Running of the Bulls - Pamplona Spain Travel Report
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> Running of the Bulls - Festival San Fermin Dates: July 6-14
Travel Report - Running of the Bulls Event - by Darin Wolfaardt, South Africa
Here's a travel report about the 2009 Running of the Bulls / Festival San Fermin by a regular visitor to hotels near big ticket venues.com, Darin Worlaard, of South Africa, writes:
Spain was unreal, it is such a cool place I could easily live there, if I only spoke Spanish!
We first went to Madrid which to be honest theres not alot of sights and things to do,couple lakes and Royal Palace to see and theres a good night out to be had.
Next we caught a bus to Pamplona (5-6hrs total) where the San Fermin Festival is,2nd biggest Festival in the World as im told! I can believe that as there are 1000s of people all dressed in white and red and drinking Sangria and Partying!!! We arrived there Fri night (that morning a man was fatally gored unfortunately). We arrived with no accomodation planned and only a sleeping bag and luggage. There is a luggage storage at the bus stop as you arrive and if that one is full, like it was for us, go to San Fransico Plaza,there is another storage place there, I think it was only 4 euros a night. We dumped everything there and continued to party the night away!
There is a Fireworks display everynight around 23:00 - 00:00, we found two big live concerts,smaller street performers,etc. Theres lots to do there and its the easiest place to make friends!!! We made some fantastic friends while we were there. Sat morning we watched the bull run to pick up tips and hints of how its done as this is serious stuff!
Get to the bull run streets (just ask) at about 6am for a good spot as it starts at 8am sharp! At certain spots there are two parralel fences,dont bother getting a spot on the first fence as by about 7am the police chase everyone off that fence as thats the first line of safety points. Get a good spot on the second fence and you will be able to see everything! Saturday we got our luggage and went for a 3hr power nap in a random park..dont worry about this as everyone does it and police understand the situation! just remember to keep your luggage locked and close to you as it gets stolen pretty fast! I had a bag stolen which had my souverirs from madrid in and couple other goodies...oh well less to carry now I said! Sat night same story we carried on through the night but didnt really drink at all and had a quick sleep before the bull run started sun morning so we were at our best (its recommended not to be too tired and not drunk/tipsy at all while doing the bull run,police will pull you out if they feel this).
We waited nervously for nearly 2hrs until 8am. Ask people around you for advice,everyone is in the same boat and everyone shares their advice freely/ People are friendly there and you will make friends easily there too. Basically when doing the bull run, the bulls will always pass you, no matter where you start, as they run faster than you can! So try get to a straight part when they pass you and stick to the sides!!! Around the corners are where the bulls sometimes wipe out or run wide around the corner and take people out,if you are in a corning hug the inside line! Also try wear good running shoes as its on cobble stones roads with alot of mess from the night before from party people,even though it is quickly cleaned by council members,so its quite slippery to run on! If you do fall they say stay down until someone pats you on the head to say its clear. 12 bulls run at a time and you will hear them before you see them, not right until they close to you and everyone parts like how moses split the seas and suddenly 12 bulls appear right behind you!
The day I ran was one of the worst days of the festival as towards the end one bull broke from the pack and started getting disorientated and agitated and started charging people randomly and running in the opposite direction! When the pack pasted me we all ran after them and then suddenly everyone infront of me stopped and started running back towards me!!! Most of the run has no real safety points but on some areas where the roads would have an intersection, there are fences where you can quickly jump over/under and they have officials and medics to help you if needed. This was the craziest thing Ive ever done and after what I saw that day, (I saw the a man get badly gored repeatedly by the bull that broke away) I realized it is very dangerous. Its not for the faint hearted but it is an amazing experience especially when you finish the bull run and run into the bull arena and everyone is cheering for you...you kinda feel like Gladiator (the movie).
Now that Ive done it I wont do it again just because of the danger factor! But like I said the day I ran they said was one of the worst so maybe other days wouldnt have been so bad.
Right after that we left for Barcelona, for some reason we caught a train to Zaragoza and then a Bus to Barcelona which didnt work out so well as we only arrived at about 6pm in Barcelona. Barcelona is a great place, I thoroughly enjoyed it, theres alot to see and do and it also has some great beaches with great city night life. The only regret I had is I never took my top quality camera with and there is so much you can photograph there!
If travelling from city to city we found that catching a bus is alot cheaper and doesnt take much longer than train. Use this time to catch up on sleep! Also I noticed most people dont understand English but fortunately for us we had an Italian friend who knew some Spanish..I dont know what we would have done with out her. Again Spain as a whole is a great place,very hot weather, and easy place to make friends,so dont worry even if you travelling alone. Also if you have a spare day in Madrid theres some great Spanish Castles not far out,I wanted to go see them but never had enough time unfortunately. I also never had time to see the Barcelona Football stadium, which I heard is most impressive.
Pics to follow shortly
Regards, Darin Wolfaardt.
Related Links - Spain - Travel - Events - Reports
See Darin's most recent report about his trip to the Assen MotoGP where he met, and he's got pictures to prove it, 7 times world motorcycle racing Champion Valentino Rossi !
> My Blog note about Hotels near the Running of the Bulls Pamplona Spain with video of the event!
> guides to Barcelona & the Circuit Catalunya and Hotels near Circuit Catalunya (Montmelo . Granollers)
> my guide to Hotels near Madrid Barajas Airport MAD and Hotels near Gibraltar Airport (where a highway runs across the runway! Check out the pic!
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