touro touro!

well, now that i have found a slightly permanent internet situation (stealing from some poor, oblivious neighbor!) (let's hope it stays that way) i have decided i will try my best to keep anyone who is even interested, updated on my travels and whereabouts and doings in portugal!

i am here until september so there should be lots to post. but that also depends on how willing i am to do so when i am in such a beautiful country. but, i wanted to make this a habit (the blog) so maybe i will anyways!
anyways lets get down to the point of this posting. last week i visited my first, REAL bullfight. my family casually visited one in some little rinkydink town somewhere years ago, i can't really recall much except for that the matadors etc. were in training and were using a large bull calf instead of a bull!
this bullfight, which happens every thursday night at campo pequeno, just happened to be one of the larger bullfights that happen there with extremely well known riders: luis rouxinol, vitor ribeiro and salgueiro da costa.

before you gasp in horror and wonder why i might go see a bullfight, well it comes down to two things:

one. the portuguese play much nicer than the spanish. they do not kill the bull at the end of its run. infact, it gets ushered out with some beautiful female cows decorated in sashes and bells.

two. although bandarilheiros (like spanish matadors minus the sward) on foot play a huge part, it's all about the lusitano horses and the cavaleiros (riders). and for a damn well good reason! these horses (and their beautifully dressed riders) are absolutely insane. sideways, frontways, backwards, fancy prances, hops off all fours, all the while dizzying the bull (who is mere inches away) with its spectacular training.

i can't leave these guys out either. but there are these crazy fellows who wear funny green hats called forcados, one man has to taunt the bull and jump on the horns when it charges. the other seven men follow and try to stop the bull in its tracks. now, these guys are either extremely brave, or extremely stupid. you decide. anyways, there are usually only two endings: they either get the bull with apparent ease or the man gets flung around like a rag doll and trampled. .. i suppose both make for exciting endings though.

anyways, i am much too lazy to caption all of these and i used my 200 which is horrible for indoors (we were the furthest seats away you could possibly have, no exageration!) but enjoy.