So we hopped on our bus Sunday afternoon to head up to Pamplona so that we could experience the Running of the Bulls. All was going well, we made it to our bus with plenty of time to spare, it was a nice bus (nice = with air conditioning). However, Evie and I were so lucky that we got to sit behind this ancient old lady who apparently still follows the one bath per year rule.
Now don't get me wrong, we've all gotten used to the odors here. Deodorant and regular bathing is not really the Euro style, and you get used to it after awhile. But this lady had a stench that smelled like she had been decaying for a few days. Ugh. It was so bad that Evie and I peeled an orange and used the peel to cover up our noses. For real.
The good thing is that she got off at the halfway point, so we didn't have to suffer through it ALL the way to Pamplona. Lucky us.
So we finally pull into the city around 11 to a HUGE fireworks display. We had just caught the official beginning of the festival, which is known as the "Chupinazo". The fireworks rivaled any I've ever seen in the US, and even though the 4th was a few days ago, we went ahead and counted it as our Independence Day celebration. In addition to seeing an incredible set of fireworks, we also saw this right as we stepped off our bus:
People, people, people anywhere and everywhere you looked. It was literally mass chaos in the entire city. Literally millions of people descend on the city for San Fermin and it was packed to the very brim with them all. Here you can see the ambulance posed and ready for anything in the crowd.
One thing that we noticed was that everyone was wearing red and white. And that we were not. So we stuck out like sore thumbs, which is never a good thing. So we immediately went and bought ourselves the clothes to match. Here are Ashley, myself, Evie, and Matt posing in our new San Fermin outfits.
After we got our new souveniers, we went off to try and find something to occupy our time for the next few hours. Hotels and hostals are impossible to come by unless you book a year in advance, so our plan was just to stay out all night long and head to the street where the run takes place really early to get a good spot. So we lucked out and came across this free concert that was in a big park in the center of the city. Even though Spanish rock music is absolutely horrible, it was still fun to sit and listen and talk to some Spaniards.
Around 4 am, we decided to go ahead and walk over to the run route. We had been told that you need to be there by at least 5:30 or 6 in order to get a good spot, but the concert had ended and we were bored, so we made the decision to go ahead and check it out. When we got there, we got to watch them set up the border for the run. The particular spot where we sat was close to the beginning and has a really sharp curve (known by many to be "dead man's curve") so they had to double the barriers because the bulls and the runners always slip and slam into the barriers.
And don't kid yourself, we had a fight on our hands to keep our spots. Everyone thinks that they have the right to watch the run from a prime location. And they do. But tons of people think that they can come up and shove you from where you were sitting and steal your spot. The run route is actually pretty short and there aren't that many good spots available, so for those of us who had one, we had to pretty literally fight to keep them. I won't lie, I threw an elbow here and there and utilized my Spanish a ton. But I was able to keep our spots for us, so I guess I just did what I had to do.
However, only me, Evie, and Ashley were together at this point, so we only had to fight for three. We basically all got split up during the night, so we each had to fend for ourselves. My friend Cherrie almost got in a fist fight with a Spanish girl who told her "I'm Spanish and you're an American. It's my right to be here, not yours." Needless to say, none of us are that big of fans of the people of Pamplona.
After what seemed like hours and hours and hours of waiting, things finally started to begin. This is a picture of the starting line. The cops were holding all the runners in before the official time went so they could keep the streets clean. They had just swept all the debris off to be as sure as possible that no one would get hurt. Or that as few as possible. haha
To get things going, they set off a round of firecrackers to get the bulls running. Since this picture was at the very front of the line, everything is fairly relaxed (at the moment) because the bulls weren't even close yet. So all the guys were walking at this point.
This picture was taken just as you could hear the thundering hooves getting closer and closer. The urgency had picked up a bit and the guys were starting to pick it up and move their rear ends.
This picture is pretty self-explanatory. Here are the bulls as they go charging through. The view wasn't that great because even though we had front-row seats, the press still got to be in front of us on their own little towers. But you can still see everything pretty well.
It really was incredible at this point because all the runners were literally running for their lives. There was so much fear and excitement that I can barely describe it. The bulls kept slamming into the walls in front of us because of the sharp curve, but at this point no one had yet been hurt.
Here comes another round of bulls getting ready to charge through the runners. And of course, we have some dumb guys who think it's a better idea to watch instead of running.
And now we have a man down. The scariest part was that there were a lot of bulls still coming (you can tell because there are guys who are obviously running for their lives), so even though this guy was out cold, he still had the chance of getting hurt even worse by getting run over. However, the police came with these portable shield things and surrounded him to make sure that didn't happen. So even though you would think that the Running is ridiculous and unorganized, they actually have contingency plans for everything.
I still don't know if this guy was alright. They came after it was over and carried him off in a stretcher, but they didn't seem too urgent, so I assume he's okay.
This is my friend Brian and I after the run. Brian actually ran with the bulls, so he didn't wimp out like I did. He was on such an adrenaline rush at this point that he could barely talk. He did say that at one point he turned and saw a guy get run over by a bull right next to him. He actually had to jump up the fence at one point because he almost got gored. But he said it was the biggest rush of his life. And even though it's crazy, I'm jealous! haha
The Run was over by 9, and our bus didn't leave until 4 in the afternoon. So the only thing that we had to do at this point was wait. Most of the festivities take place in the evening and into the night (although there were plenty of people getting an early start). And after being awake and fighting for a spot all night long, we were all exhausted.
So what do you do in Pamplona when you need to take a nap? You head to the park and find a spot. Personally I opted for a shady place in the grass, but Ashley found an empty park bench and took advantage of it. No worries about sleeping in the park. During San Fermin, this is what everyone does. In fact, walking through the park 24 hours a day you'll find people sleeping all through it. It may not be 100% safe, but there is just kind of an understanding that we're all here, we're all tired, and none of us is going to rob anyone else. Kind of an understood thing.
So finally we got on our bus and made it back safe and sound to Madrid. Even though all of us were more tired and sore than we had ever been, it was such an incredible feeling to know that we all had witnessed history. The Running of the Bulls is wildly chaotic and massively crazy, but it is incredible. And now I can say I've been there.
Going back to life as usual after all this is going to be rough! haha
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