Spain Day 1: Pamplona!

From July 11 - 15th, I attended the festival of San Fermin in the city of Pamplona, Spain which is about a 5 hour bus ride north of Madrid. I also read somewhere that Pamplona has one of the best standards of living in Spain (bonus!). Anyways, the festival occurs every year and held annually form the 6th of July to midnight of the 14th of July (so over two weekends). Thus, having my good friend Anne over on the first weekend, I was able to take in the festivities at the end of the festival where as Inci, Remi, Ozkan, Anoi and Thomas from the boat (as well as Jenn and Blaire from lulu) were able to take in the crazy celebrations at the very beginning.

Every morning of the festival, there is the famous encierro, or the the running of the bulls along with other activities (so almost their version of the Calgary Stampede :P) From Wikipedia:

"It is known locally as Sanfermines and is held in honor of Saint Fermin, the patron saint of Pamplona and of Navarre. Its events were central to the plot of The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English-speaking peoples. It has become probably the most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain."

So it all started with my arrival from Madrid which the bus left Madrid at 1am and we arrived at 5:45am... my good friend Maria didn't expect me to be there that fast.. but I remember the small moments that when I wasn't passed out... the bus was going ultra fast (sorta reminded me of the Sunshine coach that one time to Banff..... crazy Europeans hee hee.) Thus Maria picked me up from the bus station (which was confusing because I was dropped off at the "new" one that was still under construction where as she was waiting for me at the "old" one. But after we were able to meet.. she was exhausted from the festivities and wanted to crash and I was up for more sleep too!

By the time we got up it was about 1 or 2 pm and I had the chance to meet Maria's mom Saria and Senior Raffa (I'm sure I spelled their names wrong (apologies!)) and her older sister Ana. Then I found out I had to wear only red and white (not a problem for this Canadian ;P) and luckily I brought white shorts and cheapy white pants and a bunch of white shirts and my Canada day shirt (man I was more prepared for that than what I expected).

We started off with typical Spanish lunch which happens to be their LARGEST meal of the day... we ate at about 3:30pm or 4pm and god her mom cooks FANTASTIC. I felt bad cause Maria was saying her mom was making more than what she normally does since I was there... oops*.

After lunch we were ready to browse the town now that it was about pm or so and the town is starting to cool down from the intense heat of the day. And after a gracious gift from her parents with a red handkerchief (the pañuelo) I was ready to rock!

We walked to the main square and met up with Maria's friend Fabienne from France who was also working in pamplona. And it so happens that Fabienne's parents were visiting as well.

The photo above is of Hotel La Perla where Hemingway stayed. From Wiki: "... a book about bullfighting, was published in 1932. Hemingway had become an aficionado after seeing the Pamplona fiesta of 1925, fictionalized in The Sun Also Rises. In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway extensively discussed the metaphysics of bullfighting: the ritualized, almost religious practice. In his writings on Spain, he was influenced by the Spanish master Pío Baroja (when Hemingway won the Nobel Prize, he traveled to see Baroja, then on his death bed, specifically to tell him he thought Baroja deserved the prize more than he)."


From there Maria gave us a nice tour of the her beautiful little town through the route of the bull run to the bull ring to the bar-filled streets to the edge of town and the gorgeous parks *phew*!!!



Two dudes playin an instrument from the Region.



apparently according to Maria, the red and white costume was a fairly recent thing.

At 12:00 midday every 6 th July, the Square in front of the Town Hall is witness to the chaos when the San Fermin Fiesta literally takes off with a bang. This moment is marked by a rocket - the "Chupinazo" - which is set off to announce the start of the Fiesta. read more here at the San Fermin guide

Spoiled by a gorgeous day to take in the panoramic sites of the city.

I remember reading somewhere... though I don't remember where that Pamplona has one of the highest concentrations of bars in one area. Man is that a true fact.. you can walk down one street and have easily 20 bars albeit they aren't full fledged multiroom complexes and more like a bar and a dance floor... but that's besides the point.

Going into the small side streets the atmosphere is very serence compared to other parts of town. While passing a courtyard there are a bunch of local kids playing football just outside... for some reason this too me is one of those European experiences you see on TV at home; kids playing football in an old town of the courtyard with adults standing around and watching... pretty cool.




Ah the bull running...Wiki: "Each morning's event starts at 8 a.m... and the runners gather in an area at the beginning of the route called Cuesta de Santo Domingo, where they sing three times an ode before a statue of San Fermin placed in a niche in a wall there:

A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro, dándonos su bendición. Viva San Fermín. Gora San Fermin. ("We ask San Fermín, because he is our Patron, to guide us through the Bull Run, giving us his blessing.") (video below was not taken by me... but by some dude on July 12, 2007)...

From the San Fermin Guide: All through the Festival 16 "Penas" or 'clubs' seem to be the epitime of pure anarchy, but even pure chaos needs some basic organization. These clubs have been gradually founded throughout the history of the Sanfermin Festival for the purpose of providing a basic structure for its members during these wild days of the fiesta.

The penas have a key part to play on the terraces of the bullring during the bull-fights where their presence is fundamental. Here, the different clubs, each with their distinctive dress, and seated under their distinctive banners, are gathered together in a loud raucous crowd which totally dominates the atmosphere during the afternoon bull-fights (like a football game sort of).

They also mark the difference in the street with the continuous din of their brass-bands reverberating round the streets of Pamplona day and night.

Even though there are other, more professional bands which are paid by the Town Hall to play music in the streets, there is nothing to compare with the colour and joy that the "Peñas" create. The Fiesta would not be the same without the musical parades of the Peñas as they lead the crowds singing and dancing through the streets (below);

Maria and Vanessa

After the tour we took a little break and ran into some more friends of Maria's. This couple had this cool little dude and I was hoping when I go back to Can that Kyan had better not be jumping and walking around yet.... or I would be severely depressed for missing so much.. but boi this kid had a lot of character!

After we split up from Maria's friend and her parents as Maria was going to meet some close friends Amalia and Nerea at one of the Pena's where her sister or her sister's friend is a member (Pena - Donibane).


Here is where I met Vani (Vanessa) and a friend at a bar and we were suppose to meet others but they were already somewhere else so we headed to a Pena that some of her friends and sister were partying with.

The band of the pena was playing outside all night long and with people of all ages taking it to town! (below)



where were there until about 12 to 1am before we headed off to find some eats (boccatas! (aka sandwiches and drinks) and then off to another bar!

Vani (see spoke next to no english.. but we were able to connect on the "Woooooaaaah" level)

PS these people have hidden reserves of energy.. I don't know how they could do this for 10 days in a row.

We dropped into about 2 or 3 more bars before calling it a night by about 2 or 3... I can't remember... all in all a GREAT FIRST DAY.

some sexy sunglasses Maria found.
on the way back to Maria place..pizza and sandwiches out of a machine! Almost like febo in Amsterdam.

ps. this post took me three hours.