The Running of the Bulls

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We woke up really disappointed. It was raining and all we wanted to do was lie on the beach all day! So, instead we sat in a bar and had pizza for lunch before doing a few errands. The boring part of traveling - making train reservations, sending packages (which cost and arm and a leg) and buying bus tickets. We got a bus ticket for 9:15pm that night to go to Pamplona. The rest of the day was spent shopping of course!

At 8pm, it was time to gather the essentials for the night - food, water, warm clothes and money. We hid some money in Angele's shoe just in case at some point in the night we were robbed blind, at least we would have enough to get us back to San Sebastian. Then we were off, because what trip to Europe would be complete without spending an all nighter in Pamplona to watch the bulls run! Or some may put it, watch the people run!

Pamplona
It was only an hr away by bus. You could definately spot the tourist as we were the only ones not wearing red and white. So we made our way to the market to buy some clothes that would make us fit in - t-shirts and red scarves. At 11pm every night of San Fermin (ie. The running of the bulls), the city puts on a huge fireworks display. It is not co-ordinated with music, but is an impressive show anyways. Even Reesa, who was not looking forward to the all nighter at all, said the fireworks made up for it.
A few weeks ago, we had met 2 other canadians on our train from Luxembourg to Paris. We found out that they were going to be in Pamplona on the same night as us, so we made plans to meet up. We planned to meet Gordon and Olivia at 12:30am at this square. It was a slim chance that they would show, but we waited anyways, and there they were! It was actually a really good night. The five of us sat in a bar and nursed cups of tea and coffee for as long as we could. When they started turning the outside lights off and bringing down the gate at 3am, we figured that was a good cue to leave. So we weaved our way through the drunken crowds on the streets that were sticky and smelled of urine, until we reached the course of the bulls. We claimed our spots at the beginning of the run where you could see around the first corner. And we waited...and napped...and waited. There was some entertainment though. Random drunk people making fools of themselves. One guy thought he could sing and do flamenco and decided to perform for everyone.
Soon, the sun was coming up and more ppl started to gather. Runners were beginning to claim their spots, stretch and warm up. Announcements in several languages started to come on. They were actually kind of entertaining. The bits that are heard were as follows ''Do not run if you are not fit, you are a danger to yourself and others'' ''If you fall during the run, stay down with your hands over your head until the bulls have passed'' ''It is not compulsory to run the entire course'' Either way, we were rooting for the bulls! The runners chanted the prayer to San Fermin and at 8am the gun went off. Right below where we were standing you could really appreciate the size and speed of the bulls as we witnessed them trample over 5 runners. We saw the bulls for a total of about 20 seconds before they dissappeared around the second turn, but it was definately worth the wait!
At this point we were all so exhausted that we made our way back to San Sebastian and got back to our hostel at about 11am. We crashed for at least 5 hrs...I believe they call it "Siesta"
Amie


Amie

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Comments

[Cathy]

Nice to hear you are crazy enough to do it twice
Hey, I am totally excited you did that again. I must say it was an experience the first time. Although, I am a little disappointed you werent ready with your outfits before you got there this time. Didnt you learn anything from the last time? And the smell, although your description wasnt very detailed, it brought back memories.... PAINFUL, PAINFUL memories :S Cheers, Cathy P.S - Of course the Canadians would have remembered to meet up with you. Canadians NEVER fall back on their word.