Tony and Liz's Travel Adventures: SPAIN: Running of the Bulls - Pamplona MADNESS: Day 1 continuing into Day 2

DAY 1:

In this blog it was decided to deviate from the norm and bypass Madrid, but you won't be dissappointed because I will publish our Madrid travel adventures later. We arrived in Pamplona especially for the Running of the Bulls and because we have never experienced anything like this EVER EVER we've decided to give it special mention and attention (while it was still fresh in our minds and we could remember what happened).

It is only just a taste of the San Fermin Festival, Pamplona, Spain 2012 - The Annual "Running of the Bulls", and the following pictures are only a sample of the Opening Ceremony on Friday 6th July, 2012. The "Running of the Bulls" begins at 8am 7 July (tomorrow) and we are going to be there !!

Crazy, crazy stuff....... Read about the San Fermin Festival and latest news reports in the links below.

Further down are 2 videos, one taken just on 12 noon which you can clearly see the crowds being sprayed with Sangria, champagne and anything else that fizzed or was liquid. The second showing people as far as the eye could see down laneways off from the Plaza following and dancing to street bands singing traditional songs. Check both out at: http://tonyandliztraveladventures.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/pamploma-madness.html

Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ferm%C3%ADn
BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18751572
UK Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2012/jul/07/pamplona-san-fermin-festival-pictures#/?picture=392750266&index=3

Everyone wears the traditional White and Red outfits

Spectators on their way to the Plaza

The crowd builds waiting for the 12 noon opening of the
San Fermin Festival 2012

The crowd builds to approx 25-30,000 people

The party begins.......

Revellers sprayed with Sangria
after the opening ceremony

The crowds keep arriving

Onlookers on balconies and any other vantage point

The spectator numbers keep growing

The tosser numbers keep growing

Opening Ceremony 12 o'clock
Passing out Ceremony 2 o'clock

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DAY 2:

After taking part in some of the Day 1 opening ceremony (and Tony squirting a nun with Sangria – it’s true – not sure what she was doing there!) we were in awe of the fact that just about all of Pamplona were out and about in the Old City, drinking, partying, and having a great time.....and about quarter of the Australian population under the age of 28, the Fanatics, Topdeck, Intrepid tour groups and International Gutter Tours. All tagged with their respective t-shirts, to identify them clearly, (shame, shame, shame) plus 2 Aussie travel adventurers -Us) .

No, that is not the nun at the front, silly

We even saw a quick little “biff”, no punches thrown, just a lot of gesturing and cursing, with a few old blokes but it wasn’t long before that was settled. The perpetrators were probably asked if they wanted more Cervecza. That would have settled things in no time, and perhaps because of the police presence who just talked to these blokes and went on their way. Just another boozy clash. We found out later that these opening celebrations are called “The Chupinazo” and would continue on through the day, and night, and day, and night….until the end of the San Fermin Festival ending on Saturday 14^th July, 2012. After the opening ceremony and when most of the crowd started to clear (they followed the street musicians playing traditional music) we walked around the nearby streets and through the Plaza Consistorial and found that our shoes were sticking to the ground like a paste/glue. This was a result of all the sprayed alcohol starting to dry over the cobblestones and pavement in and around the area. As you could imagine there was a line-up at the closest fountain and people with the same idea ie. washing the glug off the bottoms of shoes.

We also met an Aussie couple Cam and Nancy, who were based in London, and were there with a 400 strong tour group. We were only on Day 1!! After having a bit of a “how ya doing”….conversation, turns out Cam was originally from Perth and Nancy from Brisbane. Just so happened that she was doing a Science degree at QUT at the time I worked in the Science faculty and she even worked at the Gardens Kiosk next to the campus. Hope they make it back to the UK in one piece, and there weren’t any more “blues” next to their tent in the middle of the night (which didn’t even disturb them LOL).

Cam & Nancy - Panuelos and Pamplona

We ventured back to our accommodation which was about a 15 minute walk from the festivities feeling a little tired ready for a Siesta (guess they still do that in Spain). Not sure if it was the Sangria and being overwhelmed by what we had just been part of or, if it was because we were kept awake last night by the noise of our hosts entertaining a dinner party and bongo playing until 2am.

Spanish girls playing piano accordians

On the way we stopped into a local bar/cafe to rehydrate after all the activities (and so Tony could do some beer "Quality Control") where there were large tables and groups of people/families enjoying the festivities and the public holiday. Two young girls, aged around 10-12, sat in a corner just playing their piano accordians when just about everyone in the bar spontaneously jumped up and started dancing, clapping and cheering as these girls played tradional songs. It was amazing to say the least. The music reminded me a little of when all the Polish people around Deagon would party at each others house, no need for any reason - just get togethers, and would dance and sing to the Polish songs played by the old folk. Much the same here in Pamploma, but the kids were playing the music, whilst the oldies consumed alcohol.

But when we got back to the apartment, we found that a couple from Brisbane, Qld. Yes all that way across the world and we happen to meet with people from Brizvegas twice in one day. Ulee and Sheryle were staying in the next room and our new BFFs.

TJ, Sheryl & Ulee

How good was that – we hit the jackpot. Not only could they understand what we were saying and vice versa, but the bonus was the Ulee could speak and understand fluent Spanish. YES !! And as all Aussies do, they seem to stick together and that’s exactly what we did. That first night we ventured back into the Old City, passed more inebriated people, sitting around drinking, passed out in parks, beside churches and anywhere that they wouldn’t be trampled on. One of the funny things was that Ulee and Sheryle arrived late in the afternoon, got their bearings on a walk around Pamplona and were eager to get into the festivities the next day. THE NEXT DAY !!

It was already happening so we filled them in about the goings-on, and the goings-off i.e. the Parade of Street Bands and other activities we saw including our series of photos of the opening and the story of the nun.

At least we should be comfortable

We were all keen to see the actual “Running of the Bulls” the next morning along the 800 mtr or so stretch through the streets. Over dinner we hatched a plan (Plan 1) that we’d get up really early, leave by 6.30am and get to the fences to see the fear on the faces of the runners. Mistake was – we didn’t get up early enough. In fact, spectators line up early, very, very early ie. 3.00am to get a front row view of the running. There was no way we’d be doing that. We were also to find out how these spectators get to the barriers so early. They just party, party, party hard until it is time for the next scheduled event on the Programme and move along to that. Seriously!! Over the days we questioned – “When do these people sleep?“

Day 2 & the crowd still lingers

Sheryle described our mistake as of not getting up early as “You Snooze – You Lose” and with all these festival goers it made sense – they just don’t sleep and get to front row. But the next day was going to be better and this is when Plan 2 kicks in.

One of the many littered Pamplona streets

All we could hear of the Running was the cheering of the crowd, the whistles and some thudding but that was about it because of all the human noise around us. Everywhere any little vantage point was taken, on window sills, on awnings, stairs, and the spectators on balconies, who sometimes pay up to $200 to get a view of the scrambling runners. There was not a breathing space left anywhere that lined the street. It seemed to be over in about 2 minutes.

Every spot taken and no Bull
to be seen

So our little group “the most sober Aussie 4” wandered around markets, food courts, dirty slippery rubbish filled streets with broken glass, empty plastic bottles and cups and the stench of urine from the night before. The city does make a mammoth effort to keep it clean with high pressure hoses (more the size of Fire hoses), but it ends up the same only hours later. (A north Queensland cyclone would clear it all up very smartly!!)

And the worst part about it I slipped arse over in one of those little cobblestoned streets, which at any other time of year I wouldn’t have minded, but this was gross. And grossly disappointed that we couldn’t get to see the Run.

We found out having that an Aussie of Spanish decent comes in handy. Ulee talked to some people waiting in a queue and found out that you can buy tickets at 6.00am each day to get to the Arena. This allows you to get a seat in the grandstand and watch as the bulls run in live and on the big screen, (with hundreds of fearful people from all nationalities in front of them (the bulls aren’t fussy). And we mean hundreds of “ Locos”.

It was hard to get to sleep that night for a number of reasons i.e. sunset is around 10.15pm, the excitement of getting up early to get tickets and a prime seat in the Arena, but also that an Argentinian girl (there were 2 of them staying there), was up most of the night being sick in the bathroom next to our room. (poor girl – too much Sangria). Other reasons were the 15-20 minute fireworks at 11pm each night, not to mention that the others in the household (at one stage we counted 10 people in total) would wander in at 2, 3, 4 and 5am each morning after partaking in the festivities all night. And then bounce back and do the same again!!

Aussie 4 in our Sen Fermin Colours

Walls surrounding Pamplona

With Pamplona sitting high above the surrounding areas enclosed within a fortress wall about 60-80 mtrs high, there were times we could hear the Fair Ground and music at different times throughout the night/morning. Although I don’t know any traditional Spanish songs, the Subliminal tunes I picked up in my sleep I would be quite capable of singing a few tunes. And I’m sure I could even dance to them having seen them performed on opening day.

But all attempts to get a good sleep were just like seeing the Running of the Bulls that day ie. a big fat ZERO. But we would be there like good spectators, wear our red and white outfits and carry the Sangria bladder like everyone else and wait for the runners and bulls to come through the gates, just a couple of minutes after 8am.