Bull Fight-warning somewhat graphic content

After we went to Toledo on Sunday Kelli and I decided to go to a bull fight. To be honest I was kinda nervous to go to a bull fight. On one hand I knew that it is a part of the culture and is important and let's be honest, when in the world will I be able to watch a bull fight ever again? On the other hand though, we are talking about a bull fight where the soul goal of the event is to kill the bull. Kinda gruesome if you ask me. So needless to say I was a bit nervous walking into the Plaza de Toros... This is the Plaza de los Toros (Plaza of the Bulls) where the bull fight was held.

Kelli and I inside of the stadium

The ring wasn't as big as I expected and Kelli and I had great seats and even better, the tickets were super cheap. The only downside is that the seats are very steep and somewhat slippery. We saw a vendor take a spill down a few stairs before the bull fight started. It was scary, but he was alright.

When it was time to start the trumpets sounded and the matadors came out. There are two different types of bullfighting and in the kind we watched the matadors are on horseback, but in other bull fights they are on the ground. With this sort of bullfighting, it is all about the skills the matador has with both the lance to attack the bull and with the horse.

These are the banderilleros. They are the guys that flash the red (or in this case pink) cape in front of the bulls. I had always thought they were the matadors that killed the bull, but in this type of bull fight, their job was to distract the bull while the matador on the horse went to the outside of the ring to get another lance.

Here comes the first bull

Then the matador came out and was ready to attack.

Here the banderillero is distracting the bull while the matador gets ready to strike at it one last time. For the last strike, the matador uses a sword and it sometimes is the fatal blow to the bull.

After stabbing the bull with about 10 lances of all different sizes, (and assuming the bull has not yet died) the matador gets off of his horse for the final striking blow. The banderilleros try to confuse and tire out the bull by flashing the cape in front of his face. And yes, this is the part where I closed my eyes and didn't watch everytime. Somehow I just couldn't watch them give the final stab to kill the bull.
Dragging the bull out of the ring so that the next round can start

After that the second matador comes out to strut his stuff. He was by far the best of the three matadors

Our favorite matador taking a victory lap around the ring. Everyone kept throwing him scarves and flowers as he made his way around the ring

As the matador was walking around, everyone was cheering and waving white handkerchiefs in the air. You could tell he was definitly the crowds' favorite.

The third matador. They try to get their horse as close to the bull as possible without getting injured. Bull fighting really is all about the machismo

Each matador gets a chance to kill two bulls so in total there are 6 rounds in the bull fight. It really wasnt that bloody because the lances were never pulled out of the bulls. Bullfighting is a very different sport and although I will probably not go to another bull fight again, I am still glad that I was able to watch at least one when I was in Spain. I am more excited though to see the running of the bulls in Pamplona in July. Ole!