Weekend in Sevilla

I spent this weekend in Sevilla, but it was still far from a boring one. On Saturday, we went to the Plaza de España, a beautiful building that we visited  during our photo scavenger hunt, but the time was much too brief for such an awesome building.

Unlike our last time there, the fountain was actually on which added a lot of aesthetic appeal. After this, we climbed the stairs and looked at it from below. Like always, there were a lot of people in boats along the moat and others enjoying the designs of the huge building. 

After our trip to the plaza, we went to one of our leader's apartment and watched a movie on her roof, which was great because we could see the cathedral in the distance along with the rest of Sevilla, which provided the perfect atmosphere for a perfect night. 

Sunday, however, was not peaceful due to one thing: the bull fight. It was one of the last fights of the season and although seeing bulls die is definitely not something I thought I would enjoy, I felt like I had to experience it seeing as how I am in Spain. 

The fight started out with a procession with all the matadors along with some dressed-up horses. After this, the bloody battle began. Each bull went through the same stages, each one meant to make it angrier and weaker. 

Plaza de Toros with my new bull shirt

During the first stage, about six men waved pink drapes at them from different spots. When the bull came running at them, hid behind a gate where the bull could not reach them until it went on to its next target. 

Next, a man on a horse entered the ring. He called the bull over and it charged at the horse and usually stabbed it with its horns before the man could get the bull away with his spear. The third bull that we saw actually ended up charging so hard that the horse fell over along with the man on top of it. However, the man got back on his horse (corny, but I had to say it, it was too perfect) and trotted away while the other men redirected the bull. 

After this, it got worse for the bull. Three men with what looked like very large crochet needles took turns calling the bull over and quickly sticking them in the bull before running away as fast as they could. Now the bull was weak enough for one-on-one combat. 

The matador then took out his red drape and wore the bull out by having it continually charge at his drape. Each time, it inches away from running right into the matador but he did not seem to think they were close calls.

Finally, after the bull seemed worn out, he put the final sword in the bull and the horses were called out to drag the body away. 

The most "exciting" part of the night was when bull number four actually sent the first guy he encountered into the air and trampled him a little before getting called over by someone else. It was crazy to see, but the man seemed fine and continued fighting as soon as he stood up. 

In the end, they killed six bulls, something that was disturbing to watch every time. I pretty much walked out of the ring with the feeling I expected, it was sad but I was still glad that I experienced it one time.