Madrid and Pamplona - Bull Run

Me and Ronnie

After visiting Seville and Cordoba, we started to make our way north and stopped off in Madrid for a couple of days. The staff in the hotel we were staying in were fantastic. I'd booked a double bed in error but the hotel let us have two double bedrooms at no extra charge, nice one, and it saved us having to build a wall of pillows down the middle of the bed!

We visited the Santeago Bernabau stadium on Monday, really good tour and got to have our photo taken with the European Cup, Madrid's 10th win in this competition. In the afternoon we went to the Prado Museum where there was a El Greco and Picasso exhibition - we do culture as well you know!

After the culture style and sophistication of Madrid, we packed up and moved on to Pamplona for the Bull Run. Its fair to say that everything we had been told about the festival and the 24 hour party was true. It was bedlam when we arrived, the narrow streets crammed full of (very happy) people. After getting to our accommodation we went for a walk and bought ourselves our white Pamplona running gear, with the red sash and bandanna. Everyone in Pamplona wears the same outfit, the ones who don't look a bit out of place.

On Tue evening we ended up in the Bull Ring and watched the matadors toy

Ready for the run

with the first bull, before killing it to the cheers of 20,000 spectators crammed into the arena. It felt a bit uncomfortable to watch, so after the first bull (of 8) we left (to the puzzled looks of the Spanish sat around us) and then went on a guided walk of the bull run course.

The guides pointed out the best places to run for first time runners and then regaled us with stories of who, where and when people had been gored and killed as they ran! This was serious business and makes you stop and think, you are not only contending with the unpredictability of bulls that have been bred to fight, but the other runners as well. The main message was if you fall when running stay down and get under the fences as quick as you can. If you are on the floor the bulls will jump over you, but if you stand up or try to climb over the fences there is more chance the bulls will see you as a threat and go for you.

After so many weeks of relaxation I think we were a bit dazed by this parallel world we had walked into, so much so we forgot about the semi final game between Brazil and Germany. Luckily we dropped across a bar showing the game and started watching just before the German machine moved into top gear. 

Ready at the start of the bull run

The following morning we were up at 6:30 to get to our balcony space to watch the bull run. There were still plenty of people on the streets drinking and partying from the night before. The run is fenced off, ambulances are in place and a buffer zone established where any injured people can be dragged through the fence to get medical treatment. The atmosphere is buzzing and at 8 am a rocket is fired to indicate the bulls have left the enclosure, shortly followed by another rocket when the final 8th bull has left. A few seconds after the first rocket is fired the 'early runners' start legging it to try and get ahead of the bulls and then the surge of runners and bulls tear round the corner, in a couple of second they are gone. The whole run takes around 2 minutes. There was a 'goring' on this run close to the bull ring, as one of the bulls turned round and started going in the opposite direction. The guy couldn't get under the fence quick enough and then the police and medics couldn't pull him through because the bull had him pinned to the fence. Once they got him free the screens went up around him, it didn't look good, but we understand he was OK.

After the run the streets clear for a short time while people go to bed for a few

Pamplona Bull Ring

hours, the streets are cleared of broken glass and rubbish and washed down before the party starts all over again.

In the afternoon we were in a bar debating over a couple of beers, on which part of the course we should run. I went to the loo and managed to get floored by a swinging, spring loaded toilet door (no I wasn't drunk). I'm not quite sure how I managed it, but I had a good welt on my head and broke my glasses. We agreed if anyone mentioned it we should say it was a bull run injury!

We had a great night watching the second semi final in a packed bar, fuelled by one (or two) too many beers, great atmosphere especially with the penalties, the majority of Spanish supporting Argentina, but we were shouting for Holland - guess who lost. Yep apart from one match where a bird crapped on Bobs head (apparently a sign of good luck) we've pretty much maintained our dismal record of seeing every team we support lose. Sorry Holland for the kiss of death.

After the bull run the following morning where someone got tossed by a very unpredictable lead bull on the corner opposite where we were, we made our way back to the van for the drive to Bilbao and the BBK festival.

The madness of Pamplona