Festival of San Fermin Pamplona

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Festival of San Fermin, Pamplona

13-15 July 2001

While in Pamplona I managed to catch the festival of San Fermin. San Fermin was a dude who got beheaded for no apparent reason, and is now a saint. Anyway, this festival is now a very famous part of Spanish tradition. I met up with my friends Marty and Monica there, after having travelled from San Sebastian, and saw the running of the bulls as well as a bull fight.

The running of the bulls was great, we managed to get there at about 6.30am, after a HUGE night out partying in Pamplona. Because we were early, we got prime seats on the barriers that are put up down the side of the street. From there we had an excellent view of the action (unlike those that arrived late and had to stand behind me). It was, however, very hard getting a good shot of the action without being almost 'in it' if you know what I mean.

aFeista before shot aMarty and Rob on Bull aMonica and Marty on bull aRob the norseman aRob, Marty and Monica  
Feista before shot Marty and Rob running with the bull Monica and Marty on bull Rob the norseman Rob, Marty and Monica  
b_At the start of the run b_Clearing the way b_My only bull shot b_Rob and Marty afterwards Monica, Marty and Rob c_Bullfight ring
At the start of the running of the bulls Clearing the way for the bulls My only bull shot!! Rob and Marty afterwards- very tired Monica, Marty and Rob Bullfight Arena- Plaza de Torres
c_Bull being confused Horseman wearing down bull Horses for dead bull Matador aiming sword1 Matador aiming sword2 Matador cowards
Bull being confused Horseman wearing the bull down Horses to take dead bull away Matador aiming sword Matador aiming sword Matador cowards
Matador getting nailed HA Matador getting carried off Matador getting out of way Matador with cape c_Bull about to die Sword going into bull
Matador getting nailed Matador getting carried away Matador getting away from bull Matador with cape Bull about to die Sword going into the bull
Rob and Marty after fight
Rob and Marty afterwards- serious looks
The bullfight was quite an experience. It is one thing to hear about it or to see it on TV, and quite another to see one in real life. I have never seen such a blood thirsty tradition and both Marty and I thought that it was very cruel- once you have seen one bull die then it does get a little tedious. On the other hand, it was also hard to understand the significance of this tradition as I didn't have any background information on it and it's origins, etc.