Same plaza, 15 years later

On Monday morning, we were fully expecting the crowds to die down from the weekend, but they really didn’t! Seems like as the city prepares for Semana Santa, it gets busier and busier leading up to this Saturday at midnight when the festivities start (basically Palm Sunday at midnight).

We had booked a guided tour to the Maestranza Bullfighting Ring that morning at 10, which gave us enough time to have a slow morning. Silas is getting really good at entertaining his sister while we prepare breakfast and get ready for the day. One day back in France, we heard Silas go up to Clementine and say “hi!” repeatedly to her in a really cute voice. We realized WE always say “hi” to her in a silly voice to get her to smile and he picked up on it. It’s no surprise he makes her smile more than anyone when he does that.

As we set off for the bullfighting ring, we pass an old ship in the river. We walk up to it and read that it was an exact replica of the Nao Victoria 500 - the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the globe as part of the Magellan-Elcano expedition. The original ship actually left Sevilla in 1519, and arrived back in Sevilla 3 years later. Magellan famously died on this journey, but Juan Sebastian Elcano survived the trip and brought the battered Victoria home. How cool is it to just casually walk up to something this historically significant?!

It really gets me thinking…does your average Spaniard know the impact that their country has had on literally the history of the world? And does your average American even understand the impact Spain has had on our daily lives? We understand the impact Britain had on America - the English language, administration, infrastructure. Spain exported language, religion, and an entire way of organizing civic life that took root and grew into something new in every place it landed. The Spanish language is actually the majority spoken native language in the entire Western hemisphere, not English. But it’s not just language, it’s the fact that we’ve adopted so much of the Spanish language as our own English words (rodeo, chocolate, tortilla, cafeteria, patio, mosquito). It’s the Spanish architecture that exists all over the US but really prominently throughout Florida and the southwest (courtyards, clay tile roofs, thick whitewashed stucco walls to reflect heat). It’s the city plazas or “squares” surrounded by restaurants and shops, “tapas-style” small plates at restaurants…or even the less obvious cultural influences, like lingering at a restaurant a little longer while socializing with your friends. Spain taught the world how to do that, most of us just never think to ask where we learned it.

Another maybe not-so-obvious influence from Spain is the bullfighting and how it, along with Mexico, influenced the American rodeo as we know it today. Now let me caveat that I do not support bullfighting but I was interested to learn more about it, given its significance to Spanish history and current culture. We arrived at the ring and our guide met us outside. She showed us a few statues of famous bullfighters and mentioned they are usually vandalized with red paint that says “asesino” (assasin) but they must have repainted them recently.

She explains that killing bulls dates back to the Bronze Age when men had to kill a bull in a ritual to prove their manhood, long before Spain was ever a country. History also tells us that the Romans would have men fighting animals, animals fighting animals and even men fighting men, all portrayed as a show in front of a crowd. The bull has remained a symbol of strength and fertility for millennia, but modern bullfighting can only be dated back to the 1700s, when the cape and sword were introduced. She told us about the famous bulls from Muira that have taken more human lives than any other breeding farm.

Muira bull

We learned about their costumes, how they use horses, that each bullfighter kills two bulls in a show, average pay for a show (~€18k to risk your life), and the different levels of bullfighting achievement (A, B and C). The costumes are pretty fascinating, but you have to remember - it is a show at the end of the day! The shoes are even kind of cute - they seem totally impractical though!

I’ll spare you the details on the actual bullfighting - there are plenty of videos you can watch to learn what happens. It’s certainly not the most humane way of killing an animal, but at least they don’t let the meat go to waste - it is packaged and sold or sometimes donated to the poor. I’m glad Silas didn’t entirely understand what the guide was saying, and there was plenty in the museum to entertain him.

After the tour, we walked back to the Cathedral area since it was still technically too early for lunch. We sat down at a restaurant and they were still serving breakfast…at 11:45! Clementine feasted on Deedee’s scrambled eggs at the restaurant and the chives on top didn’t seem to bother her! And Silas definitely didn’t mind when his chocolate muffin came out.

I forgot to mention that we ran out of our good diapers about a week ago. We bought Pampers in France, which are almost as good, but we ran out of them a couple days into our Spain trip and I could not find Pampers anywhere in Spain! My mom finally looked it up and Pampers are rebranded here as Dodots. On Sunday, we looked at multiple farmacias and grocery stores but could not find Dodots in a size 3, so I bought store brand diapers. Clementine might as well have been wearing regular underwear because she leaked through her entire outfit with one wet diaper! I had brought one change of clothes with us and used them at the bullfighting ring; however, she then decided to have a dirty diaper at the restaurant and then I really needed another set of clothes! I had to put her wet pants back on to get us through lunch. When Brennan finished eating, he left the restaurant to find the actual Dodots in her size because we don’t have enough clothes to be changing her at every diaper change!

Everyone takes a nap when we get back to the apartment, then we decide to go explore Plaza de España. It’s a short walk from our apartment and the sun is HOT! It’s only 70°, but we are all sweating as we start walking around the plaza. It was built 100 years ago for an Iberian-American exposition, celebrating Spain’s ties with Latin America. The architecture is beautiful, there are 4 bridges going across a canal full of rowboats, and there are little hand-painted tile alcoves for each of Spain’s 48 provinces (at the time of construction).

My main mission here, aside from enjoying the beauty of the plaza with my family, was to recreate a photo I had taken 15 years ago on this very plaza.

The version of me in the top photo was fearless, yet also a tad bit insecure. She drew energy from being outside of her comfort zone, and had no idea that feeling would continue to electrify her throughout her life.

Traveling back to this same city as an older, definitely more secure and a little wiser version of myself really got me thinking…comfort isn’t the enemy of joy, but it can rob us of awe and wonder if we let it. And that’s why it was so important to me to bring my family back to this place that made such an imprint on my soul.

We let Silas play on the playground nearby at the Parque Maria Luisa before finding a dinner spot. Awe and wonder can find you in places you least expect it, especially when you’re with children.

We stopped at a restaurant really close to our apartment for dinner and Brennan and I decided to just get tapas so we could go out to a proper dinner later that evening while my parents watched the kids. The restaurant wasn’t fancy, but the service was incredible and the servers were so kind. After the server poured wine for the adults to taste, he brought a bottle of water to the table, poured Silas a glass and asked him to smell and taste it, to make sure it met expectations (just like the adults did with the wine). Silas was thrilled to play the part and even said “gracias” as the waiter left. We’ve been trying to get him to say thank you at restaurants this whole month and with only a few days left, I think he’s finally conquered his fear!

Brennan and I took Clementine back for bedtime and Silas got to get ice cream with his Deedee and Pappy.

He was making a mess all over the apartment when they returned with ice cream cones. He dropped some on the floor and enthusiastically yelled to his Deedee in the kitchen that he needed a paper towel to clean it up, “it’s drippin’!” he yelled 🤣

Once he was settled down on the couch with my parents watching Cars, Brennan and I walked to our dinner. Thankfully, we made a reservation otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten into this tapas place…on a Monday night! The food was incredible…probably my favorite thing was the truffle tortilla de patata 🤤

On our walk back to the apartment, we grabbed some gelato as well as some pastries for breakfast the next day. As we were walking, I thought about the girl in that fifteen-year-old photo and smiled. She had no idea how good it was going to get.