Adios, Pamplona

We just boarded the train in route to Barcelona. Pamplona was wonderful.  What an experience. We are currently pondering whether we will ever come back.  It sure is something to behold and I would love to come back again. I’ve never seen a party like the Festival of San Fermin.

Yesterday, Chris woke up early to watch the first running. He basically had to get up at 5:30a to be sure he got a spot to watch. He talked about how many people miss it because when it comes to actually getting up and motivating that early, many people just don’t do it, especially after partying. Since we had the kids up until midnight the day before, and given all the excitement of our big day, getting them up early would have been torture for them and for me. The kids and I had a good sleep.

Chris was back early to the hotel, and after an afternoon siesta, we all headed back to town.  Josh was still recovering from the day before and promptly fell asleep on the bus ride to town. I picked him up at our stop and he never opened his eyes. The town was as lively as ever with people everywhere in their white and red and the usual partying was in full swing. We walked to a grassy spot next to the bull ring and sat down to have a drink and let Josh finish out his power nap.  I laid him down with the backpack for a pillow and he slept for about another hour in that position, and most of that time was filled with loud drumming from the street performers that started up about 20 yards away from us.

Josh passed out cold.

Happy hour on the grass + nap time.

This was one of those moments that were great. It was a relaxing time sitting together, having a little wine, watching all the other festival goers passing by, watching the micro-party that surrounded the drummers, getting up and dancing a little to the drumming, and just enjoying the day. The funniest thing was when a couple young guys came to us , and in their broken English, asked us if we would use their camera to take a picture of them laying next to our son, who was totally passed out on the grass. When we finally understood what they were asking, Chris got up, the two guys lay down next to Josh and Isabel and pretended to be passed out, and Chris took the picture. It was hilarious. You see, it is a common sight to see people passed out in the green grassy parts of town, but it’s not usually little boys taking their nap.

Our children and some other festival participants passed out from too much partying:)

A common site around Pamplona during the festival.

The rest of the day was spent wandering about discovering other sights around town. We saw a parade go by (I think they were promoting Basque independence but I’m not entirely sure), saw a tranquil park along the river below the town,  stopped in a café for a snack, found a stage where a lively latino band was playing and many people were dancing (many older couples together…very cute), happened on another square where a Spanish heavy metal band was playing. The kids were jamming. We picked up some perritos (hot dogs) there and started back to the bus stop. It was a good afternoon.

Dancing with my boy to some Latin beats.

I’m glad we stopped there. We considered going back to the rides, but thought we might get up early the next day to bring the kids into town for the next day’s encierro. After finally making it home, I realized we were done. We had done the festival and it was wonderful and the next day was going to be just about packing up and moving on to our next adventure.

It was a bit sad saying good-bye to Pamplona, especially for Chris, I think. He has some history in that place. As I watched the tv this morning during our hotel breakfast, and we saw the erratic bull that broke away from the pack during that morning’s encierro, I was really glad Chris did not do any actual running. That stuff is crazy! I think most people don’t know that is only one part of this glorious festival…..and ok, I guess I can see why that is a fun part for those who do it.

Now, we are traveling to our next adventure. Until Barcelona…..

Waiting for one of our many buses.

On the train - yes, that crazy balloon had to come with us. It made it through two buses, a train ride, and the taxi to our apartment in Barcelona.