Diarios de España (1) 「西」遊記（一）

11th August 8月11日

My first ever trip to Spain took me right to the heart of the country, Madrid.
第一次往西班牙，便直往其中心——馬德里。

I was already enjoying some magnificent views mid-air. It didn't take me long to recognise the Alps among the clouds. Shortly after flying over Geneva, the pilot told us to keep a look out for Mont Blanc. Soon we left France and flew over the Pyrenees which separated the lush-greenness of France from the drier landscape of Spain. Madrid can't be too far from here.
在半空時，風光已目不暇給，雖然有點雲，我憑着山峰的積雪便認出阿爾卑斯山脈，飛越日內瓦不久，機師便着我們留意遠方的勃朗峰，經過法國上空後，就是法西邊界的比利牛斯山（Pyrenees），大地由綠油油變成黃土地一片，就這樣便進了西班牙國境，馬德里應不遠了。























In the air, from the Alps to Spain 飛越半空，由阿爾卑斯山至西班牙


After settling into my hostel, I first visited the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol (Square of the Gate of the Sun). This is a shopping area, and at the entrance to one of the streets stands the statue of The Bear and The Strawberry Tree, which is the emblem for Madrid.
在旅館安頓後，先到所在的太陽門廣場逛逛，其中一條購物街的入口，便豎着「熊與草莓樹」的銅像，就是馬德里的市徽。















Then I made a stroll along Calle de Alcalá, which was lined with government and business buildings, all with their distinctive architecture. I had the opportunity to take a good look at the buildings at a leisurely pace since there weren't so many people around. A most impressive building is the Communications and Postal Building which looked like a palace at a glance. The roundabout in front of it featured the Fountain of Cibeles the goddess.
接着沿阿卡拉街（Calle de Alcalá）閒逛，沿途遊人不多，可仔細欣賞各大廈的獨特建築，原來此街政府及商業辦公樓林立，其中郵政大樓，外貌彷如一座皇宮，門前的迴旋處，便有個精緻的西芭莉女神噴泉。























The Communications and Postal Building, with the Fountain of Cibeles in front.
郵政大樓及前面之西芭莉女神噴泉





Interestingly, the major roundabouts in the centre of Madrid are studded with fountains and old city gates. Perhaps Madrid has a fondness for fountains like Rome!
說起來，噴水池和城門在各大迴旋處都很常見，看來馬德里跟羅馬一樣喜歡噴泉呢。





















12th August 8月12日

The day started with a visit to the Sunday market of El Rastro. The market was crowded but wasn't anything too spectacular. Most of the items on sale were the usual, daily things apart from the large number of army knives, weapon-grade knives and the like, which puzzled me a lot.
早上先到El Rastro星期日市集，但見人頭湧湧，不過市集賣的東西都很平民化，沒甚麼特色，我倒不明白為何那麼多攤子賣軍刀、武器刀之類。













I decided not to waste time at El Rastro, and made an earlier trip to the bull-fighting arena at Plaza de Toros. I couldn't help thinking of the Colosseum in Rome at first glance. The circular stadium and the arena in the middle are set out for fights against the beasts just like the Colosseum, but modern bull-fighting is less treacherous than Roman times. Firstly there were sufficient protective and medical facilities in the stadium. The other reason, well ... I found out what bull-fighting was really about later that evening.
時間尚早，有空參觀鬥牛場（Plaza de Toros），弧圓的外觀，令我不期然想起羅馬鬥獸場，場中心的沙場，正是鬥獸之地，不過今時今日的鬥牛，則一定不像古時凶險，一則有保護及醫療設備，二嘛……我買了票看過當晚的鬥牛，便知道鬥牛其實是甚麼葫蘆賣甚麼藥了。







Outside the arena 鬥牛場外觀













The arena (top left), the royal compartment (top right) and reserved compartments for VIPs like government officials and surgeons (medical and veterinary, of course!)
左上：沙場、右上：皇室包廂、左：要人特別席（例如政要、當值醫生及獸醫）





There was a whole afternoon to kill before the bull-fight. I made good use of free entry on Sundays and visited Museo del Prato. The museum housed many pieces of masterwork by Spanish and royal-appointed artists, for example El Greco and Goya.
悠悠下午，飯後附庸風雅（兼好好利用逢星期日免費入場之德政）參觀普拉多藝術館（Museo del Prato），欣賞一眾西班牙畫家及其他宮庭御用畫家的作品，例如El Greco及Goya。



Then I had a walk in the nearby Parque del Retiro (Retreat Park). As the name suggests, the park was originally a place of retreat by the Spanish royal family, but now everyone can also enjoy this oasis in the city, have a stroll and relax themselves there.
然後走到毗鄰的雷提洛公園（Parque del Retiro），原本是皇室休憩之地（此乃Retiro之意），如今一般人都可走進這片市區綠州，在敞大的公園內流連，悠閑地消磨時光。























The park had a small lake, and rowing was very popular with visitors who were queueing for boat rental. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try my hand at rowing again after a 13-year gap. I got myself a boat and took myself to the middle of the lake, for a better view of the monument of King Alfonso XII and the surrounding Romanesque square.
公園內有個小湖，我見不少遊人輪候租艇，想必定是不錯的玩意，也不顧自己對上一次划艇已是十三年前的事，租了來玩玩，從湖中仰觀湖畔的阿爾方索十二世的人像及所在的羅馬式廣場。












Finally time for bull-fight! After a grand opening ceremony, a fight was about to begin ...
轉眼又到鬥牛開場時間，在隆重的開場禮後，決鬥快將開始……




But it was actually not much of a fight as I imagined. Unlike the popular image of a one-to-one contest, bull-fighting was truly an exercise of teamwork. First to come onto the arena were some 'assistants' waving pink flags trying to irritate the bull. Two men on horseback would then enter, and the assistants had to get the bull to run into one of the horses, in blindfolds, so that the man on the horseback could stab his lance into the back of the bull. The injured bull continued its mad run, and at some time, some other assistants would stab the bull further with shorter sticks. Only when the bull was sufficiently weakened, the matador would come on stage and try to wind the bull up with a clean stab by his sword. Who would expect the matador to lose against a frail, bleeding bull?
但是原來鬥牛並非單打獨鬥，而是靠teamwork，一隊人輪流合作，先有持粉紅布的「鬥牛助理」刺激公牛，然後有兩人騎着蒙了眼的馬出場，鬥牛助理便要設法引牛撞馬，以便馬上的人用矛刺向公牛，負傷的牛，繼續受粉紅布刺激狂奔，此時再有人伺機用特別的刺再加害。這時鬥牛師才出場，用紅布「調戲」傷痕纍纍、流血不止的牛，等到時機成熟時一劍刺死之，公牛那時已垂死掙扎，鬥牛師那有不勝之理？




A bull-fighting session lasts two hours, with 3 matadors 'fighting' against 6 bulls. I left after the 4th bull-fight as my interest started to wane by then. Bull-fighting is not really as heroic as popularly portrayed when a bull is fighting against a group of men with so many props at their disposal, not to mention the prolonged suffering by the bull.
一場鬥牛為時兩句鐘，三個鬥牛師「對決」六頭牛，我看到第四頭也覺不是味兒便走了。撇開要公牛受苦下博鬥不說，以一班人對付一頭牛，鬥牛甚麼英雄形象都一掃而空了。