La Perla Pamplona

... jam and cereal and orange juice. Other options not taken by us were hams and salamis and cake! So we hopped onto the bus towards the front (which turned out to be a good options) and started off to Biarritz, the resort holiday location for the French. Turns out that most of the french were actually heading in that direction today and we had a pretty big traffic issue getting to Biarritz. We arrived late but took a tour to the light house and then got dropped ...

... missed at Puenta la Reina the night before, as I had opted to stay only about 2 miles away with George. It was Puenta´s running of the bulls and town festival, very boozy and very Spanish, complete with fireworks, red bandanas and packed streets. They even ended up meeting the mayor of the town, who brought them up to their apartment and gave them some drinks... he even called the refugio tot ell them to keep it open late for them!! Apparently it was a rather alte night (versus ...

... familar faces at the hostel waiting for me. If they are not there, I sometimes experience a weird sadness, depression and anxiety for a few moments. How much do I owe my fellow pilgrim, for whom I have shared conversations and time with?

Anyways, this was part of my dilemma on this hike, although the views on this walk were especially beautiful. Also, as we had begun so late, the trails were virtually empty and I felt so much less pressure to arrive ...

... cold and we had not planned on such since Spain has been 80 to 90 the entire time thus far. So we curled up under a sheet and froze all night attempting to get some sleep. In the middle of the night Mitch felt a tug on the day pack, which was attached to him via a bike lock. He awoke to someone with their hand in our bag and quickly went to grab the arm. The man ran away before we got a chance to say anything. This was our first ever theft, but only of my cheap and kind of broken ...

... people. It has become probably the most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain. Over 1.000.000 people come to watch this festival."

The festival gets underway at midday on 6 July with a huge crowd gathering in the plaza by the town hall in the old town. Hayley and I had by this stage managed to figure out a few general rules about the opening ceremony. 1: wear the festival colours of white and red - preferably white pants ...

... the capital of Navarra province. The old part of the City is surrounded by massive stone walls that you enter by crossing an drawbridge from the 16th century. The City is dominated by a massive Cathedral which is under a major renovation.

Our hotel is on a busy street with a number of small hotels and bars. Our room has a balcony overlooking all of the bustle. When we arrived a 3:30 pm all of the bars and restaurants ...

... that the signs here were written in both Castilian (Spanish to people who aren't trying to sound like *****) and Basque- it was like being in Wales, except the train I'd arrived on was quite, as opposed to the Welsh railways whose policy seems to be to make their trains as **** stained as possible. One signpost had had the Castilian crossed out and a large sticker saying Euskara (Basque for, well, Basque) twatted across it. If anyone reading this has been ...

... then your first cousin... Wait, that's not right, is it? *Mean Girls quote). I would attach a diagram but that is beyond my computer skills. The older generation consists of Juan Marie, Socorro, and Nieves. Juan Marie and Socorro have three kids: Jon, Ibon, and Ainhoa. Everyone but Ainhoa was there for dinner and we sat and talked until 1am! The conversations were good and the food even better. It was a welcome change since Saturday ...

... and send him on his merry way! This is insane, worse than the running,you're actually trapped in with this thing! Not to mention you can' t see it because of the crowd in front of you, until of course they part like the red sea and there it is :S This is the part of the story where I meet a bull! 8:30am; The sea parted and there he was.. ****! Never ran so fast in my life - found the fence and jumped on it. But that didn't dissuade him. There he was closer and staring. I ...

... near the river and some other nice old buildings. It was a really quiet place, and relaxing after being on the motorway. However, the thing we both remember Pamplona for the most is getting the car impounded, on the very first day we had it! (We were pretty silly though.) We had parked it during siesta when you dont need a ticket, so when we tried to get one and the money kept falling straight out, we figured we must have to come back and get one ...