Sunday Night at the Bullfights

When in Spain, do as the Spaniards do. So Sunday evening
we went to the bullfights in El Puerto.

There are two windows to buy tickets: "Sombra" (shade) or "Sol" (sun).
Your choice is sitting on the shady or sunny side of the ring, and tickets are
priced accordingly.  

Everywhere you looked in the stands, fans were flicking.

The bullfight begins with a procession of the main players:
Matadors in front, followed by banderillos with hot pink capes,
and picadores mounted on horseback. Music by a 20-piece brass
band accompany the hoopla.

Each of the six bullfights are introduced by an hombre holding a sign,
 indicating where the bull was bred, the bull's date of birth
and weight, as well as the name of the matador.
 Each bull is at least 4 years old and weighs up to 600 kilos.

The bull is released into the ring. 

The banderillos, with their hot pink capes, take turns taunting the toro,
 attempting to tire him out.

Next, the picadores arrive on heavily padded and blindfolded horses.
When the bull charges the horse, the picadore lances the bull's neck,
causing the bull to lose blood and weaken.

In the next stage, three banderillos each take turns thrusting two
barbed sticks (banderillas) in-between the bull's
shoulders, which further enrages the bull.

After taunting the bull, the banderillos move to safety behind
 wood shields located around the bullring. (Wimps)

Then the matador takes center stage with his red cape. Surprisingly,
bulls are color blind; they attack moving objects. The red conceals the blood.

The matador does a number of passes. With each pass, the
audience shouts "ole!"

Within 15 minutes of the first pass, the matador prepares
for estocada (thrusting the sword for the kill)

 If estocada is not successful, the matador must then perform a descabello 
and cut the bull's spinal cord with a second sword called verdugo, to kill it instantly 
and spare the animal more pain, which is what you're seeing here.

At the end, a team of horses drags the bull's body out of the ring to
the sound of cracking whips.
 (Think about a scene from Ben Hur... minus the chariot)

So what did you do Sunday night?

Daytrip to Zahara and Grazalema

Zahara. When we arrived it was a little hazy. We climbed up
to the castillo you see on the very top.

Views were amazing. The water in the reservoir was a
teal color, like you'd see in the Caribbean.

Pretty church in Zahara. See the sky? That's typical. No clouds. Very blue.
 Lots of sun. It hasn't rained a drop since Easter.

Grazalema. Another picturesque pueblo blanco.
We bought a couple of rugs made here.

This was an unusual door knocker b/c it  looked like a
man's hand, and it was a right hand. The "limp hand" door knocker is typical of Spain but
usually it's a woman's left hand. Wonder why the difference here?

Fabulous drive to and from Grazalema.

More landscape. Most roads are in great shape in southern Spain. I love driving b/c there is so
little traffic (maybe b/c gas is so expensive at more than $7 a gallon!?) 

Last stop was the Cueva de la Pileta about 40 minutes from Grazalema.
This privately owned cave had literally  hundreds of prehistoric
 drawings, 20-30,000 years old.
We made our way with kerosene lanterns.
The owner takes no more than 25 people at a time. In our group, we had a French family,
Spanish folks, and Jim and I, the lone Americanos.

On our way home, we went through a little town and saw this curious sight:
An hombre obviously had ridden his horse into town,
 hitched him up, and sat down for a cerveza.  Gotta love rural Spain!

Evening walk in Puerto

9:12 pm

9:22 pm

9:28 pm

9:28 pm

9:33 pm

9:37 pm. Buenas noches.

Weekend Away in the Costa del Sol

Mijas. Check out the heart mowed in the grass. Aaaah.

From our hotel in Mijas, looking down to the Mediterranean Sea.

Mijas tourismo.

Casares.

Another view of Casares.

The Spanish know how to take care of their loved ones, forever.

Blue.

Back in Mijas. (how do you change the order of photos??!:)

Jim, after climbing up to the chapel in Mijas.

Chapel on the mountainside.

Typical street winding through Casares.

We love living on the ocean, but the Mediterranean Sea is only 2 hours away, so this past weekend we took a road trip to Costa del Sol. We purposely stayed clear of the beach crowds and high rise development. Instead, we ventured into the mountains, a little northeast of Marbella, and stayed in the white-washed village of Mijas.

Okay, it has its fair share of tourismo (see donkey picture above!), but it still has plenty of charm. Two highlights of our stay:

First, dinner on the terrace of La Alcabaza Restaurante, with stunning views of the valley and the Mediterranean Sea. Second, trekking up the side of a mountain to reach the 18th-century white chapel, Ermita del Calvario. It's only open on Fridays during Lent, but the scenic views are worth the climb. The Carmelite brothers who used this for meditation and relaxation knew what they were doing.

Sunday, we headed home, with a stop off in Casares, another pueblo blanco clinging to the side of a steep mountain. The drive there was spectacular and the town far less touristy than Mijas. We couldn't get over how different the landscape is here---so mountainous and a far cry from the flat plains surrounding Rota. What a treat! From now on, Casares is on our must-see daytrip list for folks who visit.