Fiesta de San Fermín, Pamplona
In July of this year I flew to Barcelona to then make my way to Pamplona for the world famous Fiesta de San Fermin. I landed in Barcelona at midnight, again with nowhere to stay & not knowing where to go so I headed off on foot in the best looking direction and spent the next 8 hours walking across a desert accompanied only by a tropical storm. I eventually ended up in the city & found a beautiful park full of palm trees and lavender. Had one of the smallest coffees I've ever seen in a local cafe and realised my Spanish wasn't as good as I thought. Went exploring and found the Place d'Espagna & then the Palau Nacional: Museum of National Art Catalunya.
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In July of this year I flew to Barcelona to then make my way to Pamplona for the world famous Fiesta de San Fermin. I landed in Barcelona at midnight, again with nowhere to stay & not knowing where to go so I headed off on foot in the best looking direction and spent the next 8 hours walking across a desert accompanied only by a tropical storm. I eventually ended up in the city & found a beautiful park full of palm trees and lavender. Had one of the smallest coffees I've ever seen in a local cafe and realised my Spanish wasn't as good as I thought. Went exploring and found the Place d'Espagna & then the Palau Nacional: Museum of National Art Catalunya.
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Saturday 4th July 09
Got up at midday and sorted out a load of Get the Pluck Up footage for Flo. Ricky came round and I told him that I've just had the idea of randomly flying out to Spain and sleeping rough for weeks in a foreign country whilst checking out the music scene. This is what happened... Sunday 5th July 09 Acoustic lunch at The Old Rectifying House gig, followed by Richard Clarke at The Hand In Glove followed by a mad and eventful farewell party at my house. Monday 6th July 09 Was too excited to sleep. Lucretia came online at 6am so we talked about meeting up in Pamplona. It all seems a bit too good to be true, but there's no fate but that which we make. I uploaded some examples of my latest filming so my legacy can live on long after I'm gone. Did some last minute (as always) packing and headed off to the airport, arrived late but my plane was delayed by 3 hours; after a lot of fuss with security over my over-priced suncream and a meal, my plane arrived. Flew through some tropical storms, but landed in Barcelona at midnight. Got through customs fine, went outside to have a smoke, went back inside to use the toilet before walking off aimlessly across the desert and got stopped and searched by non-English speaking airport security, who confiscated my tent pegs claiming they were potential weapons. Unlucky. Left in a bad mood and hit the motorway and walked and walked all night, during a tropical storm which was interesting. Found some famous landmarks, eventually and walked through a beautiful park filled with palm trees and wild lavendar bushes everywhere. Found a bodega and got a tiny café and ordered food and drink in Spanish and also discovered the smoking ban doesn't count for too much over here; infact if you're drinking coffee and not smoking, someone will hand you a cigarette! Explored the Font Magica de Montjuïc and saw the preperations for a fashion show, climbed my way to the top and spent ages taking in the views, went exploring and found even more including the Olimpic Stadium de Barcelona. Started making my way back down and found myself surrounded by waterfalls. It was truely beautiful. Began the slow and aurdious journey through Lledia to Pamplona. Hours and hours and countless mountains and fields and desert plains later, I arrived and found a fiesta to join. Found and filmed a marching band who took me through a lot of backstreets and ended up down some random alley packed by drunken Spanards. Good times all round. Got back to the park (somehow) and saw an incredible fireworks display. Started walking and found the festival part of the fiesta, watched some bands, got drunk and danced the night away with a beautiful senorita called Catalaya before falling asleep on a roundabout at 6am. Good times. So yes, that was my first day in Spain. Day 2 - Wednesday 8th July 09 Woke up on a roudabout, went exploring and ended up on the outskirts of the city. Found an internet cafe with a very cute senorita who helped me with my Spanish and tried to put me in touch with Lucretia. Got online and checked in with Orly. Used my USB card reader to transfer my pictures and videos to my data traveler. Made a list of popular questions and their translations in Spanish. Tried to phone Lucretia several times but it just wasn't happening. Left in search of food and then went and had a picnic at the base of the puente de San Pedro, before a random Spanard stopped me in the street and rubbed sunstan lotion into my back. It was well random. Tried to walk back into town but ended up staying on the edge of the citadel, saw some truely beautiful sights along the way. Found the stadium wherethe bull fights take place and went in for a nose around. Had a smoke in the stands and a play in the sand. Followed a marching band outside and through the streets of San Fermin, until we got to de plaza del Castillo where I saw a lot of street artists, went to the train station and saw an incredible fireworks display. Returned to the parque de la Faconera to set up camp by some local girls in hopes of improving my Spanish. Watched some people being escorted away by the police for building a campfire, just before I fell asleep. Day 3 - Thursday 9th July 09 Woke up in the park by the clean-up team, everyone had gone and someone had nicked by sleeping bag cover - the swines! This put me in a bad mood but I knew I was lucky to still have my passport, money & camera. Went off walking on a big mission to get a power adaptor and after seveal hours and many miles, found one and some flip-flops. Found a cool café with friendly staff who let me charge my camera. Watched footage from from the Fiesta de San Fermin on a local TV channel whilst drinking real hot chocolate. Once the charging was complete I hit the streets for relief and walked through part of the mountain range that lends to Zarrigozo. That took a lot of energy and I wondered how I'd cope climbing Ordesa y Monte Perdido with Lucretia. Couldn't find an internet café so again no contact with her. Took some great pictures and videos of puente de San Pedro. Ventured intode plaza de Castillo and filmed some Spanish breakdancing, violin-playing cowboys and some grea tap dancing. Headed to the parque de la Faconera and filmed some girls dancing before heading into a bar, befriending some drunken locals and eating a kangeroo burger. Left to watch the fireworks and saw a great Japanese lady who did balloon tricks and communicated with the audience using only squeaks. Headed out of the capital and followed a river for a couple of miles and set up camp by a vinyard. Day 4 - Friday 10th July 09 Woke up next to a river, which I then jumped into and had a wash. Walked through a funfair and then a castle to some shops where I stocked up on drinks. Stopped at a café to charge my camera, befriended some non-English speaking locals who walked me across the street and through an alley to an internet café which was closed for a siesta. Sunbathed in the plaza while waiting and wrote in my diary. ########### Day 5 - Saturday 11th July 09 There was a good 20 minutes of fireworks, spent most of the day sunbathing by an arena, more fiestas, brought some white trousers. Filmed some Spanish French maids!! Got very drunk on Kalimotxo and ended up at a hardhouse rave in a castle at 5am. |
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Day 6 - Sunday 12th July 09
Woke up by a river, sweating like crazy in the direct Spanish sunlight with a policeman on a silly looking moped giving me a proper ticking off for having a tent. He copied some details out of my passport and rode off. Intense. Had a sort through my stuff and headed off in search of adventure. Found the café where I'd drunkenly left my tent and got that back. I wanted to find the bar where I'd got the kangeroo burgers so walked for ages. Saw the Beyonnaise orcestra performing in del Plaza de Cruz, got a Kalimotxo and watched their beautiful performance.
Found an internet café across the road so went in to charge my camera and ended up talking to James who invited me to Malaga. Went walking and found more street artists and a concert in del Plaza de Castille. Followed two marching bands down several alleys and found the Australian bar and had a kangeroo burger with more kalimotxo and laughed at Australian tourists being drunk and rowdy and falling off tables. Went and watched the fireworks display and filmed Las Rancheras del Mariachi Internacional del Mexico in a park, followed by Native American Indians playing panpipes and dancing. Found an outside bar that sold kalimotxo for only €2 and filmed a really cool band in a park. Brought a San Fermin t-shirt and picked up a nice watch. Chilled out on the Castille walls overlooking the city. Went to the Plaza del Castille and filmed some silly Euro-pop band with even sillier dancing before heading out into the woods to get some sleep at 4am.
Day 7 - Monday 13th July 09
Was woken up by a park official warning me he was about to switch the sprinklers on. Had a wash in a fountain and went in search of a decent internet café. Did some shopping to make my own Kalimotxo, conversed with the locals and ended up in the centre of town and had a siesta in a park for a few hours. Woke up sunburnt and went off exploring. Stopped at a horrible café and got well over-charged for a cola and internet access which didn't work properly, but did read a newspaper with a picture of a guy getting stabbed in the face by a bull's horn on the front page. El terror! Found a bar with english speaking staff, so got directions to the Tourist Information Centre, had a chocolate milkshake and wrote out some postcards. Walked into town and found the coach station so I can to Malaga. Found some live music and danced like no-one was looking to some really cheesy covers. Watched the fireworks in the central plaza then returned to the Australian bar and got another kangaroo burger. The beautiful barmaid that I had my eye on told me that she thought my small handwriting was really pretty, I told her I thought the same about her and she blushed and giggled. It's amazing how flirting crosses the language barrier. Got lost (in music) and spent ages wandering around before eventually finding a party to join at 4am.
Day 8 - Tuesday 14th July 09
Had a ham sandwich and another wash in a fountain. Went to Red but still no word from Lucretia. They closed for a siesta so I went to the coach station and saw the 'Farewell to the Giants and Big Heads' show. Brought a ticket to Madrid and went for a final spot of sunbathing in de Plaza de los Fueros. I got on the bus with my daysaver, drank Kalimotxo in the corner and went through several beautiful rustic tradition towns and the lands of the Cid. Many, many mountains later I arrived in Madrid and got throughly confused by the Metro system as out of all the lines, trains and stations available the one I needed was the only one that was suspended! Eventually found way to Méndez Advaro and the terminal was closed. Had a brief siesta outside til 1am and then went to explore Madrid. Found a bar and had a couple of café caliachio's and read a few Spanish newpapers which I was pleasantly surprised about. They closed at 2am but I found another open bar so kept on drinking.
Woke up by a river, sweating like crazy in the direct Spanish sunlight with a policeman on a silly looking moped giving me a proper ticking off for having a tent. He copied some details out of my passport and rode off. Intense. Had a sort through my stuff and headed off in search of adventure. Found the café where I'd drunkenly left my tent and got that back. I wanted to find the bar where I'd got the kangeroo burgers so walked for ages. Saw the Beyonnaise orcestra performing in del Plaza de Cruz, got a Kalimotxo and watched their beautiful performance.
Found an internet café across the road so went in to charge my camera and ended up talking to James who invited me to Malaga. Went walking and found more street artists and a concert in del Plaza de Castille. Followed two marching bands down several alleys and found the Australian bar and had a kangeroo burger with more kalimotxo and laughed at Australian tourists being drunk and rowdy and falling off tables. Went and watched the fireworks display and filmed Las Rancheras del Mariachi Internacional del Mexico in a park, followed by Native American Indians playing panpipes and dancing. Found an outside bar that sold kalimotxo for only €2 and filmed a really cool band in a park. Brought a San Fermin t-shirt and picked up a nice watch. Chilled out on the Castille walls overlooking the city. Went to the Plaza del Castille and filmed some silly Euro-pop band with even sillier dancing before heading out into the woods to get some sleep at 4am.
Day 7 - Monday 13th July 09
Was woken up by a park official warning me he was about to switch the sprinklers on. Had a wash in a fountain and went in search of a decent internet café. Did some shopping to make my own Kalimotxo, conversed with the locals and ended up in the centre of town and had a siesta in a park for a few hours. Woke up sunburnt and went off exploring. Stopped at a horrible café and got well over-charged for a cola and internet access which didn't work properly, but did read a newspaper with a picture of a guy getting stabbed in the face by a bull's horn on the front page. El terror! Found a bar with english speaking staff, so got directions to the Tourist Information Centre, had a chocolate milkshake and wrote out some postcards. Walked into town and found the coach station so I can to Malaga. Found some live music and danced like no-one was looking to some really cheesy covers. Watched the fireworks in the central plaza then returned to the Australian bar and got another kangaroo burger. The beautiful barmaid that I had my eye on told me that she thought my small handwriting was really pretty, I told her I thought the same about her and she blushed and giggled. It's amazing how flirting crosses the language barrier. Got lost (in music) and spent ages wandering around before eventually finding a party to join at 4am.
Day 8 - Tuesday 14th July 09
Had a ham sandwich and another wash in a fountain. Went to Red but still no word from Lucretia. They closed for a siesta so I went to the coach station and saw the 'Farewell to the Giants and Big Heads' show. Brought a ticket to Madrid and went for a final spot of sunbathing in de Plaza de los Fueros. I got on the bus with my daysaver, drank Kalimotxo in the corner and went through several beautiful rustic tradition towns and the lands of the Cid. Many, many mountains later I arrived in Madrid and got throughly confused by the Metro system as out of all the lines, trains and stations available the one I needed was the only one that was suspended! Eventually found way to Méndez Advaro and the terminal was closed. Had a brief siesta outside til 1am and then went to explore Madrid. Found a bar and had a couple of café caliachio's and read a few Spanish newpapers which I was pleasantly surprised about. They closed at 2am but I found another open bar so kept on drinking.
