Today was mostly a travel day to Madrid and we managed to get here without incident. We even figured out the metro to get to our sweet apartment.

When I first saw this apartment online months ago I was so intrigued. And it lived up to the hype! Called The Greenhouse, it’s a tiny studio and it literally houses a greenhouse draped with white lights in the middle of it. That serves as the bedroom. It’s absolutely adorable! The host met us there and explained various intricacies about the place. She has covered every single detail here – including USB and USB-C outlets so that you don’t need an adapter.

Here is where the very low, low comes in. When John and I booked this trip months ago we talked about going to a traditional bullfight. We decided that, because it was of such cultural significance, we should go. I mean, talk about doing what the locals do, right?

I will post a few pictures here of the Toros Las Ventas Madrid bullfighting ring and the pomp and circumstance before the fight but I cannot write more about it or post pictures from after that. In a word, it was horrific. Suffice it to say that they wounded the bull, in my opinion in a cowardly fashion, to the point where it could no longer fight and then they killed it. Awful, simply awful. We did stay for the whole first fight – about 20 minutes – because I was afraid to disturb the very rowdy, excited fans around us. My mistake. When we finally got out of the stands, I cried.

I will never unsee what happened there. And that is my fault for thinking I could handle it. If you are an animal lover in ANY way, this is not for you.

We decided to go to a rooftop bar, of course. This one was on the roof of Circulo de Bella Artes, which is private, non-profit, cultural organization right in the center of the historic city. I’d read about this on multiple websites and blogs and it did not disappoint.

The rooftop itself is called Azotea del Círculo, or Circle Rooftop, because it has a 360 degree view of the city. The view is absolutely spectacular from all areas! You can have a meal here – they have a small, fancy restaurant – or just grab a drink and apps and enjoy the fantastic views.

Of course we did the latter and managed to snag a table right on the edge, a beautiful view of the Bank of Spain building and the Cibeles Fountain in the background. The fountain is a place where numerous celebrations are had in Madrid, including when the Real Madrid football club wins important victories.

As we were sitting there, me enjoying my wine, a crowd began to form on the edges of the streets surrounding the fountain. Traffic was still flowing, but slowly, and there were police directing traffic and people. We tried to find out what was happening (Reddit) but could not.

The crowd kept getting bigger and bigger. I got a message from our host on events going on to celebrate the National day of Spain which happened to be TODAY. This holiday is part of a larger, week-long celebration called Hispanidad. And come to find out, there were to be fireworks over the fountain and the bank building at 21:30.

Honestly, these are the types of god-winks that I live for! After an absolutely horrible experience, we just happened upon a view of a local celebration. This has happened to me a few times in my travels and I am just so grateful for it. So, rather than head to a tapas bar out of the city center, we stayed where we were and paid way too much for tapas on the roof surrounded by tourists and locals who actually knew why they were there 🙂

The fireworks were worth it! They shot out from a terrace on the Bank of Spain building for a good 30 minutes. We sat in awe, on a beautiful night, celebrating the kismet of being in the right place at the right time.

Back to our sweet apartment and the final low, low. I opened Facebook to find that I’d forgotten the anniversary of the death of my sweet Roxy. She passed 11 years ago. This is the first year I’ve forgotten and it made me very sad.

Another thing to note is my favorite person – my husband. He took SUCH good care of me today. I felt safe and loved and understood. He’s my rock and another huge blessing in my life. Thank you, John!