PaMpLoNa -- Bull run

Our first steps upon our return to Spain were taken in Bilbao.  We were only there long enough to wait for our bus to Zarautz, where our campsite for Pamplona was.  We had an extra night, though, before we were booked to the campsite, so we found a place to stay and slept.  :)  Our flight was at 6:40 in the morning and we had to be there a couple hours early, so we had been up for awhile.

That evening, we went & checked out the beach area.  We watched some surfers ride waves and had a bit of supper before going back to sleep, haha.  :)  I got to snap a few good pictures, though!

We headed to the campsite the next day.  The view and actual camgrounds were really nice.  I wasn't sure what to expect upon arrival, but it turned out okay. 

They definitely fit in as many tents as they could.  This is just a small portion of them.

Getting started quickly

We arrived when many of the other campers were in Pamplona for the opening ceremonies of the festival.  It was pretty quiet.  Upon arrival, they had a 'welcome drink' waiting for us.  We had a beer and got settled in.

That evening, leave it to Clint & I to get beer pong started!  We gathered some people and got it going in full swing.  :)  We had the battle of Americans vs the Aussie's.  :)  Overall, I think the Aussie's were victorious.  :)  We put up a good fight, though!

Well, Pamplona is all about the bull run, right?  Clint crashed around 11ish and I was about an hour after that.  The campsite got a lot more busy after the rest of the campers came back.  We were woken up at 4:00 in the morning to catch our bus to Pamplona at 5:00.  They served 'hot breakfast' of toast with an egg on it.  I was HuNgOvEr!  I hadn't drank in a long time, so that morning was NOT my best friend.  HaHa.. to say the least.  :)  We met some people from New Zealand that quickly became friends, Lexie and Alex.  Alex was going to run, but Lexie wasn't, so we kind of joined forces.  I watched the bull run from the arena with Lexie and Alex & Clint headed to join the horde of runners.  Despite not feeling the best, I REALLY enjoyed the run.  It was kind of a rush, to be honest.  I don't know how I'd feel actually running, but watching it and feeling/hearing the crowd was just exciting.  I got chills!  Once Clint & I met up, I found out that he didn't get to run because he wasn't far enough up in the group of runners.  It was quite confusing for us who hadn't done the run before.  It would have been nice to have bit more advice and guidance in that area. 

The streets of Pamplona just an hour before the run was to begin.  People on their balconies had a prime view!

The arena after the bulls had ran through.  Waiting for them to release the bull calves.

After the initial run, they let the bull calves in to play with all the adventurous spirits of the bull run.  Some of the hits were a bit scary looking, but most got up cheering.

Traditional dress, if you can't tell, is all white with a red sash around your waist and neck.  Any other colors make you look culturally irresponsible.  :)

I have video of the run and of the bull calves, but I cannot figure out how to get it to upload to this damn page.  I'm going to continue to do a little bit of research and hopefully figure out how to do it.  Once I do, I promise to upload some footage so you can check it out for yourself.  The whole run lasts 2-4 minutes from the time the run begins.  I am definitely glad to say that I got to experience San Fermin. 

Once we were back at camp, we were both kind of over the whole party scene, so we just took it easy.  Got to catch a pretty awesome sunset, though...

Well, I am going to close with that.  I am going to start uploading some pics to Facebook.  That alone could take all summer, haha!  I will attempt to figure out this video thing so that you can see the run and some other things.  Hope that this finds you all well!!