Pamplona=Foul

Okay, so after the excitement of the barf story i need to give Barcelona some credit. Seriously the most beautiful city ever. The beach we went to (Setgis) was easily the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The water of the Mediterranian is amazing. I wish I could post pictures already because it was incredible. However, as with all European beaches, tops were definitely optional! Topless women everywhere. Old, wrinkly, saggy, topless women. That was NOT picturesque. It was quite frightening. But the beach was amazing. There was this really cool and really old church that was set against the water and I´m running out of adjectives to tell you how fantastic this place really was. The pictures will tell you when I get them up! Also the architecture is unreal. We spent one morning at Gaudi´s building La Padrera which was super cool. We also hit up the park where they did the fashion show for America´s Next Top Model (the season with Caridee and Melrose with the scary brides) and totally reinacted the fashion show. Yes, we´re morons. We realize that.

We flew home (barf-free) and pretty much turned around and headed to Pamplona.

If you think I ran out of adjectives for the beauty of Barcelona, I will easily run out for the disgustingness that was Pamplona. Our morning got off to a rough start (we BARELY made it) and when we got there we had to meet the guy who rented us the apartment and balcony. Michael Jude Murphy from Dublin. Oh, Michael. He was roughly the size of a bull and we could barely understand him, which was a good thing because I think his vocabulary is mostly made up of the F-word. So we got to our apartment and the sheets were dirty and the towels were all used and it took a lot of convincing for Michael to provide! Once we checked in we were excited to get out.

Yea, we should have stayed in. Pamplona is nothing but drunks. That Ernest Hemingway is full of crap. He must have been wasted when he wrote about the beauty of the festival. I saw more beer, urine, and blood in those 48 hours than i have ever seen in my life (which may be where he calls it "colorful")! The city is beautiful, but pretty much everything was closed up except for gift shops and bars. It was so foul. People sleeping everywhere, passed out everywhere, peeing on buildings, leaving cans and cups all over the place, seriously gross. I have some good stories but probably should wait because if my mom reads them she will make me come home. So they´ll come later.

The morning of the run was nuts. We got to Michael Murphy´s apartment and he answered the door in his bathrobe and we just kind of sat around for a bit. They close off the street to clean it so we had to be there early. We started up some conversations with him and let me tell you he is about the funniest man ever. I asked him if women ever ran and he replied "Oh yea, but only the mad bitches run." With his Irish accent it was about the funniest comment he could have said.

When the running actually starts, it´s madness. They let the runners down the street so the pansies can hide out in store fronts and still say they ran (which is totally where I would have been) and then the police form a huge line between the men and the cage that holds the bulls. Every balcony down the street was packed and then there are men (and the "mad bitches") lining the streets and right at 8 a.m. someone lights a rocket that is heard by everyone and signals the release of the bulls. At this point, all hell breaks loose. Seriously. The bulls start running. We didn´t see them until they had rounded the corner, but people start yelling, pansies start running already, bulls are charging, and the whole thing lasted about 30 seconds from what we saw! It was awesome. Unfortunatley, as Michael told us, it was a bad morning because "we only saw a few tramplins! It gets really good if some poor sucker (or F-er, we couldn´t understand him) gets gored." We did see a few tramplings and a guy ripped his pants off right under our window to show off a MASSIVE bruise that we could see from 4 stories up. It was serious madness, but so awesome. They run down our street and around a corner and into the bull ring where most of them run into their cage but a few fight back and charge some guys.

Then, the drinking resumed. We had to just hang out in the city for a while and I think kharma was in our favor when we stumbled upon the Hong Kong China Restaurant which was quiet and secluded and didn´t have a passed out drunk in sight. We ate there both days and ate enough food for an entire day. There were some incredible parts of the city and I bet when the festival is over it would be a great place to visit, but it was revolting. Vile. Foul. But a good experience!

It was good to get home and shower in a mixture of one part water, two parts Clorox to wash of the layer of film that had developed around us from the filth of the city. It was pretty sad to say goodbye to Michael, who told me on the phone that our departure time "had really F-ed him up. It´s not your fault, but you really F-ed me up." But we checked out and headed for the train.

Today we slept really late and are just now heading for Madrid. Tomorrow we leave for a week in Rome which should be amazing. I´m really excited for it! I should be able to find an internet somewhere and update you and everyone pray I don´t toss my cookies on another flight.

Love you all!
Amanda