fountain and town hall in Albacete
Albacete is the closest “big city” to Villarrobledo. It’s about 40 minutes away by train, and much longer by bus (as we found out the first time we went). It’s also the capital of our province so it’s where I have to go to file my paperwork to get my residency, etc.
We (we being me, Lauren, and Matt) had heard from a few people that Albacete is “nothing special” and it’s not worth visiting. Their landlord in particular was adamant that there is “nothing to see” in Albacete and the places we “must must must” go to in Castilla-La Mancha are Toledo and Cuenca. Sometimes it’s nice when people set your expectations for a place really low because it’s pretty hard for it to be worse than what they told you…
As was the case with Albacete, it was much nicer than I expected. I understand there aren’t a lot of “things to see” per se, but it’s not an ugly city by any means. And still it’s a city, so it has a lot more stuff than Villarrobledo.
The first time we went we stopped first at the Oficina de Extranjeros (foreigner’s office) to inquire about appointments for our residency applications. After that we wandered around the city, did a little shopping at Corte Ingles (the huge Spanish department store) before taking the bus home in the afternoon. Sidenote about the bus ride: it was one of the worst I’ve had in a long time. The bus driver stopped for gas! I’ve never had that one happen before. It seemed like he didn’t have a good idea where he was going and we stopped in a bunch of small pueblos so it took over two hours to get home! Never doing that again! But I digress…
The next weekend we returned to go to a bullfight. We didn’t know it at the time, but it was actually the last one of the season. We took the train in the early afternoon and planned to have some lunch before the 5pm bullfight. We chose a really good weekend to be lunching in Albacete because we happened to be there during one of the weekends of the Jornada de Tapas!
Christine (another American living in Villarrobledo) and me enjoying the Jornada de Tapas in Albacete
That meant that many of the restaurants and bars were participating in a sort of tapas festival where they each offered one special tapa for no more than 2 euros. There was even a map showing all the participating eateries and what they were offering.
So we were able to kill four hours tapa-hopping from restaurant to restaurant, sitting outside on the patios, enjoying the food, beer, and sun. Unfortunately for me (and for your viewing pleasure) I forgot to charge my camera before leaving so I had to save it for the bullfight and was unable to take pictures of some of the tapas. My favorite by far was the first one we had (beginners’ luck I suppose). It was a three-parter: one part was a small zucchini cylinder stuffed with tuna and topped with a cheese crust (served warm); the second part was an eggplant roll filled with goat cheese and some other delicious things (also warm); and the third part was a large potato chip topped with a little bit of sauteed mushrooms and truffle oil! Yummm!!!
Then it was time for the bullfight.
plaza de toros in Albacete
with my sunflower seeds and beer
I have heard a lot about bullfights from Spaniards, both in favor and against it. I had seen it before on television but wanted to experience the atmosphere and traditions of a bullfight in person. I went more out of curiosity than anything else.
On the way in we bought some beers and sunflower seeds (“pipas”) — a popular snack for bullfights, well for anytime in Spain really, especially if you are an old man who likes sitting on park benches spitting the shells on the ground. We were sitting in the “sol” (sun) section and it was a very very sunny afternoon and super hot in our seats. We did not come prepared–we were lacking hats and fans. And bocadillos, too, as it turned out. Bocadillos are what the Spanish call sandwiches, and everyone had one. Literally EVERYONE. They waited until the intermission to eat them, but as soon as the break started everyone opened up their bags and coolers and took out their sandwiches. We totally missed that memo.
The disadvantage of sitting in the sol section is that the sun is in your eyes and it’s hard to see (and take pictures). The advantage of sitting in the sol section is that the sun is in your eyes and it’s hard to see… I say that because it was not as bloody as it could have been if we were sitting in the shade. We could still see all the action, but it was definitely not as graphic with the sun glaring in your eyes.
Here are some of the best pictures I got (in spite of the sun):
My feelings about the bullfight were that while the skill of the bullfighters was very impressive, it also made me feel uncomfortable when the crowd cheered the death of the bull. It just felt wrong. I didn’t necessarily think “ohhh poor bull” but more like “this is awkward that we’re cheering because we watched the animal be slayed to death.”
But the whole atmosphere was great and I think it’s a very unique tradition that should be preserved. Having said that, it would be just as impressive to me if the bulls didn’t die. It’s still an amazing feat to tempt a huge, powerful beast face to face, even if you don’t slay him.(And that is apparently how they fight bulls in Portugal.)
Since having gone to the bullfight I’ve watched it again on television and saw one very very bloody bullfight, it was gruesome. This part to me seems uncessary. I’m glad the one I saw in person wasn’t so bloody (or at least not to me since it was difficult to see the details in the sunshine). I’m definitely glad I went, and would go again if it was only for the atmosphere with food, drinks, and sun and I wasn’t going to cheer bulls to their deaths.
