Iglesia de San Agustín

We were ready at 6:30 at the lobby of the Tres Reyes hotel where we met our host for a balcony on Estafeta Street. The reason we had to meet him so early is that the police close the streets around 7am, and whoever is outside of the area where the run occurs is not allowed inside afterward. The run is made every day at 8am during San Fermin, and the route follows from Santo Domingo to Estafeta and finally into the city bullfight ring. We were midway on Estafeta Street on the first floor and with a very good view of the runners.

The host prepared coffee for us, and he also had small pastries and orange juice. We were all really excited about seeing the event live and we got into the balcony at 7:55 am. We heard the shot indicating that the first bull had left the pen at 8 sharp, and we were looking eagerly into the street to see the action.

It is easy to tell when the bulls are coming as a sea of red and white starts moving down the street. We saw the bulls directly below our feet as they ran in Estafeta. The whole event lasted just 2 minutes; somehow, in TV, it feels longer.

After the event, the host guided us to another hotel to get a full breakfast before taking a tour of the old city of Pamplona. We visited several historical spots, and the guide explained how San Fermin became a cultural phenomenon within the last century. We went into the San Fermin basilic, and finally, at the very end of the tour, we found the Giants and Big Heads (cabezones y gigantes) parade. Oliver had a blast with the Big Heads as they went through the crowd, hitting people with foam bulls. Nadia said that she had found her calling and wanted their job! 😝

After the parade, we disengaged from the tour and picked up our bags to continue our trip further down into Navarra and La Rioja, the wine region of Spain.Read more