Teruel and the TRUTH about what went on that day....


       So on saturday, the 18th of February a few of us heard about a Renaissance festival that was going on in a city only two and a half hours away, in a little city know as Teruel. The city is known for their famous fairy tale concerning the "Lovers of Teruel"(google it if you would like to know more). Anyways, there was this Renaissance festival like no other. The whole town was one hundred percent committed to turning the town back a few hundred years. There were tents on every street. Families wore matching outfits that possessed their family crest on their chest and on their shield. It appeared to be a weekend long, very specifically themed halloween. Naturally the four of us - Paul, Cristina, Mike, and I-  felt out of place slash stood out when we were not all decked out in cloaks and chain mail. However it was still a lot of fun. There were tents of all shapes and sizes. Some were venders, selling wooden swords, cross bows, or helmets. While others were huge herbal tents what sold what looked like forty plus herbs that "cured" everything from sore teeth to diabetes.


Heres some pictures from the first part of our day:

I don't know how so many people found out about this festival, but the streets were packed. 

Classic dress attire for the day. 

A feast of all types of amazing meat!

I watched these two little kids practice their black smith's skills. At one point their sister ran up right as the kid on the right was turing around with a red hot spear of iron and I thought I was gonna see him blind her. 

On to the second part of the day

       Which is the real reason behind writing this post, is to defend myself from the atrocious blog post made by Cristina a few weeks ago that ended in calling me "questionably the worst boyfriend ever". So after lunch and wandering aimlessly through the streets of Teruel, we decide to follow a crowd because everyone seemed to be walking the same way. After following the crowd for a little while everyone seemed to end up in a plaza. So we stood there for a little while and nothing seems to be going on. We started to think that maybe its a parade of some sort and the King and Queen of the renaissance festival will be greeting everyone or riding through. WRONG. Its a bull! Being as though a few weeks before I had run with a bull that possessed flaming horns, when this out of the blue bull came down the streets I ran. Cristina, managed to grab hold of my hand and get out her camera at the same time. Which is not the first thing that comes to my mind when you see a bull. So as I ran she stepped off to the side to take pictures. (notice that I don't have any pictures or videos of the bull in my blog) When I realized how the situation had developed it was to late... the bull was now in the center of the plaza and everyone was on the sides in the "safe zone". I call it the safe zone because initially it didn't occur to me that the bull might have a forty foot rope attached to it, where people could slow it down and somewhat control it. (the last bull had no ropes)  In the distance they had positioned men restricting where it could go. They mainly kept it in the center of the plaza but from time to time it venture real close to people. 

       So now Cristina and I are separated and she's having a field day with her camera in the "safe zone". She managed to get multiple pictures and videos. 

       Apparently this so called running of the bull is a game, and the men with the rope are suppose to bring the bull down the streets into the plaza and rope it around it's horns and then escort it back up the hill into the truck.  Well when they were done roping it and controlling the bull they took it back up the hill. We all followed and watched it get put in the truck.  Cristina then preceded to tell me that I left her for death, and that I was a terrible boyfriend. However when I tried to explain the situation to her her response was "I grabbed your hand because I'm a slower runner than you and you pushed it aside and took off". I beg to differ. 

       Anyways were walking back down the hill, Paul and I in front and Cristina and mike behind, when all of a sudden people start running past us in a hurry. With one quick look over my shoulder I see another bull! Oh boy. My first instinct is to look for cover. Five yards up on the left was an ally and I run into it quickly. Paul follows. I look back and Cristina and Mike were not with us. I stick my head out around the corner and see that they are just one street up. They went directly left instead of down and to the left. Here is a picture to show how the moment played out. 

       With all the commotion and floods of people I couldn't find Cristina or Mike once the bull had passed. So Paul and I made our way back down to the plaza. Once down there, we stayed to the side and waited for the event to end. After the second bull was brought back up the hill Cristina called me and we all met up. Even after I explained my side of the story she still claimed that I left her twice to be killed by a two thousand pound bull. You decide.