Saying Goodbye To Books

Today, I am editing my book collection (though perhaps "collection of books" would be more appropriate).

Why? I'm not quite sure.

There could be a variety of factors:

1. My psychology about my upcoming birthday; I seem to want to shed more material goods as I age.
2. All the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantras being chanted in cyberspace, albeit by 20- and 30-somethings that have no real understanding of the difficulties involved in limiting your belongings to an arbitrary number (usually 100; go figure). Well, that's another post right there.
3. It's my way of reassessing what's important in my life at this time. (The Tequila Cookbook stays, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective people goes; Ernesto Cardenal stays, Elmore Leonard goes; books about landscaping go, books about flower stay; etc.)

I have been a notorious keeper of books. However, when I moved from NYC 12 years ago, I was forced to let go of a good deal of books that I'd kept from my undergrad college years. There are fewer books that I needed for my grad education, and they are not textbooks, but when was the last time I had a need to consult one of them? History of Education books are off to the library, as are my travel guide books for Mexico and Spain. 

Also, I think I'm going to cut up all those silly Real Simple magazines and use them in collages or something.

So I'm sitting down with all the books, wiping them down with a damp cloth, doing a quick reread of all the ones to which I'll be saying goodbye, and then putting them in bag to take to the library on Tuesday afternoon. 

Madrid's Clouds...

...found summer vacationing in Detroit.

Bullfighting in Madrid; Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas

This past Friday, I finally made it to Las Ventas -- Madrid's famed bullring -- for a tour, which lasted a half-hour. I've uploaded the photos to Flickr; you can view them by clicking on the link in the sidebar (though I'll share a few here, too).

The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas took eight years to build, and was completed in 1929. According to the tour guide, it is the third largest bullfighting stadium in the world (holding 24,000+ fans) and the most important. The design is Moorish and Arabesque in style, and it's truly a beautiful looking building -- most especially the exterior with its beautiful tile work. Bullfights are held here every Sunday from May - September or October. The rest of the year, matadors are busy trying to stay alive while earning a living in Mexico and South America -- where the weather is warmer. Our guide told us that the best matadors can earn 6 to 8 million euro a year!

It was a quick tour, ending in front of the gift shop with a showing of some of the capes that are used by the matadors. Afterwards, I went into the shop and purchased a small book that describes each part of the bullfight and its relevance (and bought a t-shirt, too).

Most of us from the tour then went to the Museum located just outside; photography was not allowed inside. The second floor showcased paintings and bronze sculptures of famous matadors, as well as the mounted heads of some famous bulls (dating back to the 1800s). Also showcased were the outfits (or "suits of lights") of famous matadors, including the blood-stained clothes of "Manolete."

As you exit the rear of the bullring, there is a small courtyard, with the Museum to the left, the horse stables straight ahead, and a blacksmithing space to the right.


Above is a photograph of a bronze sculptural mural on one of the walls of the plaza outside Ventas.

Here's a link to Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas on the web.

Hot Afternoon in Madrid

It's about 10:30 p.m. Madrid time. When I checked the weather about an hour ago, it registered about 93F. Hot. I am laying (lying?) on the sofa with the TV on, watching some Bruce Willis movie jungle war movie dubbed in Spanish.

I was up late last night trying to figure out Flickr and how I could post some photos in the sidebar. I'm a slow learner. Finally went to bed about 2:30 this morning, then woke up at 8:00 to feed Sampson, and then thought I would lay (lie?) back down for just a few minutes. UGH. Got up at almost noon.

Since I keep blowing any morning plans I'm foolish enough to make, I just decided to get out of the loft and see which way the wind carried me. It and the metro carried me to Puerta de Toledo. When I came up out off the metro, I admired the spectacular "Puerta de Toledo" arch that, according to my DK guidebook, "is one of Madrid's two remaining city gates, and is topped by a group of sculptures that represent a personification of Spain." Well, I started walking in one direction for about 15 minutes and that didn't seem to be going anywhere, so I got on a bus in the opposite direction and went to Plaza Mayor again.

Actually, I stopped in again at the Mercado de San Miguel, across the street from the Plaza Mayor, which I think is my new favorite place for lunchtime tapas and a cold drink. I also like it because there are fans spritzing water, so it's a nice place to cool off. I had some fish tapas there. yum. I think I have some photos posted on flickr of the Mercado. It is now mostly glassed-in, but was constructed of iron in about 1914 or so. There are stalls selling fresh fish, vegetables, nuts, ice creams, and spices. (I purchased some saffron for some friends back home, and for myself. I never trust the saffron I see in the states; maybe it's just because of where I shop, the containers of it look old and outdated. yucky. I also bought some Spanish paprika.) And then there are other stalls, that sell cocktails, wines, sangria and such. So you take your little plate of tapas and walk over somewhere for a beverage, and then either stand there and eat or chat (or both), or find a rare seat at a little table. Just a nice atmosphere, and you can eat a reasonable amount without spending too much.

Aftwards, I continued walking up Gran Via and past Plaza Espana. Eventually hopped on the metro and came back to the loft to feed Sampson.

Yesterday was overcast a few hours, as it was this evening. But still no rain this month. But it did get very windy outside for a while; seems to have calmed down now.

Lazy Sunday in Madrid

I completely forgot about going to El Rastro this morning. Not that I'd planned to go, but I've kind of been wanting to check it out, just to say "been there, done that." Well, for a bit more reason that that. It's supposed to be the largest flea market in Spain, and I was thinking it might be a good place to find some decent traditional household textiles. Well, maybe next week.

There was a roof party last night by our neighbor to the back. It was interesting to find out that there are neighbors! I haven't seen any, and since this building is in the "industrial" or automotive part of town, I doubted that there were residences around here except for DC's brother and his family downstairs. But, the party was noisy and went on until about 6 a.m. Still, I was glad for the noise; reminded me of my days living in Brooklyn. But I woke up tired at 7 a.m. to feed the cat (Sampson), and went back to bed, sleeping on and off until about noon.

Then I cleaned up around here a bit, and instant messaged with AR, then went out for some cafe con leche, lunch, and a quick read through of part of my DK Madrid guidebook.

Just hanging out today, fooling around with my photos on Flickr, and making vague plans for the next few days.