Spain, Summer 2003

Russell Wyland's Homepage

Spain, Summer 2003

David and I traveled to Madrid in mid July. I attended the 2003 International Society for the History of Rhetoric Conference, giving a paper on Richard Whately and rhetoric at Oxford in the 1840s. A small, but enthusiastic crowd attended my early morning session. While in Madrid, we were blessed with the company of Oxonian Simon Whalley, Esq., the dearest of friends and the fastest Spanish-English dictionary user in this hemisphere. We had a wonderful 5 days.

Spaniards are a lovely and kind people, despite the fact that the bullfights were a bit brutal (we tried to think of it as a metaphor: man versus nature). One of our 5 days was spent in the ancient city of Toledo, about a 90 minute drive south of Madrid. It was splendid breathtakingly beautiful. Here are a (very) few snaps.

Spain has beautiful architecture and these pictures hardly do that subject justice. Pictures 1 and 2 below are from Madrid. Pictures 3 and 4 come from Toledo.

Spanish architecture is splendid. Here is an example.

The Prado in downtown Madrid. A first-rate museum.

The cathedral in Toledo. Photos just don't do it justice

Russ and Simon discuss the "man versus nature" metaphor as a way to draw their focus away from a battle that the bloodied bull never wins. Go Nature! Ole! Imagine our surprise when the bull did win...at least temporarily...TWICE. The first time, the bull was judged unfit and herded out of the ring (a life spared). The second time, the bull caught the matador's cape, pulled him to the ground, and gave him a head-butt. The bull eventually lost as another matador came out and finished the match (the first one being too hurt to continue).