The running of the bulls (or buses!)

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Trip Start Jul 14, 2009 Previous
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  Pamplona, Navarra, Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, July 31, 2009

Today we ventured forth from Bordeaux at a non civilized 6.30am, with bags out at 7.15am... it appears the bell boy either couldn't tell the time or was quite anxious to collect the bags so at 7.10am he was knocking..and we weren't ready. By about 7.20am we were ready for breakfast and to take our bags down..so thats what we did. Dropped the bags off to Genaro our driver and had an eclectic breakfast of museli and croissants and a coffee for me, but dan had breads with jam and cereal and orange juice. Other options not taken by us were hams and salamis and cake! So we hopped onto the bus towards the front (which turned out to be a good options) and started off to Biarritz, the resort holiday location for the French. Turns out that most of the french were actually heading in that direction today and we had a pretty big traffic issue getting to Biarritz. We arrived late but took a tour to the light house and then got dropped off at the beach at 11.30am where sun worshippers could bake and bathe and people like us could wander the town and grab lunch.
   Dan and I wandered off to the beach and had a stroll along, it had a lovely surf beach, lots of brightly coloured tents and naked boobies if one cared to look. We circled up and around undecided on a sit down lunch or a picnic lunch. In the end we walked to the Supermarket and had a look around and bought a 0.85 pound Baguette, some ham and camembert cheese and a bottle of Diet Coke with Cappuccino flavouring..weird sounding I know but it was a cross between vanilla and slight coffee flavor and pretty good! We bought some more what we think is cordial "Syrup sans sucre " in Forrest Berry flavour and had a wander down to the beach lane shops. I bought a silver necklace for $7 Euro as I was keen to start wearing my cartouche and scarab beetle and we ran to the bus for pickup. I put on my necklace in the bus whilst we travelled on to Pampolona, the infamous bull running city. So, we arrived at around 3.30pm at Pampolona..in Spain! We have a very nice hotel near the city (10min)...so nice that the twin beds pushed together are bigger than our king bed at home and we have, count them people, at leat 10 toiletrie items in the bathroom. These range from 2 x toothbrushes, a natural body sponge, aftershave and body milk! Pretty impressive :) They also have free wireless, hence the update!
 I had a quick shower in our room whilst Dan checked his email, we headed out for a Hemingway walking tour of Pamplona with a local guide at 4.30pm. We started by going past the Citadel walls, the Running of the Bulls monument, then walked up the streets which the bulls run to the Bullring where the Running of the Bulls ends. We got to go inside the 3rd biggest Bullring in the world and play Torradores and Bulls with the fake Bull powered by our tour guide Calvin. The temperature was warm..Biarritz was 23 degrees, Pamplona was 37 on our tour!  So after bullfighting things we then walked to the main square down the main street of the Bull run, with suitable merchandising shops. The main square is lovely and the historical significance of the Bull run is interesting. After this we all headed to the oldest bar in Pamplona for Tapas and Sangria. The Sangria was THE BEST I'd ever had.. so nice. The tapas..was interesting, the usual olives, calamari, chorizo, proscuitto...and then there were the french fries and chips..very odd! It was 6.30pm by this stage and the light was as bright at 2pm! Dan and I walked around the quaint lanes a bit tipsy after the Sangria.. until we ended back at the Bar to go to the toilets...and got roped into more Sangria- not unwillingly I will say. Matt, Mo and Calvin were having more Sangria..so we had a pitcher as well and were very happy hopping back on the bus to go to the hotel at 7.45pm. After the sangria, it was a little harder trying to remember to speak Spanish rather than French as we are now so practiced in our french phrases. It was also hard to remember what room we were in! The cards don't have numbers and we just couldn't remember. Luckily Dan had an idea and yes, it turns out room 507 is us, not 407!

  Dinner was served at 8.30pm ..an early dinner just for us according to Calvin! We had lovely Paella, although I would have called it seafood risotto, nice lamb with potatoes for mains and dessert was a sorbet type drink which was lovely. Dan and I had a bottle of white (Dan's choice) and we chatted to the couples around us..for ages..then moved to the bar area where Calvin was holding court and sat and chatted for a bit. 11.30pm has come and we are back in our room. Dan is snoring as I type and we have a 7am start tomorrow...on to Madrid!

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