been pretty good at this but it's been like 5 years and I wasn't on skates. Where everything went wrong was when my friends told me we had to leave and I hadn't exactly had my fill of adrenaline. I ran towards the bull and started jumping up and down and yelling at him. Well, apparently bulls don't like that and he went straight at me. I lived, and that's all that matters.
I don't have a video of that precise instant (for obvious reasons) but you'll get the idea from this video of right after I jumped in the arena.
Panorama of the Arena
After getting my fill of adrenaline, my friends invited me to a Real Madrid game. I don't usually care for soccer--excuse me, futbol--but I couldn't pass up one of the biggest teams in the world so I once again fell to peer pressure. The game was pretty exciting. We were sitting in the nosebleeds, of course, because any other ticket would have broken the bank.
During my last few days in Madrid, I stayed with a friends brother. We rode a motorcycle through Madrid to the Prado Museum and then I gave him and his wife a golf lesson which he claimed was my rent for staying at his beautiful apartment. All in all, Madrid was an incredible experience.
That's not to say that Barcelona hasn't had it's own adventures of course.
Since I first attended a bull fight in Aguascalientes, Mexico, I have pretty much become obsessed with the art. Yes, it is an art and let nobody tell you otherwise. However, bull-fighters, in my opinion, come second only to Rejoneadors. I don't think there's an english translation to this particular art, but I really wish PETA didn't have so much power so we could get this going in the States. Basically, a demigod since atop a stallion that is so well trained I'm convinced the damn horse can read the riders mind. Both the horse and the demigod are placed in the bull ring together with a bull that looks like it just emerged from hell. Like bull-fighting, the man uses decorated spears that hook into the bulls back to make it bleed before finishing the bull with a final thrust of his sword between his shoulder blades into its lungs.
That all sounds terrible, difficult, and impressive, but imagine doing all of that on top of a horse. That's what Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza does for a living. I learned about this guy from Spanish friends back home and watched some of his videos online and fell in love with everything he does. I'm positive I'm his biggest fan in California and will be his only fan in China.
Here's an example of why they call this art: Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza and Merlin
So I knew when I arrived to Spain that one of the things I absolutely had to do was see this demigod in person. However, it's also the end of summer which means the end of bull-fighting season and I was in Barcelona where the liberal bull-lovers decided to make bull-fighting illegal. None of that stopped me.
I found Pablo's schedule online and the closest he would ever be to me on my journey through Spain was in the town of Alquerías del Niño Perdido which has a population of 4,500 people. This was my next destination. Of course, I had to get there first.
Me on my journey to the Middle of Nowhere, Spain.
After waking up at 7 am, taking a 3 hour train ride to Castellón and another 1 hour train ride to Alqueriás, I only needed to figure out how to buy tickets. Luckily for me, everyone in this place might just be a saint. I talked to about 3 people in the first 10 minutes and they all offered to walk me the 20 minutes to get to the City Hall where they would have all the information. Once I got there, they sold me the tickets at a discount because they learned I was from California and had come just to see Pablo Hermoso. Finally, the lovely lady recommended I eat at a restaurant across the way because all the bull-fighters were going to be there in 45 minutes. What a gal.
While Pablo never showed up for the lunch, I was still about 3 hours away from witnessing what I had, in theory, come all the way to Spain to witness. I walked another 30 minutes to the Plaza de Toros, which couldn't have held more than 2,000 people.
Small Arena, perfect for the up close videos!
My first proof he would actually be here. The horses are majestic... There is no other word.
Since I was pretty much the first person there, I was able to talk to all the people working on his horses getting them ready. They were so nice and spoke decent english as well. One of them gave me a big picture of Pablo and told me when he gets here that she would help me get a picture with him and introduce me to him. I felt like my little sister going backstage to meet Justin Bieber.... sad but true.
For the rest of the blog, I'll let the pictures and videos do the talking.
My special meet and greet with the man himself before the festivities.
Before watching: If you think this is a brutal sport, don't push play. If you realize that what this man is doing on top of this horse is absolutely astounding, you'll love this video. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life that was made or done by man.
The Kill: This part is also pretty impressive although not quite as impressive as the previous video. I kind of just put this up to piss off my faithful PETA followers.
And last thing before I go. I don't know how I got so lucky, but apparently this lineup of bull-fighters was absolutely incredible. The guy that came up next was a traditional bull-fighter named Juan Jose Padilla. If you think those videos above are rough, youtube this guy and you'll see why he wears an eye-patch when he fights bulls now. He lost his eye last year to a bull and he was back at it in this arena again yesterday. The guy is nuts and has no fear. He was literally on his knees fighting the bull and his clothes were blood-soaked because he was touching the bull every time it went by. See the eye patch below.
As always, to zoom in click on the picture and check out his eyepatch!
Take away for the day: Patience and a dive head first attitude makes shit happen.
Hope you enjoyed the blog because I don't know when I'll write another one. I realize the writing is pretty dull but I hope the pictures make up for it.
Pray that I make it out of the Holy Land alive so I can start working...
