A rainy day in Madrid

Oct 12

The 12th of October is a public holiday in Spain. In fact, it's Spain's 'national day' - but no one seems to do much to celebrate. So what to do with a day off work and school? Initially we made plans to go hiking, but the weather forecast quickly diminished all hope of an outdoor activity. Instead, we opted for museums in Madrid.

The first museum we visited was the Plaza de Toros de las Ventas: Spain's biggest bull fighting ring. I find the idea of bullfighting simply horrible...and so I wanted to learn more about it, see if I could understand why it's so popular in this part of the world.

The museum was full of paintings and sculptures of famous toreros (bull fighters) with the stories of their victories and sometimes failures - often resulting in lifelong injury or death. There were also capes and tools used for fighting. A video loop showed the tactics used to bull fighters to attack the bulls.

However the museum didn't really offer information; just a montage to bull fighters of the past. I came away feeling even more negative about the "sport." It just seems cruel to me.

Given that it was pouring with rain, we had a picnic lunch in the car!

The next museum was much more cheery. Estadio Santiago Bernabeu: Real Madrid's home football stadium! We got various views of the pitch; first from way up on the top floor of the stadium and then up close, in the dugout (the bench!)

We also went into the team dressing rooms and the press room.

The museum itself was fantastic! Modern, interactive and full of interesting football-related artefacts. 

We saw many trophies some for the team and some for individual players. This included the European Cup trophies. Real Madrid is the reigning champion - so we even managed to get a photo with the 2016 cup! 

They also had a 'football over time' style exhibit, where you could learn not only about the history and success of Real Madrid, but also see how the balls, boots and guernseys have changed over time.

Before leaving Madrid we popped into the Atocha train station. We were there to pick up another workaway chica, but I quickly discovered it's a really cool building. There's a huge garden right in the middle! 

And in the garden...there are TURTLES. My favourite ❤️❤️❤️