Así, Así, Así Gana el Madrid

Location: Madrid

I was originally going to write these as separate posts, but since they are obviously related I have decided to just combine them. The short version is that I have now gone to two Real Madrid fútbol games.

The first was a long time ago...all the way back in September. I was living with the host family then, and by chance we had 4 Swiss girls come and stay with us. (Side note: Life can be so cruel!)

They were here in town only for a couple of weeks, and since they were Europeans (or just not Americans) they were really into fútbol. And since Real Madrid is so famous they were really motivated to go. Fortunately they were kind enough to let me tag along.

The tickets wound up costing 35€ each, which were for the nosebleeds in what was widely anticipated to be a terrible game. I say "terrible" because the opponent was the lowest rank team in the division. But we'll come back to that.

This is what the stadium looks like at night.
The area outside was insanely packed. The stadium itself can seat 80,000 people, and I can only imagine how much worse it would have been had they been at full capacity.
This was our view during the match. We actually didn't feel that far up to me, probably because the stadium itself is so steep.
And just to prove I wasn't making it all up about the Swiss girls, here they are. They were the equivalent of seniors in high school and were in town on a school exchange to brush up on their Spanish. They could all speak better than me, which was particularly frustrating because it was their 5th language! I swear they could all be professional translators. They had a great time teaching me naughty words in other languages.
Some of the fans seemed absolutely crazy. Take this guy who was 2 rows ahead of us; after every goal he apparently felt the need to remove his shirt and swirl it around while yelling and humping the air. It was quite the spectacle.
Occasionally when Real Madrid did something really good, the crowd would start a cheer which went "así, así, así gana el Madrid". I wasn't able to get it on film so I snagged this one from youtube so you could experience it too. I think it's the equivalent of us doing the wave...pretty cool stuff.

This was the final score. Yes you're reading it right...7 to 1. It didn't even look like Real Madrid was trying, so turns out the other team was indeed crap. And it also meant a lot of dry humping for our friend above. The girls were having a great time yelling obscenities at him in German whenever he started his thing.

So that was my first experience at a Real Madrid game.

"First", you say? Well yes, I wound up going to another game some months later. And this one literally fell into my lap.

It all started when I was sitting at my desk. One of my coworkers came over and said he had something big and asked what I was up to the following night. I said I didn't have any plans, to which he smiled and said "well then I have some good news for you".

Apparently my company has season box seats which they use for high-end clients, but since there was nothing planned for this particular game our manager had two extra tickets. Everyone else in the office was occupied (one of the few advantages I can think of having coworkers with children), so one of the tickets was for me if I wanted it.

Of course I wanted it. This was my first experience with box seats for any sport. I'm not sure how it's done elsewhere, but this was pretty cool.

First, we skipped the lines and went through a VIP entrance and shown our room. It was fairly intimate and could seat about 12. This is what our room and view looked like. There were <10 people in the box that night, and as you can see they were kind enough to lay out snack food for us.
This was our personal server for the evening, complete with a cute little skirt and high heels. My apologies for it being a bit blurry; I didn't use a flash because I was attempting to be covert. About every 10 minutes she brought a different tray of food and passed it around. This particular one was cured ham; my coworker assured me it was absolutely top notch (I believe him because the Spanish are crazy about their ham qualities).
By half time we had already made the transition from beers to rum & cokes. For the break everyone emptied into a common room where they had buffet lines with more food for all the folks in the box seats. This was also the first time we saw the servers in the other boxes; I found them to be some of the best looking in Madrid. It's probably better for everyone involved that we didn't have them in our box; nothing good could have come from that.
After a few more drinks it became obvious the game was a blow out, so I went over and chit-chatted with our server. She probably found having an American hit on her funny, but I'd like to think it was an opportunity to hone my Spanish skills.

Clearly not a bad way to spend an evening. I assure you that smile is real.
After that my coworker and I stopped by an Irish pub near the stadium and had a few pints before heading home. "La vida es dura" (life is hard) as they say here. It certainly was that night!

Getting to Know My Spanish Hometown a Little Better

Location: Madrid

About a month ago I took a weekend trip out to Paris to visit a friend who was spending a semester studying nearby. This particular post covers the reverse of those travels when she came to visit Madrid.

Her plane landed a bit late on Friday night, making us a bit rushed to make our first event on time which was a Flamenco show. And I also had difficulty finding the place, but after inquiring some locals we made it just fine. Oddly enough, no one knew it by name but immediately knew where I wanted to go when they heard Flamenco.

The restaurant is called "Casa Patas" and holds nightly Flamenco shows in a back room. Somehow I hadn't managed to enjoy this cultural aspect, but several people spoke highly of their experience and especially this place for being authentic. Not that I would know the difference, but most of the audience seemed to be locals, which I figure is always a good sign.

According to my program, the place books different bands almost every other week. I don't pretend to know a whole lot about the complicated world of Flamenco (you may read more here if you wish), but I knew a few things such as it's a mix of song & dance.

For our performance, there were two guitarists (although I'm told the guitars are slightly different than the normal ones), one drummer, two singers/hand clappers, and sometimes a dancer. The band would often perform a piece alone before the dancer came out. This is one of the shots with them all on stage.

And a pretty good video of the experience as well. I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be taking pictures or video, so it'll be our little secret...

Very cool, right?

If I remember correctly, the whole experience lasted about 90 minutes and was well worth it. Similar to the bull fight, it's near the top of the cultural list for things to do in Spain.

The next morning we caught an early train to nearby Toledo, which I wrote a post about before and won't bother repeating most of the sites. But I snapped a few good pictures which I thought and decided to include them. Here's the bridge which connects to the town's edge.
And a good view overlooking the city itself.
Compared to my first trip, our objectives were actually quite different. Since we are both saber fencers in a town famous for sword-making (even the pastry shops sell swords), at the top of our list was to go shopping. A distant second was to eat Paella for lunch, followed by a quick stop of the famous cathedral. Say what you will about our priorities, but there they are.

Here's us fulfilling our first objective.
And I was also in the market for one of my friends who wanted a scimitar, so I decided to send a picture of one to see if he'd like it. His response was that it would be perfect...if he were trying to sack the Great Wall of China.
We went to about a half-dozen places over a span of about 3 hours. She wound up buying an old Spanish replica, and I bought 4 which included two sabers, and old rapier style, and an old Spanish one as well. All are gorgeous and it was well worth the time.

And here I am fulfilling objective number two.
We wound up running really short on time, so our cathedral visit turned out to be really rushed. And by "really rushed" I mean we walked into a side entrance and looked around before running back to the train station. Success!

We got back into Madrid just in time to stop off at some tapas bars before dinner. Here's one such place near my house. The way tapas places work here is that you sit and order a drink, and they give you a small plate of food (the server picks from a variety) which comes free with the drinks. In this picture we had "patatas bravas", or a kind of baked potatoes with mayonnaise, garlic, and chives I believe.
For dinner we dined at a restaurant called "Botin", which according to their Guinness record also happens to be the oldest operational one in the world (open since 1725 and the building 1590). A side note - the famous painter Goya is rumored to have been a dishwasher there in his youth.

The restaurant itself has an interesting layout as it's spread over three or four floors. But everything is obviously very nice white table-cloth, and all the waiters speak several languages to accommodate the international clientele. I actually tried to converse with the waiter in Spanish but he took one look at me and decided English was better.
Their specialty dish is called "cochinillo", which is a roast suckling pig. If made correctly, it is supposed to be brought to the patron's table and cut with the side of a plate (to show its tenderness). We unfortunately did not experience this part, but that dish is in the front in this next picture. The other is the same with lamb. We both agreed the lamb was better.
Sigh...life is so hard sometimes.
After that we met up with other friends at a nearby sangria bar. The place was packed and had live karaoke. Eventually we found a table and went through a few pitchers before we decided to call it a night. By then it was getting late (and we were a bit tipsy), so we said our goodbyes and tried to catch the last metro home. Unfortunately we missed it and decided to walk instead of paying for the taxi. It's fun to be young sometimes.

I took this while walking on Atocha street past the three famous Madrid museums.
We wound up sleeping in a bit the next morning but decided to head to Parque del Buen Retiro (Park of the Pleasant Retreat). I've actually been meaning to give an entire post on Retiro, but decided instead to lump it in here.

El Retiro is sort of like the equivalent of Central Park to New York; its 350 acres are located right in the heart of Madrid and just a short walk from the famous "art triangle" of the city's famous museums. It's completely free and one of the largest public parks in Europe, and when I say it's big I mean it. I've spent close to 3 hours walking around and still haven't seen everything, but the grounds are interspersed with sculptures, monuments, lakes, and plenty of street performers.

The grounds used to be owned by the royal family and were originally constructed in the 1500's before being opened to the public in 1767. There are so many monuments and statues that the park is more like an open-air museum.

Here is just one of the many paths which run through it.
And one of the park's main squares.
The same square from the outside looking in right around sunset.
The main lake where one can cheaply rent a rowboat and paddle aimlessly.
One of the many "smaller" squares.
And I always thought this section looked like it had some sort of Asian influence.
Tall hedges along the paths in this part.
Me trying to pretend that I'm not lost.
And my favorite lake, which is a good ways towards the middle and thus usually not very crowded.
It houses a fountain, waterfall, and lots of ducks & geese. I also especially like how they make a ramp for these little guys...
There is also an entire building adjacent to the lake called "Palacio del Cristal" (Glass Palace) being lent from one of the main museums in Madrid, and as far as I can tell it's just a large one-room greenhouse without plants. Oddly enough, one has to remove their shoes at the front door, so if you look hard enough you'll also notice everyone is barefoot.
As you can tell, the park is a great place to just wander around for a few hours or to take a great book. In our case, my friend and I had bought some wine and food to have a small lunch, and we decided to stop & eat in this area.
We then stopped off at another tapas bar close by for a bit of sangria before her flight. Not a bad weekend at all I'd say!

More pics can be found during our Madrid excursions here, and Retiro pics here.

Some Fun Moments With the Host Family

I thought these two little stories might make for a nice change of pace compared to the constant traveling. I think I touched on this before, but one cultural difference here is the Spanish like to stay out really late (often until dawn).

It doesn't happen every weekend, but a few times now both my host mom and I have gone out (separate places obviously) on a Friday night, and occasionally she'll actually get home later than I do! It's a very weird experience to stumble into bed at 4am, only to hear your 60 year old host mom follow you in a half hour later. Kind of humiliating actually...

Another funny thing to mention about my host mother - she's absolutely terrible with names. Especially foreign names. And of course since she's only got foreigners living with her (3 Americans including me right now), this can be humorous at times. At this point she either remembers names incorrectly, or more typically gives up entirely and just assigns a nickname based on their personality.

For instance, we had an older Swiss gentleman stay with us for a month named Werner...and somehow his name became Bernard. This is how I was introduced to him, so I kept using the wrong name too for an entire month.

Also right now we have Brice and Stephen, but she didn't like those and instead calls them "sonrisas" (smiles) and "triste" (sad) because one is always smiling and the other rarely does.

And me? She calls me "Kas", which I'd say is pretty close to my name. The only catch is its also the name of a brand of soft-drinks here, so she typically calls me "Kas limon" (Lemon Kas) or "Kas naranja" (Orange Kas).

"Class" with a Capital K...

A funny story from this past weekend. I currently have two other roommates from the US, both in their early 20s and here studying for a semester. One of them is very much enjoying the nightlife, and thus he went out clubbing on Halloween. It isn't really celebrated here (no children trick-or-treat, but there are some parties where people dress up). The following day (Nov 1st) is a holiday in Spain, but it's called "Dia de las muertas" (day of the dead), and families get together and travel to the local graveyards in the morning to visit past loved ones. A much more solemn approach than the American holiday...

Back to my roommate. Being the typical American college student, he's usually much more into beer than wine. In all likelihood, he's never bought a bottle of wine in his life. So I'm in the apartment finishing up dinner as he's preparing to go out when he tells me with pride how good of a wine bargain he found earlier in the day. This didn't terribly surprise me because it's generally quite cheap here, but then he told me the amount and price and it did indeed sound extraordinarily low. I asked its type, and although he couldn't remember the winery the label translated to "kitchen wine". I tried to correct him to mean "table wine", but he assured me he was correct. He then retrieved the box and showed me with pride, and I had to break the bad news that he had been consuming a box of cooking wine all night.

The liquor stores were already closed for the evening, and not wanting to waste a half-box worth of "wine", he proceeded to put it in a plastic bag to hide its identity so he could drink it on the metro.

I was laughing for several minutes at this mental image, and I hope you enjoy it too.

Torro!

***WARNING: FOR DEVOTED ANIMAL LOVERS OR THOSE WHO HAVE STRONG FEELINGS REGARDING VIOLENCE TO ANIMALS, THE FOLLOWING TEXT CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS, PICTURES, AND VIDEOS WHICH YOU WILL LIKELY FIND DIFFICULT AND OBJECTIONABLE***


Location: Madrid

I was really torn about going to a bullfight here. I don't have a particular interest in seeing animals tortured and killed for sport, and even less when I have to pay for it. I in no way endorse animal violence. But as uncomfortable as it makes me, I've learned that other countries, people, and cultures do things differently. And since I came to Spain to fully experience its culture, I did wind up going to a show.

Many of the locals tell me that bullfighting is actually a dying sport here. The younger generations are not taking much interest and other sports like Futbol and Basketball (you may remember Spain took the silver medal in Basketball this past Olympics) are gaining popularity.

The ticket prices here range by a surprising amount (anywhere from 3 to 100 euros) depending on the proximity to the front and if the seat lies in the sun or shade. I sat in the sun and almost all the way in the back (the really cheap seats), and my ticket was 7 euros.

Madrid has the largest bullring in Spain and one of the largest in the world. With a capacity of ~25,000, Las Ventas is a remarkable sight to see. It reminded me of the Coliseum recreation in the movie Gladiator - essentially a large circular stadium with an open middle and nothing but sand on the ground.

Here is a good shot of the empty stadium, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Of course the Spanish love their drinks, so anything can be ordered from the many fully-stocked concession bars. I found this curiously different that how it's done in the States.
And here's what it looked like on the Sunday I was there.

One additional interesting thing to mention is the bullfighting season was currently nearing its end here, but it's near peak season in Mexico. This means all the top matadors are there for several months, leaving only the young matadors who are still in training here in Madrid. Someone pointed out these shows are often more exciting exactly for the fact that they aren't as experienced...one sees more errors and thus appreciates how difficult it is. Makes sense to me - I saw two separate news reports the week before I went about a matador getting gored at the stadium.

HOW A SPANISH BULLFIGHT WORKS
A Madrid bullfight consists of six bulls & three matadors with each matador being accompanied by his assistants. In a little over two hours the matadors will each kill two bulls, totaling 6 in the whole show.

The spectacle starts with matadors and their assistants entering the bullring and parading in front of the crowd. The front matador is usually the most experienced or kind of a "distinguished guest". Everyone then goes to their respective areas behind the outer ring and awaits the first bull. A horn sounds and it's released.

At first only the assistants are in the ring, and the bull comes out charging fast. It runs mostly from end-to-end as the assistants either dodge or move behind a small structure for safety. The reasons for this are several: it starts to tire the bull, and it gives the matador a chance to see how it behaves.

Here's a picture of it. The assistants all had fuchsia capes.
And another pic with an assistant which turned out really well. I can only imagine the courage it takes to stand your ground as this huge deadly animal is running the entire length of the ring directly at you.
And here's a pretty good video of it too.

After a quick signal from the band, two horses and riders now enter the ring. The assistants now try to lure the bull over to charge the horseback rider, at which time he pierces the bull with a lance in the shoulder area. This part of the event usually had one or two such attacks on the horseback riders. The horses were wearing some padding and were blindfolded so they didn't run away or get gored. In the old days apparently they didn't wear protection and would often be killed.

This is what it looks like when the bull attacks a rider and is lanced.
After another signal from the band, the riders leave and the assistants return. However, two of them are now each carrying two small sharp staffs called "banderillas". Their job is to get the bull to charge, dodge at the last second and plant the staffs into the bull's shoulders. Many of the assistants we had were unable to do this correctly, and I admit it looked quite difficult.
Here's a video of both assistants seeming to get it right. Notice how the staffs dangle and stay in the bull if done correctly.

This part of the process also ends with a signal from the band, and now the matador (which literally translates to "the killer") enters. At this point it's just him and the bull, and he starts by acknowledging the crowd and then proceeds to use his red cape to have the bull charge him.
A good matador is supposed to hold his ground with a totally rigid body and lead the bull from side to side without moving or having the cape leave the ground. This must be quite difficult because none of the three we had even came close to pulling all these conditions off.

Notice how this bull is light-colored compared to the traditional black ones. It was fascinating because it became apparent just how much the bulls were bleeding by this point. Notice all the color around it's neck...
Eventually the bull tires from exhaustion and blood loss, and the matador walks to the side and takes a sword from an assistant. This is a great picture which shows what it looks like.
And a video of the matador controlling the bull.

Finally, he then temps the bull to charge a few more times, then eventually makes a pose where he points the sword directly at the bull, which signals at the next charge he will attempt the death blow. If done correctly he will strike directly between the shoulder blades and into the heart. If he misses the bull is still often immobilized and quite injured, and then an assistant will come and deliver the final blow with a dagger between the eyes.
After this the crowd will cheer based upon their satisfaction of the matador to both control the bull and to deliver a quick and respectful death. Depending on the level of cheering the matador may be awarded either: 1. nothing, 2. one ear, 3. both ears, or 4. both ears and the tail. I don't know what the matadors were awarded during my show.

The bull's body is then dragged away where the meat is sold in high-end restaurants, and then the next bull comes out and the process starts over again.
And a video of the spectacle. This was really a sobering moment for me when it left a trail of blood in the sand.

Of course things don't always go as planned. Here is one of the assistants having to run out of the arena after messing up the placement of his banderillas.
And a video of a similar experience.

And although no one was gored during my show, it does happen with some regularity and here's what it can look like.
And this one is one of the most famous and experienced matadors from earlier this summer.
Here's a video I took of one matador attempting a deathblow which goes awry. Try to focus and follow his sword.

This is a great shot of the stadium right after sunset but still during the show.
Afterwards, all 25,000 of us are leaving together and trying to get into the same one metro stop. Fun stuff.
In hindsight I found it to be a very interesting experience, although not one I would likely seek out again. I've never seen anything like it, so I'm glad to have gone in the sense that I gained a small insight into the culture here.

For additional pictures, click here.