Spain

Today we entered Spain. Our lunch stop was at Biaritz, which used to be a very popular resort location for the rich and famous. I walked along the shore for a bit so I can now say I have been in the west and the east end of the Atlantic. The water was so warm! I wish I could have gone swimming!


In the afternoon, we had a walking tour of Pamplona, where the bull run was made famous because of Ernest Hemingway. He saw it when he came here once, and loved it so much that he came every year. Every July there is a huge festival and people come from all over to run to the bull ring ahead of the bulls. When they first started bull fights, people were not allowed to run in front of them. This of course made them want to do it more and now it is a tradition. The city's population is 300 000, but for the festival there are about one and a half million people here. That's how big this event is! We walked the route of the run with a guide who shared a lot of other info.

Biaritz

                                                                        Pamplona Bull Run

Now it's time for supper at the hotel. We were told that in Spain people don't eat supper until 10:00 or later, so 8:30 is the earliest she could negotiate for us. People working in offices, work from 9-5 typicaly, but shop owners work from 10-2 and then have siesta until 5 or 6, then open their shops again until 8:30.