I found the storefront where I was to meet my guide for the bullfight trip. She was a young lady in her early twenties, wearing a shirt with the logo of their company. She told me she would walk me to their office where I could pick-up my tickets. Beside it was a bus depot, where the tour bus was waiting for us. She was friendly and chatty and when she found out I am from Canada, she asked me questions about life here. She told me that her family moved to Madrid from Brazil when she was little, but that it’s her dream to visit, and perhaps live in the US or Canada someday. She was curious about Vancouver and Toronto, and wondered which city might be a better fit for her one day. Oh, to be young and full of dreams! She reminded me of myself at the same age, when I was still discerning whether to move to Canada or stay in Manila.
I picked up my tickets very easily. There were only a handful of tourists, given that it was a Sunday. I chatted with my would be-tour mates while waiting for departure - a couple of British families with their pre-teen kids, two middle-aged ladies from Australia, a young Chinese lady from Brazil, and a newly-wed couple from Texas who were on their honeymoon. I talked mostly with the American couple and the Australian ladies, since they sat the closest to me. The Americans were doing a three-week tour of Spain, and the Australians, both recently retired, were on the last leg of their six-month backpacking adventure in Europe. I spoke briefly with the Chinese lady who surprisingly couldn’t speak any Chinese dialect but was very fluent in Portuguese and English. She explained that her parents are second-generation immigrants in Buenos Aires and that she grew up speaking mainly Portuguese at home and learned English at school. Her Mandarin, on the other hand, was kindergarten level. The British families were too busy with their kids then, so we just smiled and waved at them.
The friendly lady who picked me up turned us over to a guy who was to be our tour guide on the bus. He announced that we were to have a city tour of Madrid, make two stops at a couple of spots, and take a break at a sports bar before heading to the bullring. This was a nice surprise. When I booked this tour, I thought the ticket was just for the bullfight. It turned out there were a few extras. It was a pretty good deal for what I paid for.
We drove around the city and I saw once more, all the districts in Madrid that were shown to us on my first bus tour with my big tour group. It’s funny how at this time, I already felt so at home. Madrid is one of those cities that seems like it could be a potential second home. It gave me the "I-can-totally-live-here" vibe.
Our first pit stop was the Temple of Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple. Yes, you heard me right. There is an authentic Egyptian temple in Madrid. I first thought that this is just a replica, since I do not recall anything from history that talks about the Egyptians venturing anywhere near Spain, but our guide confirmed that this is for real. It made more sense when he explained that the shrine was dismantled in Egypt, transported to Spain, and rebuilt in Madrid.
The temple was originally erected south of Aswan in the Nubian Desert of Upper Egypt sometime in the second century BC and was dedicated to the god Amon of Thebes. It is even said that the goddess Isis gave birth to Horus in this very temple. When Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser built the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s, Spanish archeologists from the UNESCO team worked to save the monument from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. And as a gesture of gratitude, Egypt sent the temple, block by block, to Madrid. It found a new home here, instead of disappearing forever.
I was happy to make this stopover since we did not even catch a glimpse of this during my first city tour and it felt so ironic to be visiting an ancient Egyptian temple in a city known for its Catholic cathedrals. This was as close as I could get to anything Egyptian, for I have never set foot in Egypt (it is on my bucket list, though) and we were told it is actually a complete set.
The small complex has a hall, several chapels, and a terrace on the upper floor. Inside are original decorations and carved reliefs, but to help visitors understand the meaning of this shrine, there are scale models and video materials projected on the wall that tells its story. Outside, it is surrounded by a beautiful garden with fountains and a pool that reflects its image. I imagined how magnificent it would look at sunset, but at the time of our visit, the sun was still up.
Our next stop was the Rosaleda del Parque Oeste, which was not too far from the temple. As you can tell from the name, this park is known for its rose gardens with over 20,000 specimens and 600 varieties of modern rosebushes. The flowers come from all over the world and at the time of our visit, most of the bushes were in full bloom. There were also neatly-groomed pathways in between the gardens and several fountains scattered all throughout the park. This was indeed a refreshing break for me. Being close to nature does wonders!
Our tour guide announced that since it was such a humid day and we had time to spare before the bullfight, he would take us to a sports bar, where we could relax and order some cold drinks. While I thought this was of course a planned part of the tour to promote a business establishment that supports the tour company, I decided it wasn’t a bad idea. In the sweltering heat, it would be nice to stay in an air-conditioned place, order a refreshing cocktail, and freshen up in a proper washroom.
The guys settled in the bar and ordered some beer, while the ladies and kids shared a big table. I ordered an ice-cold ginger ale. The cocktails, I thought, were a bit overpriced. Well, that was sort of expected since we were obviously tired and thirsty tourists...but I was not complaining!
Photo Credits:
esmadrid.com, traveladventures.org
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