Walking With the Bulls

In previous Caminos, we would begin our walk the first morning after arriving. But this time, we spent our first day sightseeing and exploring Pamplona.

We started on Pamplona's pedestrian shopping street, which eventually led us to where the bulls are run. There's a very cool life-sized sculpture of the bull running on the promenade, and the street terminates at the bull ring on Plaza de Toros. Right outside the bull ring is a statue of Papa Hemingway, thanking him for bringing this animal cruelty to the masses. Thanks Ernie.

To be clear, I get that the San Fermín bull running festival is hugely significant, both historically and in literature, but it's barbaric and should not exist in 2025. Also, the San Fermín festival occurs every year ON MY BIRTHDAY, so I feel like my opinion matters. I am just saying.

We visited Pamplona's stunning Town Hall, a Baroque fever dream that almost looks Germanic. It's where the Pamplona mayor opens the San Fermín festival every July 6, but most people don't notice that if you go around to the back of the building, there's a parking lot also known as Plaza Santiago. It's the medieval site of the beginning of the Camino from Pamplona, but the plaque is pretty much used as a parking space. I am not pleased with Pamplona's choice to focus on the bull run instead of its ancient Camino history! The white lady in me wants to speak to the manager.

We had lunch at two different pintxo bars: Iruñazarra and Escalerica. At Iruñazarra, I tried "pisto," a local dish that is like Middle Eastern shakshouka, but with the poached egg over French ratatouille. We also shared the milhojas de foie, kind of like a Spanish tortilla but layered with foie gras and apple jam. Surprisingly this was not fantastic, which is a foie tragedy. Matt ordered the mini slider and morcilla (Spanish blood pudding), which we did NOT share, because yuck. We then moved on to Escalerica, where I had a chicken bao bun that was so good I devoured it before I remembered to photograph it. Oops.

Before everything shut for the midday siesta, we visited the Rincón del Caballo Blanco and the Baluarte de Redin. We had two reasons to visit: One, it's the former bastion of the ancient city, with views over the town, and the pilgrim's welcome into the city; and two, it was the filming location for the classic scene in the film "The Way" when Martin Sheen asks the waiter to "bring me some tapas." (If you've not seen this 2010 movie, go see it right now. It is the only Camino film that actually captures what it's like to walk.)

After siesta, we visited the Pamplona Cathedral which actually has the cojones to CHARGE PILGRIMS FOR ENTRY, so by "visited" I mean "we stared in disbelief at the entry fee, took a photo, and bailed."

We had more pintxos for dinner, starting at El Rio, which is by far my favorite bar in Pamplona. We tried their famous huevo frito (a hard-boiled egg in bechamel, then fried), tempura shrimp, and my new favorite cocktail: A mix of vermut, Campari, and cava. Yes please.

The final pintxos bar of our Pamplona adventure was El Gaucho, which is my SECOND favorite bar (apparently I prefer old-school classics, none of this Michelin nonsense). We shared a poached egg over truffle cream and french fries, which is possibly one of the best things I've eaten all year. We also had duck rillette in a phyllo sack, which was very good, but I only had eyes for that egg. Mmm.

With our bellies full of pintxo deliciousness, we headed to bed for an early start on the Camino tomorrow!Leia mais