Toros, Tour, Teatro, Tapas

Saturday, January 29

Another sunny day arrived in Sevilla on Saturday.  Although my legs still hurt, I stretched them out and headed to El Centro for a day of sightseeing.

Plaza de Toros:  My first stop was the Bullfighting Museum.  A Bullfighting Ring sits by the river waiting for the May - September bullfighting season to arrive.  The guided tour of the museum and stadium gave me a history of the spectacle.  Most interesting was the story of Manolete.  In 1947, the admored matador was killed in the ring.  To the horror of city, the bull and the bull's mother were both killed.  Heads of Bulls lined the walls of the museum, but there was only one Cow (vaca) -- the mother of the bull that killed Manolete.

El Mercado del Arenal:  Next to the ring is Sevilla's premier "farmer's market" -- a commerical building of permanent artisan stands offering a fine selection of fruits, vegetables, meats, and most spectacular of all, fresh seafood.  I will have to return on a weekday, when more stands are open.

Plaza del Salvador: I enjoyed just wandering the streets of the Centro that day.  I stumbled upon quite a mob scene in Plaza del Salvador.  It is notorious for attracting young locals; it is the premier place to mingle with your cervezita (little glass of beer).

The Night Out (sadly, no pictures):  Montse (my host mother) invited me to a movie in the Centro with her friends.  I saw the Spanish-dubbed version of Clint Eastwood's new film with Matt Damon,"Hereafter" ("Más állá de la vida").  Montse's friends were outrageous, each separately referring to "BradPitt" (one word in Spanish) when they met me.  After the stellar movie, we went to a tapas bar. There I tried two new Spanish culinary wonders: (1) Morcilla (Blood Sausage) con Brie, and (2) Merluza con patatas, setas, y jamón (Merluza fish with potatoes, mushrooms, and ham).  Both were roughly $3.00 and incredible!  Nice to spend an evening with Spaniards, too.  Listening to a conversation is still hard.

For pictures of Bullfighting day: http://picasaweb.google.com/bradleywilliams39