Blogs from Spain, Europe - page 971

5/7/08 Pamplona Running of the bulls festival was a must see on my list of things to do, immortalised by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Always Rises. This crazy festival runs from the 6-14th of July where the city is over run with thrill seekers, me and Dale and the bulls. The Encierio (Running of the bulls) starts at 8am daily the bulls and people run 825m which takes three mins. We stayed with Top deck camping for four nights, we found our tent got some beer and got into the party attomsphere. We soon found a couple of kiwis so we joined up and spent the rest of the festival hanging out together. The first day was opening day we got into our gear (whites with a red sash and neck scarf). We arrived at ... read more

like i said before... i wanted to chill out in madrid and therefore not do too much sightseeing before my 2 month long headache that is summer camp begun! but... no trip of mine would be complete without a set of wonderful photos to go with it, so here we are... !... read more

Coming to Seville was a shock. At first I thought I might have made a mistake. I was so enamored with Granada's small town cuteness that Seville'e metropolitan feel was an unexpected change. But now that I have adapted a bit and gotten a feel for the city - I love it here too. It's quite metropolitan but, being a big city, has a lot to see and do. My first day here I just walked around and tried to adjust to the city. I stopped by the tourist office, got a free map, found my hostel, left my backpack and set off to get lost. I think that getting lost in a new city is the best way to get to know it. After wandering for a few hours I can get out my map ... read more

After a very average Iberian flight and still recovering from our hangovers from our huge night in Rio we finally arrived in Europe. We were definitely sad to say goodbye to South America and our carefree days - but did our best to embrace our week in Spain and all the new adventures ahead! Lara's Mum booked us into some nice hotels as her birthday present, and we stayed right on the main drag in Madrid. We spent the days exploring the city, visiting museums and we were lucky enough to see Spain win the soccer European Championships in Madrid with thousands of Spanish supporters. We took the Renfe Train to Barcelona topping 300km an hour and spent the next few days enjoying the lovely warm weather, strolling down La Rambla, and seeing all the amazing ... read more

Port of Call: Barcelona Friday, 4 July 2008 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. We arrived in Barcelona early in the morning, and our initial view was disappointing: an industrial port immediately outside our balcony; a modern highway just beyond the port; Castell de Montjuic topping the horizon. The day ultimately included plenty of pleasant surprises, however, beginning with the free shuttle buses from the dock to the Monument A Colom, a huge monument topped by Columbus dramatically pointing towards the New Worlds, located at the end of La Rambla. (By the end of the trip, it was very apparent how important all these early explorers were in to the history of these countries -- almost everywhere we went, we saw monuments, tombs, and buildings marking the significance of the early explorers.) We were also pleasantly surprised ... read more