Fiestas, Siestas and Running with the Bulls
Trip Start
Jul 01, 2009
1
6
9
Trip End
Jul 26, 2009
Pamplona, Navarra, Spain and Canary Islands
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Pamplona and San Fermin-
We woke up super early to get our day pack together, checked out of the hostel, left our back packs in the luggage room and headed out for the train station. The train left for Pamplona at 7:30 am and we were off. We really didn’t know what to expect from the city, what the people would be like and weather we would return victorious or potentially injured. The train was full of Australian and American tourists, a thyme which we would see later for the actual running of the bulls. After arriving we exited the train station and decided to do something new, not look at a map.
As we wondered our way to the towns center, all we had to do was follow the crowds of people wearing white shirts, red hankercheifs and red sashes around their waste. Using this technique we made our way to the festivities fairly easily. We got a quick bite to eat at one of the many tents selling food. I was the first to order and got “patates con queso y salsa”. Sounds pretty good, right: potatoes, cheese and salsa. Wrong, it was really the first meal which I hated enough to stop eating thus far in the trip. Mitch and Justin found some great traditional bites though, Paya and a dish made of octopus, potatoes and lots of butter. The octopus dish was so popular with the locals that one of them turned to us and said that this dish was very good.
We then wondered around the city, stopped for a few cervezas and tried to locate the actual route we would be taking for the running of the bulls. On our way to the route we ran into several street performers, marching bands and even found ourselves randomly in the middle of a parade route in which all sorts of groups marched by playing their traditional music very proudly. Towards the inner city walls we found a small area were a Swedish group was having their own little fiesta . We found ourselves a spot on a nearby roof and got a chance to just relax for the first time in a while. We then found these great little conveince stores which sold boxes of sangria (1.5 liters) for only 2 Euro and 1 liters of beer for 2.50 Euro. We all got something, almost finish them, and then decided that now would be a good time to take a siesta in a park.
We woke up with a pretty nice amount of sun on our skins and continued to wonder around. As the day continued we found our route, found the place we would post up for the run and continued to enjoy the fact that the entire town was out parting with us. Families, including their small children, old individuals and people our age were all out partying the night away. One of my favorite things was when we found this marching band (one of the many) whom was walking up and down the streets of the inner city, all of those who wanted to enjoy the band followed them around and enjoyed themselves dancing and singing to the locals favorites. Additionally a rather impressive fireworks show was performed later that night and helped to make up for us not seeing any during the fourth of July.
As the night continued on, and the city refused to sleep (drinking and music continue till about 6am to prepare for the run), we tried to find ourselves somewhere relatively quiet but still with other people for safety to go to sleep. We found a nice round about which had a good grassy area in its middle where others had already set up to sleep. This is a great time to note that Pamplona was really cold and we had not planned on such since Spain has been 80 to 90 the entire time thus far. So we curled up under a sheet and froze all night attempting to get some sleep. In the middle of the night Mitch felt a tug on the day pack, which was attached to him via a bike lock. He awoke to someone with their hand in our bag and quickly went to grab the arm. The man ran away before we got a chance to say anything. This was our first ever theft, but only of my cheap and kind of broken walmart sunglasses.
We woke up around 6:00am to get a good spot in front of the mayors building. This was where all those who wanted to run must meet before the actual running. We still needed someone to hold the day pack, so unfortunately Justin couldn’t run. Instead he tried to post up somewhere towards the end of the run to try and get some video of us. Mitch and I stood in this small square surrounded by…. That’s right you guessed it Austrailian and American tourists. I could only really see a few spanards whom were actually running, the coolest of which was some guy in what seemed like his late 60’s. It makes you think that the Spanish just have the event to watch tourists get run over by bulls for their entertainment…. But that wasn’t going to stop us. We waited for 2 hours, which seemed to take an eternity when we had to think of what we were about to do, until they finally let us run to our starting positions. The anticipation was extreme while we waited for the first firework to signal the release of the first bulls. The street was flooded with people and luckily some of them just started running once the first signal came. Mitch and I waited just past dead man’s curve, a part of the route were you must turn almost 90 degrees around a bend. This is where the bulls tend to slide around and give you a chance to gain some speed when you first see them. Again we waited as ourselves and our fellow runners simply waited for our time to begin running. The crowd began to cheer and we were pushed hard back into the wall by the runners. The bulls rounded the corner and we were off. Nothing has ever been this exillerating before in my life. We started to run and had to be viligante to doge the groups of downed runners in front of us. The first group of bulls and oxen made their way past us rather quickly and we decided to wait for the slower set to reach us. Eventually they came and we were off again. This time we were closer than ever to the herd, about an arms length. We followed them all the way to the bull fighting ring. I was directly behind the herd and Mitch was a few step behind me. The second the herd made it into the ring, they began to close the gates and I barely made it by, while Mitch was stopped directly behind me by a policia and a baton of justice.
Once inside I found myself surrounded by thousands of people in the stands all cheering as loud as the could. It was such an amazing feeling. At this point many of the runners, probably about a hundred or so were on the main floor of the bull ring. None of us were too sure what to expect, but after a few minutes they released the first baby bull. Now these bulls may be babies but they are still the size of a small car and have their horns corked as to help prevent injury during this next event. It was now our jobs to grab the bull by its horns and try to wrestle it down. Runner after runner ran up to slap the bulls ass or take a chance at wrestling it down. During these shanagans, the bulls definitely had his revenge tossing several people in the air, trampling others, and running some into the arena walls. After about 10 minutes of this a large oxen was sent out to round up the baby bull and bring him back in. Then people line up in front of the door where the baby bulls are released. They form a row of about 5 people across and 10 people deep, holding their heads down. Then the bull runs out of the door and tries to jump over the people, of course he never makes it and ends up trampling a few people. Why they do this, I don’t know, but I found it entertaining to watch. This goes on about 6 times and then the runners leave the ring.
I then met up with Mitch and Justin and we found some breakfast. We spent the day wondering around, napping in parks and playing cards, until we left on a train at about 7:30 pm. To summarize Pamplona during the San Fermin festival is one of the craziest places I have ever seen. The actual running was definitely the most exciting thing I have ever done, while sleeping in the park was an “interesting” experience.
We arrived in Barcelona at about 10pm and smelt like hobos. As we waited in line to check into our hostel all of the people in the hostel was asking us about Pamplona and how the running went. It was pretty cool. Once checked in we all enjoyed a well deserved shower and headed to bed.
