We are currently volunteering at a community center in Catellòn, Spain. So we have been unable to catch up on the blog as much as we would like. However, we finish this program on the 30th of July and prepare yourselves for some interesting updates!
Nos vemos! See you soon!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Pamplona, day 3
7/9
The race was just as crazy the second time. This time we sat further up on the course and had a much better view of the runners. Did they run or what?! Many start running as soon as the run begins (a firework signifies the start) and are not even close to ever seeing a bull face to face. Others wait for it to come and then run for their lives, literally! Talk about Russian roulette.
Our bus was at 9:20 am and we left the run without an hour to get back to our apartment, grab our backpacks, and get back to the downtown where the bus station was. We made it just in time and sat down to yet another 6 hour bus ride across Spain.
I did it!!
Not really but I did stand in the corridor once they passed!
The race was just as crazy the second time. This time we sat further up on the course and had a much better view of the runners. Did they run or what?! Many start running as soon as the run begins (a firework signifies the start) and are not even close to ever seeing a bull face to face. Others wait for it to come and then run for their lives, literally! Talk about Russian roulette.
Our bus was at 9:20 am and we left the run without an hour to get back to our apartment, grab our backpacks, and get back to the downtown where the bus station was. We made it just in time and sat down to yet another 6 hour bus ride across Spain.
I did it!!
Not really but I did stand in the corridor once they passed!
Pamplona, day 2
7/8
We got to bed around 2am or so and were back at it around 5am. Many people had not gone to sleep at all and where still out from the night before (including one of Cheny’s friends Miguel). We found a nice spot near the bull ring and waited for the walls to be put up.
The tradition is that bulls run through the streets to get the bull ring for bull fights later in the day. I think it’s about a kilometer of the city. For those in the race, I’m sure it seems like 50 kilometers. Two sets of walls are setup around 6:30am keeping the bulls in one corridor, the medical staff and police in the next and the spectators in the outside. The people who are going to run must be in the bull race corridor by 7:30am. We were able to snag a spot on the outer wall and waited for the bull run, which begins at 8am. This run consists of about 15 bulls. 12 bulls run first, 6 castrated, tame bulls (which means they are less violent and not used for the bull fight) and 6 wild, fierce bulls. After these bulls run through, the release 3 more castrated bulls to catch any stragglers of the wild bulls.
People running means bulls coming
Once the run was over we headed into the bull ring to watch the “toritos”, or smaller bulls, as the Spaniards call them. The bulls in my opinion were by no means small, for while in comparison to the ones that did the run they were, but not when considering you are in an enclosed area with a wild animal. They had had their horns filed off or something placed on them so that they were not jagged/sharp any longer. Many of the people who had participated in the run were now in the ring with these smaller bulls. Let’s just say that some won this encounter while other did not.
A few special moments in the bull ring: many people would lay on the ground in front of where the bull came into the ring and let the bull jump over them… insanity. Others (those drunk, most likely) would grab the horns of the bulls once it was tired and end up on their backs by a sucker punch from behind as many of the Spaniards did not like this (it was against the rules to touch the bulls and considered disrespectful). The bulls were able to change directions quickly and sprint to the other side rapidly, one man was unprepared for this and got flipped upside down completely unaware. Other jumped over the bull as they were running at them; still others would simply duck behind the masses standing in the ring.
After this was over we walked the whole path of the run and took a look at the kennels the bulls were housed in before the race. We then headed home to catch up on our sleep.
The bulls that run each day are used in the bull fights later each day. Each day, other than opening ceremonies, the bull run, play time with the smaller bulls, and bull fights occur. Overall, an interesting local custom to behold and yet another crazy story to tell.
We slept most of the day away and then headed back into town to buy our bus tickets and take a better look at the city. We stayed in this night and got some proper sleep as we planned to watch the 3 minute race again the next day.
Look at this haircut!
We got to bed around 2am or so and were back at it around 5am. Many people had not gone to sleep at all and where still out from the night before (including one of Cheny’s friends Miguel). We found a nice spot near the bull ring and waited for the walls to be put up.
The tradition is that bulls run through the streets to get the bull ring for bull fights later in the day. I think it’s about a kilometer of the city. For those in the race, I’m sure it seems like 50 kilometers. Two sets of walls are setup around 6:30am keeping the bulls in one corridor, the medical staff and police in the next and the spectators in the outside. The people who are going to run must be in the bull race corridor by 7:30am. We were able to snag a spot on the outer wall and waited for the bull run, which begins at 8am. This run consists of about 15 bulls. 12 bulls run first, 6 castrated, tame bulls (which means they are less violent and not used for the bull fight) and 6 wild, fierce bulls. After these bulls run through, the release 3 more castrated bulls to catch any stragglers of the wild bulls.
People running means bulls coming
Once the run was over we headed into the bull ring to watch the “toritos”, or smaller bulls, as the Spaniards call them. The bulls in my opinion were by no means small, for while in comparison to the ones that did the run they were, but not when considering you are in an enclosed area with a wild animal. They had had their horns filed off or something placed on them so that they were not jagged/sharp any longer. Many of the people who had participated in the run were now in the ring with these smaller bulls. Let’s just say that some won this encounter while other did not.
A few special moments in the bull ring: many people would lay on the ground in front of where the bull came into the ring and let the bull jump over them… insanity. Others (those drunk, most likely) would grab the horns of the bulls once it was tired and end up on their backs by a sucker punch from behind as many of the Spaniards did not like this (it was against the rules to touch the bulls and considered disrespectful). The bulls were able to change directions quickly and sprint to the other side rapidly, one man was unprepared for this and got flipped upside down completely unaware. Other jumped over the bull as they were running at them; still others would simply duck behind the masses standing in the ring.
After this was over we walked the whole path of the run and took a look at the kennels the bulls were housed in before the race. We then headed home to catch up on our sleep.
The bulls that run each day are used in the bull fights later each day. Each day, other than opening ceremonies, the bull run, play time with the smaller bulls, and bull fights occur. Overall, an interesting local custom to behold and yet another crazy story to tell.
We slept most of the day away and then headed back into town to buy our bus tickets and take a better look at the city. We stayed in this night and got some proper sleep as we planned to watch the 3 minute race again the next day.
Look at this haircut!
Pamplona 7/7-7/9
7/7
We had not expected our bus to take very long from Zaragoza to Pamplona, as they are most likely 1 ½- 2 hours distance from each other. However, we were not on the direct bus and stopped at every city in between and sadly took about 3 hours.
We arrived at a bus station full of people in white with red sashes around their necks and waists. We were met there by Cheny, the guy we were renting a room from. He is originally from Ghana but has lived in Spain since he was 14. He just got married and is set to move to Ohio in August. He had sold his car already and luckily had kind enough neighbors that one of them willingly drove him to the bus station for us. Which is where the festivities began. The neighbor decided to take us directly to an area with a bunch of horses, and these horses were all shapes and sizes. Literally I saw horses that I didn’t know existed they were so big and awkward (of which, we sadly did not get pictures of).
After this we got to the apartment and settle all our stuff into the room we were staying in. We got dressed in our white clothes and prepared for going out into the center of downtown to watch Spain Vs. Germany in the Semi-Finals and meet up with some of Cheny’s friends.
This was unbelievable! A huge screen was set up downtown for the people to watch the game, and the area around it was packed by the time we got there. So instead we began to look for a bar to watch the game in, and just our luck we found another Aussie bar to watch the game in (we spent a lot of time in an Aussie Bar in Denia). The bar was packed with Spaniards and at least a few Germans, all dressed in white and red mind you (though I heard a group of people speaking German only one girl had German colors on).
Almost the entire game the people were chanting various songs in honor of players and their country “Villa, Villa Villa. Villa, Maravilla” or “Yo soy Espanola, Espanola, Espanola. Yo soy Espanola, Espanola, Espanola.” (David Villa is a player for Spain, maravilla means marvelous, and the other is I am Spanish.
For those of you unfortunate enough not to catch the game I will recap for you. Spain dominated the ball against Germany. Appeared to control the tempo of the game and executed passes very efficiently. While they had multiple good attempts on goal, the Germans only had one and not until the 79th minute of a 90 minute match did Spain score. It was an excellent corner kick by Xabi and Puyol, a defender, came charging in to head the ball past the goalie and send Spain into the Finals for the first time ever!!!!
We waited an agonizing long time, 10 minutes regular time and 3 minutes additional time(for injuries, etc) for the game to end! Once it did the bar and all of Spain erupted. There was even more yelling and jumping up and down, drinks be thrown in the air, traffic laws being ignored, people running all around, and simply sheer bliss!
For the festival there are fireworks each night at 11pm. Tonight they were going to be extra special since Spain just won and the Bull Run festivities. This was great to see as we obviously didn’t get to see any for the 4th of July.
We grab a bite to eat and stayed around a little long in the downtown area before heading home since we had an early morning ahead of us to catch the running of the bulls.
We had not expected our bus to take very long from Zaragoza to Pamplona, as they are most likely 1 ½- 2 hours distance from each other. However, we were not on the direct bus and stopped at every city in between and sadly took about 3 hours.
We arrived at a bus station full of people in white with red sashes around their necks and waists. We were met there by Cheny, the guy we were renting a room from. He is originally from Ghana but has lived in Spain since he was 14. He just got married and is set to move to Ohio in August. He had sold his car already and luckily had kind enough neighbors that one of them willingly drove him to the bus station for us. Which is where the festivities began. The neighbor decided to take us directly to an area with a bunch of horses, and these horses were all shapes and sizes. Literally I saw horses that I didn’t know existed they were so big and awkward (of which, we sadly did not get pictures of).
After this we got to the apartment and settle all our stuff into the room we were staying in. We got dressed in our white clothes and prepared for going out into the center of downtown to watch Spain Vs. Germany in the Semi-Finals and meet up with some of Cheny’s friends.
This was unbelievable! A huge screen was set up downtown for the people to watch the game, and the area around it was packed by the time we got there. So instead we began to look for a bar to watch the game in, and just our luck we found another Aussie bar to watch the game in (we spent a lot of time in an Aussie Bar in Denia). The bar was packed with Spaniards and at least a few Germans, all dressed in white and red mind you (though I heard a group of people speaking German only one girl had German colors on).
Almost the entire game the people were chanting various songs in honor of players and their country “Villa, Villa Villa. Villa, Maravilla” or “Yo soy Espanola, Espanola, Espanola. Yo soy Espanola, Espanola, Espanola.” (David Villa is a player for Spain, maravilla means marvelous, and the other is I am Spanish.
For those of you unfortunate enough not to catch the game I will recap for you. Spain dominated the ball against Germany. Appeared to control the tempo of the game and executed passes very efficiently. While they had multiple good attempts on goal, the Germans only had one and not until the 79th minute of a 90 minute match did Spain score. It was an excellent corner kick by Xabi and Puyol, a defender, came charging in to head the ball past the goalie and send Spain into the Finals for the first time ever!!!!
We waited an agonizing long time, 10 minutes regular time and 3 minutes additional time(for injuries, etc) for the game to end! Once it did the bar and all of Spain erupted. There was even more yelling and jumping up and down, drinks be thrown in the air, traffic laws being ignored, people running all around, and simply sheer bliss!
For the festival there are fireworks each night at 11pm. Tonight they were going to be extra special since Spain just won and the Bull Run festivities. This was great to see as we obviously didn’t get to see any for the 4th of July.
We grab a bite to eat and stayed around a little long in the downtown area before heading home since we had an early morning ahead of us to catch the running of the bulls.
Zaragoza
7/6
Second day was more sightseeing in the city. We went to The Aljaferia Palace which was declared a national monument in 1931.
Pictures of the Palace
It has a lot of history and was used for many events in the past including the palace for the king and queen, but today it is being used obviously as a museum for tourists but also as the Regional Assembly of Aragon. Aragon is the province made up of 3 different cities, one being Zaragoza.
This regional assembly makes the laws and controls the actions of the government.
Here is one of the rooms where they meet.
There is a little bit of history for you…
We also walked around and saw a few more sites, here are a few pictures.
We were going to go into the church, but they charged too much just to see the same thing that we have been seeing everywhere. We thought that was quite comical, so we did not go see it.
We also bought some cheap white clothes for our time in Pamplona, so we started getting very excited for it.
We also went out later that night after watching a futbol game on tv. We wanted to see the basilica lit up at night, and it sure was a site. It was beautiful. Lots of lights. Pictures of the Basicila at night.
We also saw the people setting up a huge tv for the Spain game the following night. It is a very big game for Spain as they have never even made it this far in the world cup… Go Spain!! This ends our time in Zaragoza as we caught an early bus to head for Pamplona to see the running of the bulls!
Second day was more sightseeing in the city. We went to The Aljaferia Palace which was declared a national monument in 1931.
Pictures of the Palace
It has a lot of history and was used for many events in the past including the palace for the king and queen, but today it is being used obviously as a museum for tourists but also as the Regional Assembly of Aragon. Aragon is the province made up of 3 different cities, one being Zaragoza.
This regional assembly makes the laws and controls the actions of the government.
Here is one of the rooms where they meet.
There is a little bit of history for you…
We also walked around and saw a few more sites, here are a few pictures.
We were going to go into the church, but they charged too much just to see the same thing that we have been seeing everywhere. We thought that was quite comical, so we did not go see it.
We also bought some cheap white clothes for our time in Pamplona, so we started getting very excited for it.
We also went out later that night after watching a futbol game on tv. We wanted to see the basilica lit up at night, and it sure was a site. It was beautiful. Lots of lights. Pictures of the Basicila at night.
We also saw the people setting up a huge tv for the Spain game the following night. It is a very big game for Spain as they have never even made it this far in the world cup… Go Spain!! This ends our time in Zaragoza as we caught an early bus to head for Pamplona to see the running of the bulls!
Zaragoza 7/5 – 7/7
7/5
So we woke up on the 5th at 7:30 am to get to the bus station. This is unheard of in Spain, as the Spanish normally wake up around noon after staying out until about 5am every night. Anyway, we had a nice walk, passed the Arc de Triumf of Barcelona and made it to the bus station.
Arc de Triumf
Here is a picture of what most of the bus stations look like, or something like this.
We arrived in Zaragoza about 4 hours later, and hopped on a local bus to get to our Bed and Breakfast. It worked out perfect and we found it with no difficulty. Our place for the next 2 days was called B&B Siesta. It is right across an old roman bridge from the old city and all of the tourist sites to see. It’s pretty convenient, so we will just walk both days to see the sites, and then come relax back in our room when we get tired.
This room has air conditioning, and we are loving it, in fact it is cold right now in our room! It has everything we need. We are able to use the kitchen and washer, which is great because we haven’t washed our clothes in about 2 weeks! We bought some pasta and sausage to cook for dinner and it was great.
The first day we walked around and saw the basilica and there was a mass going on while we were walking around. It was massive and ridiculously detailed. There sure was a lot of money and time put into making it.
We also saw the murallas romanos, the roman walls. Here are a few pictures.
There is apparently going to be some big cultural event in Zaragoza in 2016, and a lot of the buildings are being renovated, but we have no idea what it is going to be. Oh well.
So we woke up on the 5th at 7:30 am to get to the bus station. This is unheard of in Spain, as the Spanish normally wake up around noon after staying out until about 5am every night. Anyway, we had a nice walk, passed the Arc de Triumf of Barcelona and made it to the bus station.
Arc de Triumf
Here is a picture of what most of the bus stations look like, or something like this.
We arrived in Zaragoza about 4 hours later, and hopped on a local bus to get to our Bed and Breakfast. It worked out perfect and we found it with no difficulty. Our place for the next 2 days was called B&B Siesta. It is right across an old roman bridge from the old city and all of the tourist sites to see. It’s pretty convenient, so we will just walk both days to see the sites, and then come relax back in our room when we get tired.
This room has air conditioning, and we are loving it, in fact it is cold right now in our room! It has everything we need. We are able to use the kitchen and washer, which is great because we haven’t washed our clothes in about 2 weeks! We bought some pasta and sausage to cook for dinner and it was great.
The first day we walked around and saw the basilica and there was a mass going on while we were walking around. It was massive and ridiculously detailed. There sure was a lot of money and time put into making it.
We also saw the murallas romanos, the roman walls. Here are a few pictures.
There is apparently going to be some big cultural event in Zaragoza in 2016, and a lot of the buildings are being renovated, but we have no idea what it is going to be. Oh well.
Barcelona 7/3-7/4
7/3
We slept in today, after a long day in the sun yesterday this was quite refreshing. We headed out for a nice stroll along las Ramblas and did some shopping. We grabbed some fresh fruit and bread and headed back to the house to watch some futbol (soccer)! We watched Germany blank Argentina and then a rollercoaster of a ride through the Spain vs Paraguay game. Spain won!!!
7/4
We celebrated Independence Day by getting up early and jumping in line for the Picasso Museum. It is free the first Sunday of every month and so we got there about an hour early to ensure we would get in. It was a solid plan as there was a line in front of the museum all day. It was cool to learn about Picasso and to see some of his art.
This is the line for the museum, we were in front!
We also visited some other museums. Such as the Museum on Catalonia, Natural History Museum of the city, and a Museum of North, South, and Central America. The museum of Catalonia provided information from the founding of Catalonia and its many changes from Visigoths, Moors, Christians, Franco, and present day issues. The museum about the city had the remains of the original Roman city Barcino and described the layout of the city as well as showed had the original artifacts of a wine and fish factory. The museum of America was quite small and had a few ancient artifacts from tribes of the Incas, Hopi, Apache, Aztec-we were not suppose to take pictures in here but I snuck a few.
Museum of Catalonia
American museum!
We slept in today, after a long day in the sun yesterday this was quite refreshing. We headed out for a nice stroll along las Ramblas and did some shopping. We grabbed some fresh fruit and bread and headed back to the house to watch some futbol (soccer)! We watched Germany blank Argentina and then a rollercoaster of a ride through the Spain vs Paraguay game. Spain won!!!
7/4
We celebrated Independence Day by getting up early and jumping in line for the Picasso Museum. It is free the first Sunday of every month and so we got there about an hour early to ensure we would get in. It was a solid plan as there was a line in front of the museum all day. It was cool to learn about Picasso and to see some of his art.
This is the line for the museum, we were in front!
We also visited some other museums. Such as the Museum on Catalonia, Natural History Museum of the city, and a Museum of North, South, and Central America. The museum of Catalonia provided information from the founding of Catalonia and its many changes from Visigoths, Moors, Christians, Franco, and present day issues. The museum about the city had the remains of the original Roman city Barcino and described the layout of the city as well as showed had the original artifacts of a wine and fish factory. The museum of America was quite small and had a few ancient artifacts from tribes of the Incas, Hopi, Apache, Aztec-we were not suppose to take pictures in here but I snuck a few.
Museum of Catalonia
American museum!
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