Beachy Goodness

I’m now on another train heading up from Alicante to Valencia. Unfortunately because I'm moving so much I haven't had a chance to upload my photos, but will soon (you'll just have to read in the mean time). I’ve just had the most awesome and chilled out two days which I have sorely needed. As we all know, it’s not until you stop and slow down that you realise that you actually might need some time off.

After finishing work last Thursday and getting the train to Alicante on Friday morning we had time to kill in town while we waiting from the boys working in Barcelona to come down and get us. We spent the time walking around and checking out the marina and beach area. It felt SO good to have my feet in the sand again, and then to have them in the water. The beach was not quit up to Aussie standards, but it wasn’t too bad at all and we would have been happy with just about anything. Unfortunately we’d left all our luggage in a locker at the train station and so couldn’t get changed into bathers for a swim.

After getting lunch we decided not to waste the afternoon and despite being very tired, we headed up to a big fort thing we ad seen from the beach which is on a hill overlooking the city. There was a huge staircase up the side of the hill which I was considering climbing, but we then found out that the stairs have been blocked off and a lift is used to get instead. The lift goes up inside the hill, so there is a long tunnel to walk to get to the lift itself, then a long vertical shaft for it to go up, all cut out of the rock (pretty impressive).

The fort was excellent and offered gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside and the coast. The water looked good from up there! Art had also been placed in some areas of the fort while others had historical information etc. After taking it all in, we headed back to meet the boys coming from Barcelona. We found out that we were still waiting on one more person to arrive and so we jammed all of our luggage into the car and headed for tee beach. The swim was awesome and they had a pontoon out in the deeper water which we swum out to and mucked around on. After collecting Pete’s girlfriend and John’s mate from the Alicante airport, we finally headed off for Torrevieja at about 10pm.

Because there was now 7 of us in total, we had to send a couple of people in a taxi with some of the excess luggage. We should have just followed the taxi! Pete (who’s house we were going to) sort of knew the way but the onramps/offramps for the expressways stuffed us up a little. It took almost 90 minutes to complete what should have been a 30-40 minute journey. Bugger! We were meeting the taxi people at an Irish pub close to the holiday house, so rather than everyone go back onward and drop the luggage off, a few of us just plonked down in the pub and started drinking.

Pubs in Spain are great because they are open late, so we sat around and had quite a few before heading onward to another pub/club type place. From there we drank more (oh yeah, alcohol I cheap in Spain too) until finally we started to walk back home. On the return leg we found a club and just went in the for hell of it. Next thing we know it’s 6am and the sun is coming up. We all headed home and crashed.

So on Saturday we got up a little gingerly, headed to the supermarket to get food and then cooked up some lunch. At the supermarket they had a van outside which has one side that completely opens up. On that side are just racks and racks of chicken rotisseries, with the rear wall being a huge panel of heating elements. The chickens smelt SO good I had to get one. They were lemon and herb but were cooked to perfection and so juicy! They also collected the drippings in trays at the bottom and that liquid gets put into the container when you buy it. Mmmmm.

After lunch, it was time for the beach! Ah yeah, it was awesome. The water is warm, the sun was out, everything was great. We had a great time just getting used to floating in water etc again (it’s quite salty water there so you float well) and having a swim out to a fairly close buoy and back. A brilliant day – we didn’t leave until almost 9pm! Those little bars on the beach are lethal, even after swimming all day you are tempted to just sit around and have a few cold ones or cocktails while watching the sun go down. And, for the guys, yes there are quite a lot of people bathing topless in Spain, the problem is that most of them are English tourists or aged at least 40 and fat! Occasionally there is a young girl of quality but really not that many. It was also funny to see a lot of ‘older’ women walking around topless and we’d try to work out wither they were fake. Some had some shocking boob jobs! One girl we name Madonna because even while lying down, she had really pointed boobs which were standing straight up (like that Madonna bra). It looked horrible!! (which was a shame, because her figure was brilliant and her face pretty).

For dinner we decided to get some more food from the supermarket and have a bbq. It was awesome and we sat up till 5am drinking and having a good time. I was in charge of cooking the meat and it seemed to go well.. *polish knuckles*. The other reason we were celebrating was that Sunday was our workmates birthday, so as midnight kicked over we had a few toasts etc.

So after going to sleep late again, we were up at 10:30am or so for another big breakfast, then straight down to the beach again. We mucked around again for a while in the water with a beach soccer ball that Brendan bought for 10euro (I only hit one person throwing it) and swam out to the buoy and back for a bit of exercise. The previous day we had seen people going out on banana boats and jet skis so we all decided Sunday was the day.

I shared a ski with John because they only had 2, which left Brendan on his own one. At 45 euro for 15 mins, it is expensive, but a LOT of fun! It’s also very hard on your body if you really fang it (as I of course would) and your legs get a real workout if you are bouncing around a lot (which happens when you go fast, which of course I did too J). The skis are massively powerful though, if you really open it up you can barely just hang on, and they do go fast if you can get a good run through a calm patch. After getting the speed up, I started trying to make if spin and flip etc, doing donuts, that kind of thing. John and I both had to hold onto each other really tight just to stay on when we weren’t driving (we’re just friends, honest!). At one point we were approaching a corner really quickly when I launched off a small wave but turned in the air. When we landed the ski dug into the water so we turned hard into the corner and John simply kept going in the original direction we were travelling… He just flew off the thing sideways and smacked into the water.

Later on I was doing fishtails when we bounced off a wave. The ski was basically sideways in mid air and when we hit the water again, both John and I went flying and the ski almost flipped over! It was so awesome!!! We ended up getting about 25 minutes out there on ours, so that was great. Talking to Brendan later he was explaining that he couldn’t make it swing around like we did. The extra weight seems to help in getting the ski to really lean into the corners. But with one person, you can fang it better in a straight line (it seems easier to balance the ski and keep it straight).

We again watched the sun sink over cocktails and cervesa before heading back to the apartment and getting ready to head out. We went back to the pub/club that we hit on Friday night and started drinking slowly. Before long the shots were coming out and we all kicked into gear. Once again we went back to the club from Friday and once again we got home around 7am. I whipped up burgers for everyone and we collapsed in bed.

The coastline that I could see from our beach is really rocky and beautiful in some places. The two previous days I had wanted to get out and take a jog along it to see what it was like further up, but I’d woosed out. So this morning (after 3 hours sleep) I was up and jogging at 10:30am. There was a good breeze so it wasn’t too hot, but within minutes I was sweating like anything. My legs were also ridiculously sore from the jet ski hammering they had taken on Sunday so it was a real effort. But yes, the coastline is beautiful and the run was really nice. The only downside was that I managed to find the local nude beach, and of course it was only populated by geriatrics. Fortunately they were quite far away so I wasn’t too blinded.

I cleaned up for a bit then helped whip up a quick lunch before packing all my stuff up. We chucked it in the car and headed down to the beach again. It was really windy so there was actually waves which could be bodysurfed.. (it felt like home J). After that we headed back to Alicante for me to get the train and made it in 30 mins on the motorway (as opposed to 90 the other night!). So here I am! The guy next to me on the train bloody stinks though, it’s really nasty (and his breath.. uhh.. he yawns and I nearly faint!).

Tomorrow I am working and should be done around 4pm. CK will be in town getting supplies etc so he’s offered to pick me up (they hired a car) and give me a ride to Calpe. That means I will need an early night so that I am ready for ‘La Tomatina’. I’m having trouble finding some budget shoes to wear to this thing as I know that everything will most likely need to get turfed at the end of the day. So hopefully something will come up tomorrow.

After La Tomatina, it’s 2 more days in Calpe on the beach before heading back to London.

Oh yeah, Dockers owned Eagles! Wooooo!!!! F is for Finals!

Anka

Headin for Alicante

Hi everyone. This post is being written (photos to come later) as I’m travelling on a train from Madrid to Alicante which is about a four hour trip. The last couple of days have been pretty awesome with plenty to see and do. Fortunately work has slacked off a little too and so I’ve had a bit more of a chance to get out and see the city. The bad side of it all though is that I was unlucky enough to get a mild case of food poisoning. We think it was because I was lazy and drank some water from the hotel tap rather than bottles (we found out later that some locals drink bottled water in summer as there are water restrictions etc and their water quality drops). Fortunately it only knocked me around for a few hours one night but the annoying side effect was that I was so tired the next day that I had to sleep and missed out an afternoon of potential sight seeing.

The Spanish countryside is actually pretty flat in the centre but more mountainous near the coast and kind of barren (not a lot of trees). It looks very dry (sort of like Australia) but they’ve got lots of Olive groves and other crops near the cities. The plains are ‘golden’ in colour and not green like the UK or even Amsterdam. Every so often there is a small ruined cottage or house near the train lines which probably was once a big family’s establishment. They are also using wind power generators which are good to see – environmentally friendly… It could just be the season or something, but the city of Madrid was quite polluted (air wise) so maybe they are trying to cut down.

Ah yes, but Madrid is a wonderful place. Just like a lot of European cities there are hundreds of things to do and see. The older sections of the city have an absolute maze of little streets with bars and cafes to explore. The old buildings and plaza’s (everyone MUST eat a late dinner at Plaza Mayor) are stunning and well lit up at night to show them off to their full effect. One of the most amazing places aside from the Palacio Real (the Palace) and the Cathedrals is actually the Post Office. Despite the humble implications of the name, the building is gigantic and elaborately decorated. There is a big difference between the more commercial sectors of the city and the old ‘town’ area where the shopping and eating etc is done. There is one huge main street called the Peaso de la Castellana which runs the length of the city and has park areas running alongside it and nice fountains every few hundred meters. It’s a very nice drive and as it’s the main motorway, you get lots of chances to see everything along it (including the Post Office). Oh yeah, and even though there are 4 or 5 lanes on the road, don’t worry, the drivers don’t pay any attention to those).

The other reason Madrid is awesome is because the people do everything late, which is perfect for a night person like me. Work starts around 9am in the summer and finishes at 3pm with lunch running from 2pmish for at least an hour, sometimes two (it’s no coincidence that you return from lunch just in time to go home). We were told however that hardly anyone actually gets to work at 9, it’s usually later and even then there are the obligatory smoking breaks in the morning. Oh yeah, most people smoke in Madrid so it can be tough on your lungs, but the laws are changing. The flip side of the slack working hours in summer is that people work longer in the winter, until 6pm or so, but they still take the long lunches. According to our unofficial tour guide (the tech who spoke English who was accompanying us to our office visits), the siesta is becoming a thing of the past with people just taking a long lunch instead and then heading back to work. He of course was very sad about this trend (but he was a champion, a really cool guy).

So after the bullfight, Monday was a long day where we spent a lot of time chasing up a small issue or two left over from the weekend. We made it out late and managed to head to Plaza Mayor for dinner which was really nice. Because it is a major tourist destination, we had been warned to look after your belongings (pickpockets etc) but it is worth it as fantastic street performers set up all over the place and start cranking stuff out. This dude (below) had a sort of mini piano which he played using small padded sticks by hitting the strings in the appropriate places. He could play all sorts of stuff and it was really awesome to hear.

One Tuesday work was pretty good but reasonably long. It was also a hot day so that night we just relaxed in the hotel pool before heading down the street to a popular local café to eat. I shared basically my whole meal with John (my co-worker) so although I was sick later that night, it couldn’t have been from that meal. By 11am on Wednesday I felt well enough to head into work (my co-worker was covering me by starting at 9) but everyone commented that I looked really white (eek!). That night I though it best to just sleep it off so I actually managed to get a full 8 hours sleep for once on this trip. The bad thing was that my friends went out with the intention of getting dinner at the Real Café (I passed because I wasn’t up to the smell of lots of food) but instead managed to catch a local trophy match with Real Madrid playing! They were going to call but weren’t sure if I was ok (I was fine!, they should have called! Arrrgh!)

Finally Thursday was pretty easy as we only had one site to visit. We were done by 1pm and broke for a final lunch with our ‘local tech guide’. The lunch went for over 2 hours, we ate a stack food! (I was feeling fine again). We tried lobster paella this time and it was fantastic plus another meaty one that they just burnt on the bottom so it was nice and crispy.. mmmm…... After lunch we tried to get a train ticket to Alicante organised and soon learned that in Spain you have to book EARLY if you want to travel on weekends. Our guide had previously explained that most people in Madrid aren’t actually from the main city and that they typically have moved to there for work away from their original towns etc. Therefore, on weekends (kinda like Perth), people all disappear either home or to the coast for a weekend break – especially at the moment because it’s the end of their summer. The only train available today (first or second class) was at 9am, and they run every 2 hours or so. Next time, I’ll sort out tickets earlier because we had planned to visit the Palacio Real Friday morning, but now that wasn’t going to happen. I’ll just have to get back to Madrid some other time. Oh, but the train station was cool in itself as it had a tropic garden right in the middle of it!

After sorting that out we quickly headed to the Museo del Prado as I’d heard it ‘up there’ with all of the others around Europe in terms of the art on display. The big drawcard was also that they had combined with another art gallery to put a combined collection of Picasso on show. The Picasso stuff was really amazing (I’ve never seen so many of his works in one location before) but it was great to also get the audioguide and learn more about the cubist style of art and see his progression from more classical art through to his abstract paintings. We only had a couple of hours to see the museum though so although it was time enough to see Picasso, I had to rush and quickly move through the rest of the museum before getting kicked out. Most of the other styles of art I have seen before and so it was still a brilliant way to spend the time.

After the museum closed we quickly jumped in a cab to head to the theatre for a Flamenco performance called Carmen. The people who had come to the bullfight had organised it all and all we had to do was rock up (which was awesome, we wouldn’t have thought of doing it ourselves). It was really excellent with amazing music (the guitar was awesome), elaborate and bright costumes and a sort of ballet/expressive dancing like feel, but with Flamenco (big shoes on the chicks to pound the floor, castanettes, high pants on the men, everything!). After the performance I had one of the local girls translate the program for me but as it turned out I had actually picked up the story correctly the whole way through (it was very well choreographed). I won’t tell you the specifics of everything just in case you guys want to see it for yourself (maybe when you are in Spain sometime!) but it’s the classic love and betrayal kind of tragedy.

The performance was amazing, but the highlight of the show actually came at the end. The usual clapping and multiple bows started but then seemed to drag on for a looong time. We thought the dancers were milking things a little but then we seemed to pass some ‘secret’ barrier (something like 10 bows) and suddenly they just started clapping and pounding their feet to make musical beats and the principle dancers and some of the other leads just started free-dancing all over the place. Although they’d just given a fantastic performance, this was completely different and they were just up there busting moves out, yelling, cheering and having a great time. It was a whole different energy and they were just enjoying dancing for the sake of it (and to further entertain us). Eventually they finished, did another bow and actually got forced off the stage by the curtain lowering. I tried to take a picture so you guys could see the costumes but it was too far away for a flash so all I got was this blurry thing (my apologies).

After that we headed out for dinner (at the normal time of 10pm) and munched on Tapas while drinking a few beers in an outdoor cafe. Thursday night is a going out night in Madrid, so lots of places were open but even at 1am, most club were empty as it was ‘still early’ for clubbing and lots of people are away for the summer holiday season. We grabbed a few more beers at a bar on a street corner and enjoyed the very warm night and beautiful surrounds (cars, people and buildings) before heading back to the hotel some time after 2am.

After packing etc I got around three hours sleep and managed to grab breakfast before getting on the train. Hopefully I’ll get some sleep this weekend although there are a lot of things already planned. I’ve just found out that one of the girls we are travelling with has her diving certification, so we are hoping to get some diving in this weekend as apparently there are some fantastic spots in the area of Torrevjeca.

I’ll post pics of the beach!

Anka

Madrid

(Warning: This is a long one, so strap yourselves in.)

Hello from Madrid, where it is sunny and warm and SO much nicer that London at the moment. I’ve been working on a rollout here over the weekend and had some mixed fortune. But we’ve managed to duck out a couple of times to do some cool things, so it has been one of the better weekends when compared to the last few. The hotel we’ve been put up in is 5 star and really nice. It’s got a really nice resort type pool (i.e. big with plants around it etc) but unfortunately no gym. The rooms are comfy and quiet too.

When we arrived on Thursday night we didn’t get in until quite late because of the slowness with almost all air traffic at the moment (especially out of Heathrow). Despite the slow trip, I was still on my toes because I immediately detected signs of an intergalactic conspiracy! Madrid has been invaded by aliens!!! (see the picture). Ok, so I'm being stupid, but the light fixtures in the airport are really strange and as the tiled floor reflects them, it looks like alien faces are watching you, it's really cool!

Despite getting in late, we still managed to find a café just around the corner from the hotel which would serve us dinner (we later learnt that people in Spain eat lunch and dinner really late). The meal was nice and simple but had an awesome ‘tomato salad’ which was basically just huge thick slices of tomato, a bit of red onion, lots of olive oil with balsamic vinegar in it, plenty of salt and pepper. Sounds simple, but it’s tasty as! (I think it’s like Italy, they just get kick ass tomatoes around here). I also ate some tapas starters like pickled anchovies and stuff and ½ a roast chicken for the mail meal.

On Friday day/night my co-worker and I really ploughed through the work and got around 90% of it finished. We worked late but things were looking very good and we were hoping to get a bit of time off on Sunday. After a bit of sleep, we were back in the office finishing a few things off on Saturday morning. Of course, problems then cropped up. BlackBerries (those phone type things you get email on) absolutely suck! We spent ages trying to make them work with the new systems and then found out that there were problems with the main servers anyway, so nothing was working. We bailed at 7pm and went back to the hotel. I jumped into the pool for a quick swim and although it’s nice here weather-wise, it was still pretty cold. It didn’t matter though, I enjoyed the chance to get wet (crazy aussies!).

After that we (my workmate and I) went for a walk to see the Real Madrid stadium. It’s quite close to our hotel and very impressive. There’s even a café there where you can eat! So we did! The highlight of the day was the suckling pork that I had… it was awesome. I also tried a simple Gazpacho which was really nice. I tried to covertly take a photo of the grounds while eating, so that (below) is the best I could do without looking like a complete idiot. The glass is also really thick so it destroys the camera focusing (need a manual SLR!)

Sunday we got to work and tried to clean up the last of the issues with the Blackberries. By 3pm we thought we had everything licked, so we disappeared. In the previous couple of days we’d been speaking to people in the office (the Spanish are really nice) and they’d been telling us where to go and what to see. My co-worker had friends who happened to be in Madrid on holiday so we headed over to a region called ‘La Latina’ which has open markets etc and (reportedly) the best tapas in Madrid. Although we got there too late to see the market, we got to walk around the older sections of the city and check things out. It is VERY pretty with narrow streets, old houses and some nice park type areas – particularly near the Royal Palace.

By luck we walked past just as a service in the Basilica next to the Palace finished, so we got a look inside. It had some very impressive sculptures and one massive golden ‘wall display’ containing old paintings (see the photo, it’s hard to explain how big it is).

Through the locals we had also found out that at Las Ventas there would be bull fights on, so we all arrange to go and see them! I was really excited and that is something totally different which I’ll never see anywhere else. It’s not too expensive to get in, about 22 euros and it is very popular with loads of tourists packing in as well as many locals. The locals are quite vocal too during the fights and heckle the Toreadors and their helpers etc when they stuff up or run away. Apparently we were quite lucky because during August many people are on vacation and the so the bulls fights are easy to get in to whereas during peak season, the stadium packs out. They also only do the fights once or twice a month, so being able to see it was extra special. (My apologies because some of the photos are quite grainy but they will have to do).

So now that I can say I’ve actually seen a full on bull fight, I don’t know if I’d ever go again. At the end of the fight, almost every bull is killed. Apparently if the bull is particularly brave or fierce and fights well (which I think basically means they kill the Toreador), very occasionally they are allowed to live. The first one is very hard to watch as it is very brutal with a lot of blood, a lot of injuries are inflicted on the bull over the course of fight, and even then at the end the killing strike is quite difficult to do, so they sometimes miss (I’ll go into that later).

The idea of sitting and watching something being killed for ‘our’ pleasure was also really unsettling for me, particularly as I didn’t realise that they actually kill ALL the bulls that night. For those of you who don’t want the particulars, you’d probably want to stop reading now (and there’s photo’s below too). Another thing which makes it difficult is that the bulls also make groaning sounds and puff and pant (because they’re in pain!) during the fight which echo very eerily around the stadium and make you feel even worse. My workmates friends had brought a local with them, so she was really good at explaining everything that was going on, but even she doesn’t really approve of them (not many people do according to her). She tried to explain that even though the bulls are killed, they are treated like veritable bull-kings up until that point in their lives and the Toreadors actually love them and don’t see it as killing for the sake of killing, i.e. that there’s much more to it. For all of us however it was very difficult to see how there was ‘much more’ to it than a living creature get repeatedly injured and run ragged (until it can barely stand) before being killed, and for some reason spectators enjoy seeing this happen.

So at the start of the fight, the bull comes charging out. There are usually about 6 or 8 'something'-adors which are like apprentice Toreadors (we’ll call them mini-toreadors) who just make the bull charge around a bit and get a little tired. They also have the advantage of only having red on one side of their cape so they can run away and show the yellow side (bulls don’t see yellow apparently) if they get in trouble. They also have the advantage of being able to duck behind shields built into the side of the ring. They basically work the bull up until it starts to get tired and panting. The bulls weight over 500 kilos, so at the start they ram the barricades and charge around, and look really really scary (I would not get in that ring).

After the bull tires a little, trumpets sound and two heavily padded horses with their eyes covered come into the ring. The riders hold long spears and have protection on their lower legs and stirrups. The mini-toreadors then drive the bull towards one of the horses and the rider will get its attention by pointing the spear at the bull. I was told the bulls know that is a threat, so they always choose to charge the horse over the mini-toreadors. The rider turns the horse side on so the padded side faces the bull and waits. As the bull charges, the rider spears it in the back just above the front legs while the bull rams and tries to gouge the crap out of the horse!!! We were all stunned the first time… we were there for bull fights, not horse-bashing! The horses seem to be able to withstand it though and the rider keeps jabbing the spear deeper into the same spot in the bull (which will often keep bashing into the horse) until the mini-toreadors can distract it away. The bull will then once again be driven towards a rider so it can be stabbed a second time before the horses then retreat. Somehow the entry and exit of the horses is controlled by officials in the stands with a white towel/flag thing, but I dunno exactly how. Usually after the stabs from the horses, blood will be streaming down the side of the bull from the wounds and occasionally they cut really deep and you can see blood ‘squirt’ out each time it charges or runs. It’s really gruesome.

While the mini-toreadors keep the bull moving and distracted (and blood keeps coming out) two normal Toreadors enter the ring with short (about 30cm) ‘sticks’ covered in colourful paper with spikes on the end. They get the bulls attention by holding them high and pointing them at it, then run sideways is it charges. The bulls can’t turn fast enough so the aim of these guys is to let if get close, run to the side and stab the sticks into the bull as it tries to get them. Once in, the sticks remain attached to the spikes (stuck in the bull) but they kind of ‘bend’ and hang down the sides of the bull (see the photo). They will try this three times so that up to 6 ‘sticks’ are stuck into the bull. So there’s more pain for the animal, even though the ‘sticks’ don’t seem to actually do much damage.

After all that, the Toreador comes out to ‘fight’ the bull, and he has a red cape (red on both sides) so there is no running away. In a couple of fights, by the time the bull got to this stage it was bleeding so much and was so tired that it could barely move. This made the crowd really angry and they abused the horsemen and stuff for stabbing the bull too much at the start. If you ask me, send the Toreador in first! Let’s see how it does then!!! .

So now comes the bit we all know. The Toreador using the red cape to move the bull around the arena, dodging the charges etc and trying tricky stuff (like one guy was on his knees doing it for a bit) to make the bull chase the cape. One Toreador got a little complacent and got smashed by a charge, but he wasn’t really hurt and got up again to continue. One thing that was impressive was that they know what they are doing so much that they can make the bull run around etc, they turn their back on it to walk away. They know when it charges and when it won’t. The Toreador literally tires the bull to the point when it can barely stand, one of them even had the bull so stuffed that he was putting his hand on the horns and head to ‘hold’ it at bay. Once the bull is totally ready, the Toreador walks to the side of the arena and get’s the ‘killing sword’. It’s about as long as the guys arm and quite thin.

* This is a final warning for those with weak stomachs! *
The Toreador then runs the bull around a few more times before finally standing directly in front and lining up the killing stroke. They put the cape low to the ground to make the bull look down at it and expose its spine. Then they pull the cape towards them, the bull charges forward and they stab straight in (deep). As I said earlier, the first guy got it straight in, one split second and you miss it! The bull then keeps going though, it will run and try to charge before (as if it doesn’t know it is dead yet) its legs give out and it drops. Suddenly, it’s down on the ground, and the assistant Toreadors come in and one stabs it with a small knife cleanly in the back of the head to cut the spine. When it is definitely dead, a team of horses are brought in to pull the carcass away.

After that first one we were all shocked into silence, and the girls were practically bawling. It was really hard to watch.

By the time the shock wore off, the next fight was starting. This one was more or less the same, but when the Toreador was trying to kill the bull at the end, he missed twice! The sword came out the first time, and the second went half way in and stuck. Then the mini-Toreadors had to distract it while the main one got a special tool which looks like a sword with a hook on it that he used to hook his sword and pull it out again. Each time they stab and miss, blood just pours out and even bits of flesh fly off and come out etc. Finally on the third try, his strike was true.

The next three fights just got worse (apparently our local guide said the Toreadors were crap and should have done a lot better). One guy took 5 tries to kill the bull and had to pull his sword twice. Another bull was really fierce at the start and charged the horse so repeatedly that the rider with the spear stabbed it over and over in the back in the same spot. By the time it broke away, blood was literally pouring down its legs and chest and colouring the sand underneath it. It lost so much blood it could barely stand, but still the Toreador took 4 strikes to kill it. We felt so bad for that one in particular because even once it went down after the final strike, it still tried to fight on as obviously even that strike hadn’t cleanly cut the spine. The assistants had to come in and use the short knife a couple of times to finish it properly. The final fight was good though, with the guy moving the bull well, even putting his hand on it’s head etc, before cleanly killing it with 2 strikes (the first wasn’t big though, he pulled out of it and only just touched the bull).
* End of gross stuff *

So after that, what else to you do but eat?! (I wasn’t really up for it straight after, we hung around for a bit). Our local friend took us to a kick ass little restaurant with an absolutely beautiful terrace out the back. (see the picture)

Here we had ‘proper’ Paella which was absolutely awesome! The big dish in the middle of the picture below was just a mixed paella (seafood and meat) and the black dish was black paella (squid ink) with seafood. Both were really nice and the black paella (although looking really odd) has a nice flavour, plus it makes your lips and tongue black so it’s cool! It was very cheap too, real nice. Over dinner we drank Sangria (really good Spanish chick drink of wine, spirits, fresh fruit and lemonade/gassed water) which everyone should try if they come to Spain. After dinner we headed out for drinks at a bar just near it where we talked for ages and sipped on Mojitos and some other Spanish cocktail which I can’t pronounce. It was a good night.

Today we came into work (a little tired) and checked that everything was working. We had one issue with Blackberries yesterday but thought it would be sorted overnight. We’ve just wasted 5 hours troubleshooting things from our end until we reached the conclusion that it had to be a problem on the central servers. And what do you know, it was! What a waste of a beautiful day in a foreign city. My workmate and I are absolutely livid! Still, it hasn’t been all bad as I got to write to all of you while we were waiting for stuff to download etc. Now we plan to go back to the hotel and rock up massive bill on the company, both of us need massages! (ok, maybe not, but they are gonna pay for a nice dinner for us!)

On Saturday I was lucky enough to listen to the whole of the Dockers game via webcast while working, and that was awesome!! I can’t believe that they are doing so well and I’m not there to see it. But it did make me just remember one of the weirdest things that had happened here in Spain. On Saturday night before we went out my workmate was flicking the tv channels in his room and he started yelling at me (our rooms are adjoining). I went into his room and there was AFL on tv! With Spanish commentators!!! It was hilarious.

So go the Dockers! We all know they are going to belt the heck out of the Eagles next week. I hope you all are having a Derby party of some kind and that you have a drink for me. I’m going to really miss that one. Still, at least for the next week, I can do the ‘Dockers are in 4^th place dance’ to the other Aussies in the office. On Sunday I’ll be lying on a beach somewhere near Torravieja (southeast Spain I think) but I’ll definitely try to catch the derby webcast.

Bye

Anka