Accidental Bull Fighting

While you might be getting tired of hearing about the bull fights, the islanders are not quite finished.  In fact, there is a few more weeks in the bull fighting season.  Ryan and I personally thought we were done for a little bit after the one at our house, but it turned out, that was not the case.

That Sunday night we decided we NEEDED some local made ice cream from Sao Mateus, which is one of two places that makes their own ice cream on the island for sale.  Sao Mateus is a cute little town just west of Angra, which is the major city on the island and a UNESCO world heritage site.  Off to Sao Mateus we went, but as we approached, we found some major traffic and realized we just drove ourselves into a mess of cars parked all over the place in hopes of catching this extreme bull fight.  I say extreme, and you will see why.

We had to park a little further past the bull fight are because there was no where, and I mean no where to park in this village.  But, the location was beautiful and we stopped to take some pictures.

 

 

They have a great walking path at this location.

 

I also stopped to take a picture of their very colorful spirit house.

 

They have a great looking church here.  Actually, the island is very Catholic and there is a church just about everywhere you look.  But some are more attractive than others.

 

The ice cream place happens to be across from the church, which makes for a great place to sit and eat outside.

 

 

I went with chocolate chip and caramel.  They were both good, but the chocolate chip was more like ice milk.

 

We decided since we wound up in the middle of this craziness that we would stay because it was late and likely only 1 bull remained, and the location was insane.  They let the bull go out on the boat docks in their little marina area.

 

I am very lost when it comes to the US and the whole food truck thing, but I keep reading about this on blogs, and I imagine this is similar:

 

 

 

 

 

There were tons of carts with traditional foods, and while most bull fights have 1-2 of these with beer and bifana sandwiches (a pork sandwich), this location allowed for multiple carts to set up shop with a variety of foods.

It might be hard to see, but the bull is loose across the way.

 

 

 

Some people were in the ocean before the bull even came near them.

 

 

 

Others were out in boats and rafts floating in the harbor.

 

 

Here are some more videos.  I nearly had a heart attack when the bull wrapped himself on the peg and then fell in the ocean, but I was glad to see the rope was let loose and the bull was not hung, but rather had to swim to shore.  It is in one of these videos, and I stopped it when the bull fell, but then started again when i realized the bull was not with a broken neck.

This last shot was taken as we were leaving.  I love how the locals decorate for festivals and genuinely have a good time, despite the occasional bull accident.

QUESTIONS:  What was the last festival you attended?  Have you eaten from a food truck recently?