The darkness was pierced by a highly irritating electronic beeping at an early 5:30 a.m. At least it would seem early if I had actually fallen asleep. The problem was, I listened to everybody return from the ongoing party all night. We jumped up and hit the road in the dark.
We started walking to Santo Domingo (the road where we had balcony tickets) for the Encierro (the running of the bulls). As we walked to the old town, the revelers were walking home for the night (or rather, the day). HA! Plenty of people sleeping in the park, littered with trash. Revelers asleep in the bus station, door ways, benches in the plaza, cars. But for the most part, it was dark, smoke free, relatively quiet.
This is the amazing part. At 6:00 a.m., the City of Pamplona descends upon the parks and streets and cleans up the mess. As we walk towards the route of the encierro, the city is setting up the wood fences and gates. The streets are cleared of broken glass, trash, and washed down. It is an amazing undertaking - a Disney theme park level of operational brilliance. Admittedly, they've been doing this a long time.
At this point, there is a separation along the route. Those of you about to run - WE SALUTE YOU!!! Those of you not running, better get your fat arse on the other side of that fence.
This is different type of party - an electric excitement in the air. The unknown - what will happen? The crowd is very sober (for the most part). You've been up all night, or you are up early to witness this, but you are here to witness stupidity in its highest and finest form.
6:30 - be at the door or go away. So, we paid a ton of money for the chance to stand on a balcony to watch the bulls run by. Listen, we got small kids and will probably never do this again. So, you pay it. All the Hobbits and I would not have seen a thing, nor would we have known where to stand to watch the bulls run by. We were allowed in behind a chained gate, walked through an alley and into a lady's apartment. We had some breakfast while we waited and watched the crowd. More than an hour until the encierro.
As I mentioned, Pamplona has been doing this for a very long time. Watching from above was educational. Across the street from our building is a gate. Behind the gate is a fence and an ambulance - at the ready. A team of EMTs waits there. In fact, Lee noted the EMTs get their blue gloves right before the start of the run.
The runners are in the street. Some are stretching and bouncing. Some are praying (uh, yeah, I would too). We hear chants of Mex! I! Co! and U! S! A! Ha! The police are now moving through the crowds. Every once in a while, an obvious inebriated runner is removed. The police are very respectful, and the EMTs help move the drunks out of the path of 8 raging bulls. Like, duck your head, under the fence, and move on, please, for your own safety.
Then a group of musicians move through the route. One on a drum, three on a specific flute. They escort a tiny saint to the corral, and runners pray, touch the saint, pray some more. It was lovely, and the energy is palpable. The runners gather at the beginning for the chant. There are people all along the way ready to jump in and run.
Boom! The cannon. Uh oh, get ready.
Boom! The start. And in a matter of seconds, they bulls pass by. I have a series of pictures of the bulls passing, but I will include just a few.
All I can do is scream. It was so exciting and scary and thrilling all at the same time. The bulls are beautiful, powerful creatures. The runners grab their tails, touch their sides and the fear and adrenaline from both the bulls and the runners clings to every single surface and living thing within view.
We stepped inside to watch the TV and the rest of the run. The bulls and runners run into the open golden sands of the arena to hundreds of screaming fans. Open space - the bulls seems to separate and look confused, and the runners move to safety. Back outside the EMTS are busy caring for people that were injured. Most injuries are a result of getting trampled by the crowd. The EMTs were treating a few twisted ankles, jammed wrists, scrapes and bruises.
I wanted to yell across the street, "GET A HEPATITIS A AND B SHOT!!" Seriously, if you fell on the slick, wet street and broke your skin open, wouldn't you go in for a full round of booster shots?
We walked down the stairs, and stepped into the relatively quiet street and followed the route to the arena.
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