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The flames stir your body
as you cautiously approach the wild beast. Suddenly, it charges
at you.
I'm half American, half Spanish. Every year
I spend part of my summer holidays in Soneja, Spain, visiting
family and friends. It is a small village, up in the mountains,
not far from the Mediterranean Sea and less than 45 minutes away
from Valencia.
One of the main highlights in town, during
this time of the year, is bulls. When I mention Spain and bulls,
the first things that come to your mind, are the running of the
bulls in Pamplona and the typical Spanish "corrida".
But no, in Soneja it's different: every other night, for a week,
as the town church-bells ring twelve times, the majority of the
inhabitants of the town gather around the town's main square,
to play with fire.
A dare-devil cautiously creeps into the bullpen,
were the bull is kept, and behind a "burladero" a
wooden board that's attached to the wall, but with enough space
for a person to fit through it, ties a thick and solid rope around
the bull's neck.
Next, the end of the rope that has just been
tied to the bull is passed through a hole in a wooden tree trunk
standing in the middle of the "plaza" or Main Square.
Tonight, the plaza is being used as the main part of the bullring
and many people are reaching for the rope. These people are volunteers.
They volunteer to pull the rope as one of
the many bull caretakers opens the door to the bullpen. Suddenly,
it all happens, the rope is tied, the rope is given, the door
is opened, the rope is pulled.
Pull, pull, pull! As you and many other people
pull the rope, the bull is tied up to the wooden trunk. Then
many other people circle the bull- so he doesn't move so
the bulls horns can be attached to metal bars that have inflammable
material attached to them and...
You are setting the material on fire. This
is the moment. Everyone backs off, as one person holds the bull's
tail and another cuts the rope, freeing the bull. The bull leaps
up and down as the hand of the person holding the bull's tail
slides down losing its grip on the beast. The bull runs around
chasing people.
One finds this so extraordinary that he wants
to try it, that he wants to touch the bull!
The flames stir your body as you cautiously
approach the wild beast. Suddenly, it charges at you.
A Day or Two following Picasso's steps
Antibes is a village in
the south of France. It is bathed by the Mediterranean Sea and
used to be a fisherman's town. It is now a very charming touristic
village, where a lot of famous people's yachts anchor. It may
not be known by many people, but ithas many things to see and
visiting it is worth the trip.
During the fourth century
BC, the Greeks arrived in what now is Antibes and built a colony
there. They named it Antpolis (that is were the name "Antibes"
comes from), meaning"the town (polis) on the other
side (anti). The Greeks named it like this because it was
the first town that they found, that wasn't in Greece, and it
was on the other side of the Mediterranean (in Greece,'s point
of view).
The Romans also came later
and established themselves there. As well as some other remains
in other parts of the town, a roman well can be viewed for free
at the basement of a shop, which sells jams, honeys, olive oils,
pottery, etc. and which is inside a charming covered food market
(Marche Provencal). The shop is called Balade en Provence:
Arches that sustained this
same building, which were built during the eleventh century,
which is in the Middle Ages, can also be viewed there.
 If
your friends aren't interested in history, maybe they are interested
in art.You can tell them that if they visit Antibes, they will
be in one of the villages where Picasso lived (he also lived
in Vallauris, which is a town nearby). They can enter a castle
which used to be his home and his workshop, but is now a museum
containing his own artwork of the time he spent in the town (1946).
As many may know, Picasso invited a lot of bullfights into
his artwork An example, is this sculpture of a bull, which
can be seen at this museum:
Another interesting
piece, this time a painting, is this one:
The museum is open
to the public and for those of you who are fourteen or under,
you may go in for free. Although the museum was opened by the
town because of Picasso's donations of his paintings and sculptures,
many other contemporary artists exhibit their work there. The
Museum is closed on Tuesdays, on important holidays and through
November. During the rest of the year, it is open from 10 a.m.
to noon; and 2 to 6 p.m.
The museum is a castle built
between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries. During the
Middle Ages, it was the home to the princes of Antibes. These
princes belonged to the Grimaldi family; another branch of the
Grimaldi family have been the rulers of Monaco, since the Middle
Ages. The building has also been the residence of the governor
and, later, this same castle was used as army barracks. The castle
has also been there to protect the village from attacks from
the sea and is behind a large wall that surrounds much of Antibes.
Antibes, like all other
Provencal villages, has wonderful food and restaurants
that offer dishes like: Salad Nicoise, grilled vegetables
and colourful pastas seasoned with tapenade. Among many
other good dining places, you might want to stop for lunch and
eat under the shade of two beautiful large trees at Le Jardin.
It specialises in the typical foods of the region.
Antibes
is just one of the many beautiful villages of Provence. If you
have time, I would recommend you very much to visit villages
like Biot, St Paul de Vence, Mougins, Grasse, Opio, These towns
have at least two things in common. They all have medieval architectures,
which can still be seen. And, during the summer, they're all
invaded by rich tourists that visit their restaurants and antique
shops, and take advantage of the hot sun. Many of these tourists
are French but there are also Americans, English, Swiss,
If you are really lucky,
and have lots of money, you'll be able to rent out a villa that
is in the middle of an olive tree field and surrounded by acres
of lavender flowers. Don't forget that it is a high possibility
that, during Picasso's stay in Antibes, he visited these towns.
Of these I recommend two in particular. One is Grasse, which
is the biggest manufacturing town, worldwide, of perfume. And
another is Biot, known for its blown glass with which plates,
drinking glasses and home decorations are made. You can visit
the factories and their shops but you can see people blowing
the melted glass at the Verrerie of Rapha´l Farinelli.
A very good time to visit
Antibes and these other towns is during the fall, for it is not
too hot and it is not too cold but yet it is sunny.
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