The one with two trips to Pamplona

My luck has taken a turn for the worse this week with me managing to lose my phone and smash my iPod to smithereens due to a faulty zip (and a mild state of intoxication). To add insult to injury my lovely camera and some money was stolen out of my handbag when I dozed off on the bus despite it being practically empty! In terms of ups and downs on this Year Abroad roller-coaster this has definitely been one of the major downs, but hey – things can only get better! So despite all of that there were still plenty of positives to focus on…

Last week, much to my delight, I had the opportunity to travel two hours outside of Logroño to Pamplona – the infamous city which hosts the annual ‘San Fermin‘ fiesta, more commonly known as the running of the bulls. Every year between the 7th and 14th of July at 8am the bulls charge through the narrow, winding streets of Pamplona from the gate of Santo Domingo towards the Plaza de Toros running down any of the 1 million revelers who happen to get in their way. I asked a number of Spaniards what they thought of the festival and opinions ranged from ‘there’s too many drunk tourists who don’t realise the danger’ to ‘it’s one of the best fiestas in the whole of Spain, I go every year’. Everyone, however commented on the sheer, inconceivable volume of people who raid the historic streets to party the night (and day) away dressed head to toe in white with red neckerchiefs – or ‘pañuelos‘.

       

My first visit was a sunny Wednesday alongside 50 five – six year olds who were heading to Pamplona to see an educational production of ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’ at the Baluarte theatre. What with the play being in English, and me being the English language assistant it was only natural that I should go too right? Despite the loud and repetitive coach songs involving ‘Cola-cao‘ and the boy behind me throwing up I really enjoyed the trip! The play itself was the single cheesiest thing I’ve ever sat through but the kids loved it. Devised with the underlying lesson of recycling it was genuinely educational, and having previously learnt all the songs in class it sufficiently kept them engaged for the whole hour. We were then whisked off for a tour of ‘los depositos de agua‘ which is basically an indoor water reservoir for the city. The ancient arcs and millions of litres of water were pretty interesting – but approaching lunchtime meant that the kids were far more interested in the outdoor play area. The final stop of our tour was ‘La Taconera‘ park, the oldest and most beautiful in the city. The teachers and I enjoyed a typical Spanish almuerzo with chorizo / jamon serrano baguettes, cheeses and the best Spanish tortilla I’ve ever tasted. Oh and don’t forget homemade donuts for dessert – they really don’t do food by halves over here.

    

My second visit came on the Saturday, after spending Friday night sipping a crianza and listening to some live, authentic Andalucian flamenco music (cultural integration – tick!) This time it was a much more relaxing coach journey with friends, and luckily not a primary school chant in earshot. We arrived pretty ravenous and after a brief walk around the ancient fortress walls, which now makes for a decent park, so we headed for a light pincho brunch at ‘El Espejo‘. Mine was a super tasty combination of serrano ham, grilled aubergines and goats cheese topped with an apricot sauce, I’d highly recommend it!

We continued to amble our way around the city, walking the ‘Encierro‘ / route of the bulls and visiting the Taconera park (complete with deer, roosters and peacocks), Ayuntamiento, Plaza del Castillo and Cathedral amongst stopping in little shops along the way. Being in Pamplona It’d be rude not to pay a visit to ‘Cafe Iruña’ – the haunt made famous by Ernest Hemingway, now with an eponymous corner in honour of the man himself. The weather was a little on the British side at this point so we took cover with a ‘menu-del-dia’ in a cafe further down. Supposedly Pamplona is much more expensive than Logroño, but with a three course meal, cider, water and a caña all for 15€ I don’t see how it can be! Well and truly stuffed we attempted to walk off our lunch with a trip to the museum of Navarra. We failed, but there was a surprising range of modern art pieces together with ancient relics to peruse. After cloud-gazing and seeing the piece-de-resistance (the Goya on the top floor) we headed home.

Overall it’s been a week of ups and downs, but I hope my luck’s in for a change next weekend with a visit from my family and the small matter of someone’s 21st birthday! Un abrazo x

  

Year Abroad Take 1 – My ramblings of 3 months living la vida loca in Espana

Oh hey there! Yes I know I’m about 3 months late to be jumping on the year abroad blogging band wagon – but why break with my own personal tradition of always being fashionably late?

So here’s the low down on what’s been going down so far…

I’m now in my fourth month of being a British Council language assistant teaching English in four VERY rural primary schools. After ticking off the dull and stressful tasks such as finding a flat, opening a Spanish bank account and getting my N.I.E card from my to do list I could finally enjoy the San Mateo festival… which I’ll elaborate on later. The villages: Abalos, Briones, San Asensio and San Vicente de la Sonsierra are all quaint and boast the ‘real’ Spain which I was hoping to discover on this voyage into the unknown – a world away from the unfortunate invasion of British tourists who’ve polluted the likes of Marbella, Benidorm and the costas. These villages are so tiny and traditional that the main ‘attraction’ so to speak would be their iglesias (churches) and bodegas (wineries) nestled between acre upon acre of beautiful autumnal vines. I doubt much has changed in the last hundred, even two hundred years. Together with the surrounding mountains it really does make for a stunning 45 minute commute to work.

Despite the timeless, rural charm that these corners of La Rioja possess I’m sure living there would soon drive me to boredom.. closely followed by insanity – which is exactly why I chose to live in the city of Logrono. Albeit the capital of the region, it too replicates a much slower pace of life than Spain’s bigger cities such as Madrid and Barcelona – as one would expect for the second smallest region in the country. Nevertheless that’s not to say that Logronans don’t know how to party – every weekend the streets of Calle San Juan and the infamous Calle Laurel come to life with locals eating, drinking and socialising with a glass of 1€ vino tinto in one hand and complimentary pincho in the other. A routine that doesn’t start til gone 10 and may not stop until the last club closes at 6am – you’ve gotta hand it to them, Spaniards have stamina! So far my favourite pincho bar is ‘La taberna de tio blas’ which serves the most amazing nutty croquettes and mini hamburgers on a tres chic black slate. Every pincho bar here has their own house specialty which they are renowned for. My mission is to sample every one before I leave and keep the hologrammed serviette as a souvenir.

Talking of partying – I arrived in Spain during the madness that was La fiesta de San Mateo. Every year during late September hoards of people from all over Spain congregate in La Rioja to celebrate the harvesting of the grapes – a festival with traditional aspects such as the treading of the grapes in their barrels, traditional dancing, costumes, music, stalls of local products, processions of massive religious figurines down the streets; together with modernities including street performers, rock concerts, DJs, an international firework competition and of course plenty of eating, drinking and being merry – something Spain does particularly well.

I’ve managed to travel a fair bit so far which was at the top of my ‘Year Abroad Bucket List’ and have crossed off Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona, Soria and La guardia so far, and of course I’ve visited one of Rioja’s infamous bodegas – It’d be rude not to indulge in something the region is renowned the world over for… the wine! There’s still plenty of things to see and do on my list which I can’t wait to get going with this year.

Thankfully I no longer feel like a stranger living in an unknown city in a foreign country. I feel more like a local as I’ve now become accustomed to the Spanish way of life. I don’t think I’ll ever understand the need to close everything during the afternoon siesta, but with every month that passes I feel my Spanish improving, my friendship group growing and my appreciation for this country increasing. There’s plenty to look forward to on my 2014 calendar!

Un abrazo xxx