This past week was packed with amazing things!! On Wednesday (3/16) we went to a Real Madrid game against Lyon. It was a champions league game because Lyon is a club team from France. I was so thrilled to finally get to see the stadium. When we walked up from the metro there were tons of people hanging around the outside of the stadium. They “botellon” everywhere here in Spain – one of their habits they are well known for. Botellon is the equivalent to pregame. They literally hang in the streets and parks and drink together. We, as a group of girls, were incredibly outnumbered. I would say out of the whole audience for the game, there was one female for every 200 hundred males. Jenny, Lexi and I bought our tickets in a different section so we went and walked around on our own for a bit before the game. There were tons of vendors selling scarves and jerseys in front of the entrances. We headed over to TGIF (yes, we might be giving into having American food while in Spain because we miss it a ton!). There was this massive crowd hanging around this one traffic light that we could see out of the windows of the restaurant. We didn’t understand what they were doing until someone told us that they were all waiting for the bus of players to arrive and drive into the stadium. It is so funny to me how obsessive the Spaniards are over their soccer! Antonio will sit in front of the television all day watching his soccer channel that will literally stalk the team. They would film pieces of their practices, interviews with coaches, everyone’s opinions from people off the streets. We walked into the stadium a bit early but we were able to see it without very many people being in their seats. The stadium was massive. Our seats were up pretty high but it was incredible - any former soccer player’s dream. As more people filed in, the stadium became completely full. And it sounded it too! As the game got started, everyone sang the songs in unison and it roared throughout the stadium. It was the most unified body I have ever been in because everyone was avidly watching the game. The group of men in front of us were particularly rowdy and would shout on top of their lungs at calls the refs made as if they could hear from on the field. Real ended up winning 3-0. The subbed Ronaldo out 15 minutes or so before the game ended which was a bit sad, but I dealt with it.
On Friday (3/18), we had the entire day to ourselves a group of us decided to go into Madrid to get several assignments done as well as go in to see the show Los Miserables. We went and tried to see the Nun Monastery but it was closed – somewhere that had been attempted to be seen numerous times and every time it had been closed for random reasons or because of its weird hours. So we decided to head to the Bull Fighting museum. We went to the Plaza de Torros which had the stadium to discover that the museum would be closed for another month or so until the season actually began. We walked around the plaza itself for a bit because the outside of the stadium was really pretty. It got me really excited for the bullfight I would be going to the following weekend. We hopped onto the metro to the Plaza de Espana to go see the Egyptians ruins. It was a beautiful day so we were all fine with wandering and walking around. The Plaza de Espana was beautiful with a fountain in the center. There was also a small market going on where I finally bought my leather backpack! At the Egyptian ruins, we looked around and got a fabulous view of the city. Of course we sat by the fountains and began “tomaring el sol.” We walked to the San Miguel Mercado for some frozen yogurt (so Spanish of us) – our favorite place to go for food in Madrid. Our final destination was Los Miserables on Gran Via. I have never seen or read the play before so I was at a bit of a disadvantage. We all bought the least expensive tickets and were in the very last row (while Lexi and Jenny sat in the front row). It was awesome to watch a play in Spanish and watching the actors trying to comprehend the plot of the play. It was really well done and the music was great – definitely a play I would like to see in English too!
Saturday was one of my most favorite days we have had. The group met early to head to Valencia for Las Fallas. I think we all underestimated how intense this day was going to be. First of all, at one of our pit stops there were several other buses filled with people all going to Valencia. When we arrived we walked into the heart of the city and struggled, really struggled, to stay together as a group. There were so many people – the most amount of people I have ever been around. I would say the equivalent to NYC New Year’s Eve. On the Saturday of Las Fallas, the city has several monuments /floats that were made specifically to be displayed and voted on that day. People go around looking at the various displays throughout the streets of the city. The main square had the biggest display and was where most everyone congregated for the first part of the day where they had their initial setting off of fireworks. A group of us crammed our way somewhat to the front and sat down on the street while we waited for it to begin. It turned out to be a really nice, but hot day. We sat and ate our lunches and shed our clothes down to tank tops because we were all sweating so much. When the fireworks went off, I finally understood the weather forecast I had viewed that had confused me – foggy. Obviously, you can’t really see fireworks during the day but there were tons; loud ones too. It went on for quite some time and our visibility kept decreasing. We were all in shock with how loud and powerful the fireworks were. The sound would almost go through your body and the video my camera took was shaky simply because of the noise! After the first event we all kept ourselves occupied until we were to meet with the group at the declared meeting spot to walk over to the parade together. We walked throughout the streets trying to maneuver our way through people. We headed to the markets where we found some super cheap souvenirs. We went to see some of the other floats and then sat in the streets with all the other Spaniards and their botellon. We were somehow able to persuade our way into front row seats for the parade. There were ladies dressed in beautiful, historical-type outfits and then there were people in horse and turtle costumes spitting out sparklers. It made for some pretty cool pictures. After the parade we walked around and found churros. We got in prime spots for the next show – lighting the big float on fire. We sat and kept ourselves occupied for a couple of hours playing games like Crocodilly Oh My (which I was the only one who knew that version… being from the east coast makes you a minority at BYU). The wait was dreadful at the time, but totally and completely worth it in the end. There are no words to describe how incredible the monument being set on fire was. First of all, I couldn’t believe it was legal and secondly I am seriously surprised we don’t hear of deaths or injuries. This thing is literally ablaze among thousands of people surrounded by buildings that are fairly close. The fireworks that preceded the lighting of the monument was nothing like I have ever seen before. Overall, insane experience. Spain does not hold back for Las Fallas.
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