SPAIN pamplona (running with the bulls)
it is absolutely mad down here. you can tell the town of pamplona is really pretty during the rest of the year but just gets wrecked for a whole week. because most people are walking around all day and night, people use every inch of it as their toilet. so, it’s dirty and smells awful down every street.
jon, chris, and i made our way down by bus from barca in about 6 hours. at the bus station, we were greeted by a scene i think we will all remember for the rest of our lives-zombies huddled together on the steps and corridoor who were actually san fermines participants who had nowhere to go. luckily, we had booked a hotel so we got into the first cab and more or less rested before watching the run.
the run is at 8am but we heard people stoop up and get the best view starting at around 6, so we did just that. you can feel the excitement in the air as people climb garbage bins, fences, and scurry to take the place of anyone that leaves. the actual run is a lot more chill than the intense videos and images because the officials spread out the runners throughtout the course. at 8 the run finally started but it all happens so quickly! we were off to the side so we didn’t see the stampede coming our way, and when the bulls run by it happens in about 10 seconds. all we saw was some guys getting rammed against the fence. the next question is, are we running tomorrow?