Toledo

On Saturday it was time to get out of the city. The two girls at the hostel from Uruguay (Helena and Christina) where feeling the same for their last day in Europe so we caught the bus down to Toledo only an hour away. Toledo was an old village set up on the top of a big hill. It was surrounded by a huge wall, with an impressive front gate. The city is famous for its cathedral so we checked that out and wandered the tiny streets past the souvenir shops selling medievil armour and swords. Visited some synagogue and plenty of old chuches and museums. It was stinking hot with 40 degrees recorded for most of the day, so by 5pm we were pretty tired and headed home to Madrid.

On Sunday I visisted the Prada museum with its exhibition of Partini and plenty of Goya´s works on display. In the evening 4 of us, including a fellow canberran, headed out to the Plaza de Torros for the bull fighting. This was serious stuff with 3 fighters competing on the night, each getting 2 bulls to overcome. First there were several guys out with their red cloths getting the bull to run around the field, then it was time for a guy on a horse. The bull would inevitably start ramming the horse, and sometimes evening lifting it up with its horns, and the rider had a big spear that he would stab into the bulls neck and back. Next the bullfighter had to stick 2 spears into the bulls neck while it was charging him. All the running around and blood loss started to tire out the bull, so the action became more intimate between the fighter and bull. The fighter would use his red cloth the make the bull charge until it was too tired to lift its head. At this point the fighter would get a sword and stab it into the bulls back. If it was a good hit, the bull would fall over instantly dead, otherwise he would have to retreive the sword and try again.