Seville, Spain - Bullfight September 27

September 27, 2015

On 27SEPT15 I returned to Sevilla’s Real Maestranza to see six Alcurrecen bulls against three young Sevillianos.   Esau Fernandez born in 1990, Borja Jimenez born in 1992 and Lama de Gongora born in 1992.  The bulls were impressive.  They weighted an average of 539 kg/1190 lbs.  No bull got a green flag after act one, so they all ended up dying in the arena.  That said, the bulls won.  Each of the above named has not fought in Madrid so is not a “Matador” yet.   No ears were awarded.  Two ovations were given and these were given to Esau Fernandez because of his bravery/valor.  None of the fighters could kill well.  Each took at least 4-5 attempts at the sword.  I have a picture of Esau Fernandez with a bloody escarpa going to attempt his 4th try.  Esau Fernandez could not kill well, but he was definitely a brave guy.  He got two coronadas.  His first bull hit him in the ribs.  He was down for a while but fought through to the end of his bull.  He was the only toreo to receive his bull on his knees at the beginning.  It did not turn out well with his second bull as the bull focused on him and not on the veronica cape about 10 feet from him.  The bull stopped and had a 10 foot charge and plowed the guy on his knees.  He appeared less injured that his first horn to the ribs.  Looking at the picture I think the bull jumped over him.  I have a picture of the bull in front of him not looking at the veronica, “The oh shit moment” and a picture of bull pummeling Mr. Fernandez.  He was on his back versus a 1000 lb bull for at least a minute while his caudilla ran from the barreras to the middle of the plaza.  The main guys were not the only ones struggling.  I got a picture of on the banderillos on the ground by the barrera.  He missed his mark and got hit by the bull.  I got a picture of the picador missing the bull entirely with his vara.  I think twice the bulls got the horses on the ground.  It was a great night in Sevilla.  I hope to return in Spain in a few years and see Esau Fernandez as his career develops.  With his bravery maybe he will become one of the greats if his bravery doesn’t kill him first.

Seville, Spain - Bullfight September 26

September 26, 2015

On 26SEPT15 I went to the Real Maestranza in Seville to see Manuel Escribano, and Lopez Simon take on seven bulls from “El Pilar” and “Moises Fraile.”  An interesting moment was when the first bull was either cojo/lame or injured himself on the first pass of the veronica.  Both way he was falling down and limping.  The judges gave him a red flag and he was ushered out to die in disgrace.  He was ushered out by bringing in a herd of cows with cowbells.  The cows settled the bull down and and the Granjero herded him and the other cows out without any tools.  I have two photos of this process.  I have one photo of Lopez Simon and his cuadrilla making his rounds after earning the only oveja of the night.  I also have a photo of Manuel Escribano taking his first bull on his knees.  The fight started at 1800 and I had sol seats on fila 1.  Since I got sun seats my tickets were only 38 euro.  By the fourth bull I was in shade.  It was a hot first hour; however.  I have a photo of a picador getting knocked off his horse.  The horse also went feet up but walked out okay.

Cadiz, Spain - Cathedral

September 26, 2015

While on the ferry going over to Cadiz we saw dolphins playing in the wake.  There were also several pirate ship looking ships close to the harbor that were very beautiful.  There was just one cruise ship in port so the crowds weren’t too horrible.  The first time we visited Cadiz, there were three massive ships.  Our main destination was the Cathedral in the center of the city.  The cathedral took 116 years to complete so it is no surprise that there were many architects with varying architectural styles in the cathedral.  It was began with the Baroque style and then completed in the neoclassical style.  The last elements built were the towers and the sacristy in the 19th century.  This also included the choir stalls that have beautiful wooden carvings in each of the seats.  The crypt is pretty cool too as it is below sea level.  The crypt has the composer Manuel de Falla and the poet and playwright José María Pemán, both born in Cádiz. A connection with the Americas is that it was built with money from the trade between Spain and America and as such was known as "The Cathedral of The Americas". Owen’s favorite part of our visit was playing with Damon’s coke bottle out in the main plaza.

MSC Orchestra

September 5-12, 2015

The Northern Capitals cruise was operated by MSC. Our ship was the MSC Orchestra which was built in 2007. The ship has 1,275 cabins with beds possible to accommodate 3,200 passengers.  The crew compliment is around 990. I saw one guy who was only in charge of polishing all the brass handles and bars.  At dinner we had us and just a couple other tables with the same two waiters.  A fascinating part about the cruise was the vast number of languages that were spoken.  English was the first language listed, thank goodness.  Each day we got a daily program that had the day’s schedule including the recommended attire for dinner.  ‘Gala’ night was a very big deal that people would totally get decked out in semi-formal attire.  Damon and I were definitely under dressed. On our sea days there was a daily set of events including various dance classes and the scheduled times for meals.  It felt like geriatric summer camp since the demographic of the ships guests seemed to be 50+ years old.  Unfortunately all three of us got sick at some point of the trip, but at least it was short-lived.  It was a great trip and we got to see really amazing cities we otherwise have not seen. Our first day we did a ship-wide safety drill and Owen was so cozy in his life jacket that he fell asleep. His other favorite activities were climbing on the stairs and hitting the mini bar in our room.

Hamburg, Germany

September 12, 2015

Hamburg is Germany's second largest metropolis with a population of 1.7 million people.  It has history including being a member of the Hanseatic League of the Holy Roman Empire.  Hamburg is on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula with the River Elbe separating Scandinavia and Continental Europe.  The city is covered with streams, rivers and canals.  With around 2,500 bridges, it has more than London, Amsterdam and Venice combined. Hamburg has had a rough go throughout history.  It has been completely destroyed several times beginning with the Vikings and the most recent being WWII. The Black Death killed 60% of its population and twice the city has experienced fires that toasted the entire city. The fire in 1842 took 40 years to complete reconstruction.  In 2009, 30% of the population belonged to the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The next largest population is Roman Catholic. Hamburg has five main Lutheran churches. The first church we visited was St. Peter's Church with a Gothic style building.  It was built first in 1195. We were able also to visit St. Michael's with beautiful baroque architecture including a 132 meter high spire covered with copper. We were in this spire at noon and were able to hear all the churches throughout the city ringing their bells.  The last church we visited was the St. Nicholas' Church which is in ruins.  The church spire was the highest standing structure after the WWII bombings.  It was left in a ruin state as a memorial to the people who died as a result of the bombings. I enjoyed seeing the Speicherstadt old warehouse district. It is the largest warehouse district in the world with the buildings being on timber-pile foundations. The Speicherstadt was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO on 5 July 2015 - Owen's first birthday! At the St. Pauli Piers, the 1,300 foot long Old Elbe Tunnel was built in 1911 under the river so that the workers could get to the other side without needing constant ferries to cross the water.  The tunnel is still in regular use for pedestrians and bicycles and for motorized vehicles at specific times of the day.