Since my last post, my main adventure has been spending six days as part of a group of 12 anglophones from various places and 12 Spanish business people, at an isolated conference centre in the province of Soria. As "anglos" we were there to participate in lots of one-on-one chats and group activities to help our Spanish counterparts practice their English. It was an opportunity to meet lots of interesting people, although some days I felt all talked out! But I got room & board for free for the week, just for talking, so it was a pretty good deal! (See VaughanTown online for more info). The highlight of the week for me was our final night's party, with a Hallowe'en theme! I'm always up for a party, but this was an extra-good surprise, since I thought I'd be missing out on Hallowe'en this year.
This past weekend, I've been exploring Madrid a little bit -- although I hit a bit of a mid-trip slump and was glad to relax at my cozy hostel, rather than going "full on" as a tourist. An unexpected highlight today was encountering a pair of Spanish shepherds who had stayed at the hostel, and then watching another livestock parade (about my fourth this fall!). I was a bit surprised when I saw two gentlemen who looked to be well into their 60s at breakfast this morning (most older travellers in hostels are solo hikers, I've found). In any case, through the Polish hostel employee, I got a translation that the men were shepherds, anxious to get back to a large local park, where their flock of sheep were watched overnight by a police force. So when I went out to sightsee, I wasn't totally surprised to encounter a parade dedicated to thousands of sheep and cows migrating through the streets. I later learned that a Spanish king had guaranteed safe passage through Madrid for shepherds some hundreds of years ago, and the tradition is maintained. I'm not sure how logical this route is at this point in time, or whether it's more ceremonial.... in any case, it was a major event!
I did feel a bit concerned about the welfare of the animals at a few points in time. I imagine it would be confusing and perhaps frightening for them to be in crowded, busy streets. On a couple occasions, I saw sheep try to run off and it seemed a bit much. When I first encountered the parade, it was reasonably sedate, but I crossed it again an hour later, near the main square of Puerta del Sol and there was a stampede of sheeps at a certain moment. If you look closely at the photo below which has the back of four men in the foreground, you can see, beyond the men, sheep as far as the eye could see. Just a few minutes later, I got ahead of the procession and I had to cross the busy road. All was fine and then suddenly, the sheep started to run, at a panicked rhythm, towards me -- it was likely a scary moment for them, and it certainly was for me!
Beyond these events, I enjoyed walking around the city -- although I had my first realization of the arrival of fall today. In my fleece jacket, scarf and pants, I was just comfortable -- and I saw some people wearing tuques! Up until this past week, I'd been feeling like I was still in the equivalent of September weather by Canadian standards. Still, I had a great moment sitting in the garden near the Royal Palace with the sun beaming and warming my back -- it's not quite winter yet!
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| Plaza Mayor |
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