Blogs from Navarre, Spain, Europe - page 21

Note to Mom: You may find what you are about to read disturbing. I am sure you have all heard of the famous Running of the Bulls, or San Fermines. This is a annual week long party dedicated to Saint Fermin, in which the town of Pamplona, Spain explodes and becomes the center of Spain tourism. This year it began at midnight on July 6th, with the Chupinazo and a parade of Saint Fermin through the streets of Pamplona. At 8am everyday following the beginning festival (Chupinazo), there is the famous Encierro, in which about a dozen angry bulls are released in about a quarter mile long double gated route through the streets of Pamplona to the Bull Fighting Ring. In these streets are hundreds of people, clad in all white with a red scarf, running ... read more

This is something I have always wanted to do but something always seemed to come up that prevented me from going (mainly friends making excuses). In April 2008 I got engaged and when we set a date for the wedding there was only one place I wanted my stag weekend and that was Pamplona and the festival of San Fermin, also known as the running of the bulls. San Fermin starts on the 6th July and finishes on the 14th of July every year, at 8am every morning roughly 6-7 bulls, weighing approx 650kgs (about 1450lbs) each are released on to the streets and they run from their pen in to the bull ring about 800 metres away. The run is up a slight hill the entire time, especially at the beginning, there are only two ... read more

A night out. Beer and sangria. Meeting people. Talking. the sky bright blue, then darker, then deep ocean blue. Could have seen fishes swimming in the sky. But that would have been the sangria spirits talking. Traipsing around with a Scottish guy and an Irish guy. Funny friendly guys. It was great, because lots of talk of literature and theater. One guy: "Oh, I liked Joyce, but now I´m over that.." Please, dude. Gavin from Ireland is in love with Steinbeck. Robin from Scotland likes to do Jack Nicholson impressions. Refuses to do "Herés Johnny" from The Shining because, well, "everybody does that one." Met two girls, Aussie and NZ. Accents indistinguishable to me. Like American and Canadian, they say. One of them had pink nailpolish and it was wearing off. Don´t ask my why I ... read more

Panorama Alto de Perdon, look for me. The Camino attracts all people for all reasons. These people can be put into categories and so far they go something like this: The Fit and Physical - These are the people who only want to see how quickly they can travel the Way. They have no time to stop and smell the coffee, roses or even the boots that sit outside the dormitory door. They are up at 5 (with no awareness of how loud their backpack zips are in the dark and sometimes freezing mornings). They stop only to obey the call of nature and speed past with dust flying while on the trail. They boast about their distances each night and are oblivious to the eye rollers within earshot. They arrive at their destination by 3pm ... read more

We had a pretty ambitious drive planned for the day, so we decided to take a little more of the A & N roads which would save some time when we need it in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Pamplona is a large city so we used the by-pass. Mike & I would have run with the bulls if it had been the right time of the year; but it was not. Lynn had mentioned Sos del Rey Catolico early in the trip planning, but we debated if time would permit, as it was off the main road and require a back-track. This trip was for research of her next book and Sos was the 1452 birthplace of Fernando II of Aragon, surely a place worthy of a visit. If you travel in this area, make ... read more