Day 5: Palacio De Real, Plaza de Toros, Plaza Mayor

A change in our travel plans had us staying in Madrid for a few extra days. Ok with me as our place in Madrid is essentially free. One thing I realized after exchanging my money is that I'm probably gonna need more. Luckily, I have a paycheck coming through. For around $800, I got about 560 Euros, and a free travel wallet for exchanging more than 500 Euros. YAY! We set out and took pictures of the Palacio de Real on the way to the Plaza de Toros.






We stopped at the Plaza Mayor as well, which is essentially a giant square surrounded by buildings. Historically, the plaza was used for a multitude of events including: markets, bullfights, soccer games, public executions, and, during the Spanish Inquisition, "autos de fe" against supposed heretics and the executions of those condemned to death. There were no hangings the day we were there, but there was some nice art for sale...







We trucked on to the Plaza de Toros, the Legendary Bullfighting ring. Disappointingly, there was a circus set up in front, so I couldn't get a good picture. Currently, there are no bull fights going on as it's winter. Culturally, bullfighting is very important to the Spanish, I'm not sure how I feel about the killing of a bull however...




We headed home, got some thai food. Tim wasn't feeling well, so he stayed in as me and Rafael went out to check out the Saturday night festivities. We tried to hit up some dance clubs we found in the paper, but most were closed or we couldn't find them. Walking around and people watching was enough for us...