Los Toros!

On Sunday, the Marquette group went to "El Museo de Jamon" to have lunch because the Colegio Mayor doesn't feed us on Sundays or Holidays. This place is a chain restaurant that has hundreds of different types of Ham. They eat so much ham here in Spain! The Museo de Jamon was on Gran Via, which is one of the more populated streets and areas of the city because it is close to Plaza de España.

After lunch we walked as a group over to the statue of Don Quixote and ¨El templo de Debod¨. These two landmarks iconic in Madrid. The statue is humongous and has a reflecting pond in front of it. The temple was given to Spain by the Egypt in 1968 to thank Spain for their aid. After taking A TON of group photos, we split up and went our separate ways. Carolyn, Allie and I walked down Gran Via towards Callao which is similar to Boys Town in Chicago. There are tons and tons of amazing stores there so went shopping for a few hours! The stores here are amazing! Everyone dresses so classy and put together. A lot of the women walk around in heels all day. I don´t think I could ever do that!

That night, we went to see a bull fight at the ¨Plaza de Toros.¨ Another professor what there and he was explaining everything about bull fights to us. They have such a rich history to them. Before there was a ¨stadium¨ for bull fights they used to happen in the main squares of towns. Everything would shut down and people would come watch them. They became popular because people like to see man put against the strength  of a huge animal. There are three parts to each bull fight. At first the men try to find out what makes the bull angry and where it retreats to when it needs a brake. Then men on horse come out and they hurt the bull in the strongest part of its back so that the Matador has a better chance to win the fight. After that only the bull and the matador are in the circle and they fight to the end.

The Matador has a contract that says that he has to kill the bull. The man that we were with said that if they didn't they might have to pay a fine or go to jail. It was so intense! I'm not saying that I liked the fact that the bulls were being killed, but it was really interesting and fascinating to learn about and watch.


The bulls are so huge and they go so close to the matadors. At one point a bull completely flipped the matador in the air! It was so scary to watch! I thought he would have gotten hurt but he didn't at all. At another point one of the bulls completely pushed over one of the horses. They have so much strength and force!

So, while this was a really interesting cultural and learning experience I don´t think I will ever be returning to see another bull fight.

Statue of Don Quixote! 

The girls (missing 4) in front of the Toro statue! 

Toro and Matador! 

Palacio Real y Más

Saturday was a big day! As a group we went on a walking tour of Old Madrid with one of our professors. The professor that was with us knew everything and anything you could possibly want to know about the history of Madrid. He didn't stop talking about things for two hours straight. The first thing that we saw was the Teatro Real which is a really fancy theater that cost a lot to get into. We walked over to the Palacio Real which is the official residence of the royals. However, the royals don't actually live there. The Palacio Real is mostly used for ceremonies and other things. It is absolutely beautiful and huge! I hope to go inside of it sometime this semester because it is full of historical artifacts. Next to the Palacio is the Catedral de la Alumdena. This cathedral was build over the time period of XIX and XX. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993. It is so beautiful that every time I see it I'm still amazed by it!

This area is a really big tourist area and there are a lot of different strange attractions. There are people in suits that hide their heads. This way the look like the are headless but can still walk. There are also people playing music. Sometimes they would play American music and it would seem so out of place because we were in such a beautiful place and there was an American oldies rock song being sung in the background.

We walked through a ton of the old streets and learned about what period of time they were build and how we could tell just by looking at it. I honestly walked around in a daze because I couldn't believe how gorgeous the buildings are. They are pieces of art!

One of the last places that we went during the walking tour was though Plaza Mayor. This is a huge square that has buildings on every side and is in the middle of the city. In the middle of the plaza is a statue of Felipe III on a horse. There are a lot of horse statues here!

Caroyln and I went back to the same church for Sunday mass. This time there was singing however it was a lot more formal that what I am used to. This mass was longer because it was Sunday mass so it was harder to pay attention since the priest talks so fast. I did catch on to some of the things there were saying though, which I think is really good for 2 times at mass!

That night we all went out for Sangria for one of our group member's birthday. It was so much fun, even thought the Spaniards still look at us really weirdly! The group is like a huge family already and we get along so well!

In front of Palacio Real!

The Marquette group in Plaza Mayor!

Beautiful buildings!