OK - so I was really looking forward to this - Pamplona - “The Running of the Bulls”! But after being there I will say it was interesting to see, but maybe it has been “over-hyped” through videos, and TV clips. Anyway, we had to get to Pamplona first...

We went from Porto to León Spain by car - a beautiful drive - and León is a beautiful city. We stayed “inside the walls” of the old city at a monastery which has been turned partly into a small hotel, and also operates as a hostel for people walking the Camino de Santiago. This is one of the main stops on this particular route, and we saw many people on their journey here. Beautiful streets and Cathedral here and some good tapa’s as well!

From León, we took the train to Pamplona. We arrived late afternoon on July 5th - the day before the Opening Ceremonies for the Festival of San Fermin. Ernest Hemingway brought this festival to light in The Sun Also Rises, helping to make this likely the most well known fiesta in Spain. We were lucky to have arrived a bit early, and found a nice Tapa’s Bar where we could sit and “people watch” as others arrived. From nuns to “Hen” and “Stag” parties and the protestors - they just kept coming! It is said that over a million people attend this 8 day festival - it seemed like they all wanted to be there on opening day!

The opening of the festival happens at noon on July 6th each year. We would be on a balcony overlooking the plaza of City Hall, where the Mayor would open the festival. But we had to arrive before 10:00 AM, as any later would mean you may not make it through the crowds. Glad we made it in time. The “tradition”(??) of dousing each other with Sangria took place below us, and was fun to watch, but definitely for a younger crowd! The traditional clothing for the festival is all white with a red sash and a red bandanna. But with the thousands of gallons of Sangria in the air - “pink” was maybe the color of the day if you were on the plaza itself!

After standing and watching the craziness below for nearly two hours, it was time for the official opening of the festival. The mayor took his place and with one rocket, sent the crowd into a total frenzy. Everyone holds their bandannas above their head waiting for the rocket to signify the opening of the festival. Here are a couple of videos - the first was mine from our balcony, and the second from the TV crew (some filmed from the balcony right next to ours). We had to wait about another hour before heading back downstairs - letting the crowd disperse a bit - but the party continued through the night. It was CRAZY!

The next day would be the first “running of the bulls”. These bulls are kept in a pen below the town, and have to be moved to the ring on the other side of town. Tradition has bulls moved through the city to the ring, and this happens in various ways in every town in Spain (the ones that still have bullfighting). Whatever the reason, this moving of the bulls in Pamplona has become the biggest event of each day - more popular by far than even the bullfights. We would again be on a balcony, this time above “la curva de la estafeta”, sometimes referred to as “dead mans corner”, and we needed to be there by 6:30 AM, for the 8:00 AM running. Getting to our balcony was an eye-opening experience. The downside of having so many people in a small town for a big party - lack of sanitation facilities! The smells were horrendous (combination of Sangria and urine is not good), and walking through the streets was nearly unbearable. The local crews are spraying the streets - most important the streets where the run occurs - with water trucks and street sweepers everywhere. Maybe this is the real reason to wear bandannas!

Once we are up on the balcony, it is interesting to watch the events leading up to the actual run. First the clearing and cleaning of the streets, and then the mayor (or other official) walks the course to give his approval. Then the runners are let onto the course to find their position - there must be thousands of them.

Finally at 8:00 AM sharp, a rocket is set off to let the runners know the bulls have been released. It would take a world-class athlete about 4 minutes to run the course - it takes the bulls a little more than 2 minutes! The key to running with bulls - stay out of the way!

From where we are on the balcony, you can see about 10-15 seconds of the run. On this day, as the bulls came around the curve, one guy was on the “wrong side” of the street, and went down as the bulls went over him - but luckily he was able to jump right back up. After the first bulls are released (actually, 6 bulls and 3-4 steers), an additional 2-3 steers are released to help keep any wayward bulls moving forward.

With the first day of the bull running complete, it was time to take a rest, and get ready for a nice dinner and fireworks celebration (must have been for Eileen’s BD). We had a great group at our table with several planning to “run” the next morning. A nice evening and a chance to meet people from all over.

Day 2 and another walk through the waste of a million people on the way to the mornings balcony. This time we were on the main long street - Estafeta - with a view of maybe 20-25 seconds! People take positions everywhere (and I mean everywhere) to get a peek at the run. It is actually more fun to watch all the lead-up to the event than the actual run itself!

From this vantage point you can see, most of the injuries that occur on the run actually have nothing to do with the bulls - it’s just people running over each other. May as well be Black Friday at Walmart!! There are so many people that want to say the ran with the bulls, that they simply line the sides of the street, take a few steps, the bulls pass by, and they “ran”!

Run over, and now we head to a bull “training” facility that was about an hour outside the city. This was a good tour for sure. We saw young bulls in “training” and some in our group even got to try their hand at being a matador. Interesting to watch, as the bulls are basically trained for their future death - just “taught” to chase a cape (the color really doesn’t matter as they are colorblind). A bit sad really, as they probably think this is just a game at this young age. Again though, it was interesting to see and an enjoyable time overall. Toward the end, some of the local boys were practicing their bullfighting without capes - also known as Acrobatic Bullfighting. Maybe this is the direction bullfighting will go in the future - without the need to kill the animals.

Our final night in Pamplona was to be our night at the bullfights. After watching a few videos on YouTube, we weren’t sure we really wanted to go, but we decided we would anyway. As luck would have it, the Sullivan "curse" followed along - thunder, lightning and heavy rain (flash flooding in some areas), and for the first time in something like 20 years - the bullfights were cancelled for this one night. Hopefully the bulls were spared as well...

I am including the next video from YouTube which was from a few years back of a bullfight - not because I enjoy it, but because I think it shows the entirety of what happens. It is not easy to watch, and while we were in Pamplona I noticed that when they show bullfights on television, they don’t show the entire thing, but only the more “beautiful” parts of the beginning of the “fight”.

This video shows the actual killing of the bull at the end; the cutting off of the ear of the bull; and the dragging of the dead bull off the ring by horses. It leaves me to wonder how long this would continue if they showed all of this as part of the TV coverage. On a more encouraging note, the mayor of Pamplona said in an interview that he felt the Festival could continue the tradition of the run, without needing to have the bullfights. So maybe some progress is being made, and there will be an end to this practice soon! Anyway, watch or don't watch - up to you.

All in all, Pamplona was an interesting experience, and while we can check it off our “bucket list”, it is not a place we need to return to - at least not during the festival. And if it is on your bucket list, you may want to re-think this one!

Or, perhaps there is another option...(maybe I had to have enough to drink first)...

On to Ireland next - Guinness country!

Enjoy the photos in the Album and the videos.

Salud!

Tim & Eileen