The highlight of our stay in Madrid was on Saturday evening. Our night out on
the town started around 8pm when we went out to find dinner. Our hotel was
outside of the center in a perfect location. Close enough to the metro station
for easy transport, but far enough away from the action for a restful nights
sleep. Being outside of the center also meant we were a bit further away from
the tourist hotspots… making it a better possibility that we could find little
local place for dinner. As it turned out, we were in luck.

I can’t remember the name of the place now, but it was a small café with
beautiful hand painted tiles. The only English speaking member of staff was the
cook, so he came out  from the kitchen to wait on us… and it was spectacular
service. The chef prepared a special salad of shrimp and tomatoes just for us…
and free wine was placed on the table. It was definitely a locals place –
everyone seemed to know each other. Mark had goat for dinner which seemed to
make the whole experience even more exotic.

After dinner we wandered back over to the Plaza del Toros. We’d been going back
and forth about seeing a bull fight while in Spain. While the bull dies and it’s
definitely a cruel, horrible, and painful experience for the animal, it’s also
part of Spanish (and indeed Southern French) culture adored by many. I had
really mixed feelings about wanting to witness this part of Spanish culture…
Earlier in the day we had passed up the idea of buying tickets but by dinnertime
I was regretting the decision. (Back and Forth… Back and Forth…)

When we arrived at the Plaza del Toros around 10:30pm, the ticket office was
closed. I figured we were out of luck, but Mark said… “How about if I go ask
those guards at the gate how much it is to get in. ” (Everyone knows this never
works!!) Well, he did it anyway and to make a long story short, the guards
pulled tickets out of their pockets stamped them and gave them to us for free!!
I couldn’t believe it!!

Once inside, my heart started beating really, really fast. I wasn’t sure that I
really wanted to see the death of a bull even if it was “sport.” Mark convinced
me we couldn’t back out now that we were in and had been given free tickets. So
we bought a few beers and hesitantly found a seat in the upper deck of the
arena.

It wasn’t long after we sat down that the first bull was ushered out of the
arena back into the waiting area… and it was still alive!! “This must be
intermission or something” I thought. It took us awhile to figure out exactly
what we were seeing. Apparently, the event of the evening wasn’t exactly a full
fledged bull fight, but rather a competition of Matadors in training. (Did you
know that the word matador means murderer in Spanish?) They would show off their
tricks… encouraging bulls to charge and then dodging out of the way right at the
last minute or performing other crafty maneuvers. We even saw one guy pole vault
over a bull. The band was far and away the greatest part of the experience… they
played traditional music highly infused with trumpets and other typically Latin
sounds.

In the end, we ended up with the best of all worlds. We got the taste of the
bull fight without the bloody death that is the bull fight. Would I go and see a
“real” bull fight now that I’ve seen a round of bull teasing? Well, probably
not. I truly did feel sorry for the animal. He is scared by the noise of the
crowd, the band and these people that torture him before he is finally put out
of his misery. While I respect the cultural tradition, I just don’t think it
could be a sport I’d enjoy watching.