Husa Xabier Pamplona

Today we ventured forth from Bordeaux at a non civilized 6.30am, with bags out at 7.15am... it appears the bell boy either couldn't tell the time or was quite anxious to collect the bags so at 7.10am he was knocking..and we weren't ready. By about 7.20am we were ready for breakfast and to take our bags down..so thats what we did. Dropped the bags off to Genaro our driver and had an eclectic breakfast of museli and croissants and a coffee for me, but dan had breads ...

... many things...

Arriving at Los arcos, i was very happy to see Damon and Tim along with some new people I hadn´t met. This area of Navarra is fiercely independent, and the antispanish grafitti, signs and sentiments have become even more intense. I saw the title of this entry on the way into Los Arcos, along with banners demanding that the Spanish police and troups stay out of the town, or else.

A little emotional setback came in the form of learning about what >I ...

... naturally leads to formation of a bond and a friendship. So, with some new friends nearby, should someone change their schedule to keep these relationships? Will the objectives for which you began this journey hit a setback when you are suddenly not living each moment for only yourself? It is an interesting situation for which I am struggling with. I typically wish that I would stop overanalyzing and just enjoy, and I find myself so very happy to see the ...

... later that night and helped to make up for us not seeing any during the fourth of July.
As the night continued on, and the city refused to sleep (drinking and music continue till about 6am to prepare for the run), we tried to find ourselves somewhere relatively quiet but still with other people for safety to go to sleep. We found a nice round about which had a good grassy area in its middle where others had already set up to sleep. This is a great time to note that Pamplona was ...

... giant-sized figures who represent the King and Queen of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America) and the Cabezudos (the Bigheads). The week-long celebration involves many other traditional and folkloric events. It is known locally as Sanfermines and is held in honor of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of Navarra. Its events were central to the plot of The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English ...

... seems to be stopping for a smoke. There are two young Japanese women who seem to be able to walk muddy trails all day and not get dirty. And there is a French woman who is suffering greatly from sore feet but continues on. For the last two mornings we have passed a man in his eighties who moves incredibly slowly but is on the trail again when we start off in the morning.

We ended our day in Pamplona. Pamplona ...

... everything your own way. Still, at least I'd nicked some headphones. The train shot off and I slept sporadically, dreaming of nothing in particular. Those are the strangest dreams, when you're somewhere between true sleep and being awake and everything merges into one bizarre blur. The train rolled into Pamplona and I got off. It was by far the shoddiest train station I had seen so far on this trip. I began to follow the river towards the old town ...

So we left off when I was on my way to Baztan to meet the Dufurrena family. Apparently not very many people were traveling on Sunday because I was the only person on the bus. Imagine that, a whole bus just for me. They must know who I am... :)  Just kidding. My relative, Socorro, met me in Elizondo and drove us to the house. For this blog we are going to call them cousins because the family tree is a bit complex (Well you have your ...

... As you are being funnelled inside the gates you can hear their collective incessant breathing.. Your hairs just stand on end, and you pray "Please let them keep going forward". 8:07am; You arrive in the arena, the bulls enter their pen. The crowd roars so loud the stadium trembles and every runner that made it this far is just screaming for more. This is where they release a "small" bull. Well if your definition of small is 900kg then I guess you're right. They corked his ...

On Monday morning we picked up our car from Hertz; a zippy little Ford Focus. After managing to get out of the city, we headed North West to Pamplona. We had been going to stop at Zaragoza, but after seeing the smog surrounding the city from the autopista (motorway) we decided to keep going. We arrived in Pamplona in mid-afternoon and walked around the city centre, looking for a star-shaped citadel. We didnt find it, but found some huge old city ...