Raging Bull - Final Final Chapter

Jerry is entering the ring. He is headed
to his right..hard to find..red cap. 

After everyone has entered the ring, they shut it off and let in a young bull (with rubber tips on the horns) to give everyone another chance to "play" . These youngsters will run at anything that moves so there is as much action happening during this part as on the actual run. The runners try to see how close they can get and most end up being flipped and/or stepped on. They leave the bull in the ring for about 10 minutes and then the herders bring in an oxen who finds the young one and has him follow him out of the ring. This entire procedure is repeated five more times so plenty of time for people to get battered and bruised. Two were carried off, one with a broken leg and the other one was knocked out cold.  Yesterday, one of the bulls made it up the first block, turned around and headed back to the corral. Unfortunately, the gate had been closed and he was not a happy camper. He raised all sorts trouble and had everyone scrambling for cover before the herders realized what had happened and rushed back. The bull's name was Curiosity( I kid you not). It is the first time in the history of the run that this has happened and, if my Spanish didn't fail me, I understand they saved him from the evening bullfight. Hey, it was only fair since he is now famous. 

The oxen has come to get the young bull.

 

The bull has someone down and is
starting to maul him...he was rescued.

 

Raging Bull, Final Chapter

The next morning we returned to the bullring again to enjoy the pre-run festivities. They would rival  any major sports event with a band in the ring playing songs that the crowd all knew and the wave was spectacular since everyone was in white with red scarves. A huge screen  televised what was going on along the route and then followed the run from the opening of the corral to everyone entering the ring. It's the only place to see it all! Jerry will confirm that the most dangerous part of the run isn't the bulls but the runners pushing and tripping other runners. The security forces remove any that are obviously drunk or will not follow their instructions when they ask them to move to other parts of the course or to give up cameras, phones, backpacks, loose clothing or wine bolos. They clear everyone in order that the streets can have a final cleaning and then try to distribute the runners which doesn't always sit well with those that have tried to stake out their spots. They remove approximately 300 runners every day.

Another victim of the same bull.

 

The bull stepping on a runner's head..
42 stitches and one heck of a headache.
Jerry ran into the ring just ahead of this bull.

Raging Bill Part 2

Ready to run...that's not his blood!

He did it!!! Jerry ran yesterday while I had a seat in the bullring so I could get a photo of him coming into the ring. He entered the ring just ahead of the 600kg black bull who had stopped for a moment to crush some other runner's head. The bull made the front page news however he didn't fare as well when he headlined that evening's bullfight.  Jerry made it without any loss of blood or broken bones so that constituted a very successful run.  Before the run he was interviewed by an Italian film crew who insisted he was a Hemingway look alike so now he is an international  film star. He truly enjoyed it but when I mentioned that there was time for him to run again this morning he didn't take me up on that suggestion. Guess it is one of those once in a lifetime things with the emphasis on once.   

 Jerry is near the wall..smart man...to the
right of center. The bulls look slow but
they really are running.

Raging Bill, Part 1

We finally arrived late morning in Pamplona for the long awaited run with the bulls and we wasted no time in getting to the festivities. They had finished the first day's run and the streets were solid with  people celebrating with wine flowing in and on most of them. They must figure that wine stains on your clothing looked a lot like blood and was some sort of badge of courage. Actually, the running is just part of The San Fermin Fiesta although it has become the most famous part. San Fermin, born in Pamplona, was the first Bishop of Pamplona, met martyrdom and was beheaded in 303AD. The festival was first held in 1386 and has been held on July 7 since 1591. We have walked the route many times but thought it would be smart to see firsthand just how the run was managed so we rented one of the balconies overlooking "dead man curve", where the route takes a 90 degree turn and where most of the spills have taken place. Of course they now spray a anti-skid solution on this

From the balcony just
before the start.

area..spoil sports.

Balcony looking back at where the
bulls will start the run.

It was a fabulous spot even if the bulls failed to do anything dramatic. Jerry was also able to make decisions about where he wanted to position himself, so he are off and running!!

How about these cool vintage Converse
running shoes!

Marathon Man (maybe not so much)

Jerry running with the bulls

Jerry has used the last few days to get into the "Zone" for the big run. He has created his own fortified diet and has strictly limited his intake of pastries to the number of  fabulous Spanish donuts he can consume before noon. We were fortunate to find some regional bulls so he has been diligent about training with them. They may not be of exactly the same physical stature as those he will encounter but he has developed his technic and has consistently out run them.

Hey, these don't look that tough!

 

The City that Never Sleeps

view of the plaza from the
lower terrace of the cathedral..

We are giving a huge shout out to Dr Erausquin from Vitoria which we understand is his hometown. We have spent the last few days exploring this beautiful city at the center of Basque culture. We discovered a little known Camino that links Norte with Camino Frances and it literally travels through the center of Vitoria. Since we have never found a Camino that we didn't want to hike, we set out to track this one down. Remember the caminos were developed to bring the pilgrims to the church and hospital where they would be provided food, shelter and care.  Following this camino, we passed two cathedrals, four churches, a large hospital, three palaces, government buildings, five museums and more beautiful parks than we have seen any where. Needless to say, it took us all day but we finally reached the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca and the monument to the Battle of Vitoria. And yes Dr. E, we climbed all those steps of the cathedral. Our room was across from Florida Park and the music & dancing went on all night. The keychain was given to us by a wonderful little lady as a memento of our stay at her lovely B&B.  We are now off to Pamplona and the big run.

A tribute to their love of jazz.
The bench has the names of
the great jazz musicians. We
will miss their big jazz festival
next week.

Symbol of Basque culture "laouburu"
which means 4-head cross, representing
water, air, earth, fire on Solar Circle. 

Ordinary People

We thought it would be fun to mention some of the people we have met along the way.
**One was a delightful 73 year old lady from San Francisco who has walked 8 Caminos. She has walked the Camino Frances 4 times, 3 Caminos in France, and one on Portugal. She recently had a double mastectomy and has to return for more treatment after her walk.
**Another was a teammate of Dean Potter, the pioneer in Xtreme sports, who was killed in early May attempting a wingsuit flight in Yosemite. The teammate and his wife were doing the Camino in Dean's memory because no matter how extreme the sports were that he did, he always planned to do the Camino.
**In Santiago, we met a blind gentleman with white cane and beautiful seeing eye dog who had just completed the Camino from Sarria to Santiago (the required 100 km). His wife was with him pushing their young son in a carrier.
**Just before the Iron Cross,we walked with a young mother carrying a six month old baby girl with her five-year-old son walking beside her. The little boy carried his own pack which held their food while Mom had a pack for the baby and the baby needs. The little boy talked or sang to her the entire day but never seemed to complain and no matter how many times she stopped to feed the baby, they made good time. Any other kids we have seen have had carriers but he walked in his tennies.
**Unfortunately, our friend Jurgen feel ill from food poisoning and had to abandon his Camino. We felt so sorry for him because we knew how much this trip meant to him and only hope he will have another opportunity to walk.
**Then there were the British schoolteachers who in 2002 were 10 months into their RV tour of the US when the were stopped in New Mexico and held for 10 days in a detention center. They had a valid visa but failed to understand that they had to validate it every 3 months and got caught up in the paranoia of that time. Amazingly, after that and thousands of dollars to straighten it all out, they had wonderful memories of the USA.  

We swear we met this guy only he had
added juggling pins and a guitar to his
pack which he used to entertain for
funds to continue his trip.

       

Home on the Range



There were 40 cows and their genealogy
was hung above each one. No riffraff allowed.

We decided to plot our escape from France before another train strike stranded us and we would be forced to hike out. We had just crossed the bridge at the border when we were greeted with gun shots, fireworks and hundreds of drummers. They were reenacting an important victory over the French so of course Jerry joined right in. The next day we were hiking and as we were coming out of the mountains, we heard music and discovered a huge celebration known as the Tres Vacas (three cows). It seems that there was a dispute between Spain and France over grazing rights and two years of fighting left over 600 villagers dead from both sides. They finally reached an agreement in 1375 granting the French grazing rights for an appropriate tribute paid to the Basque Spaniards which was determined to be three cows and that tribute has been paid for the last 638 years.  Today was the  selection to determine the three best of show. Cows were being pampered with brushes, hairdryers, and special scented spray. There were even special people who had been given poop duty. They provided the paperwork to assure that the rear was clean. The cows were then paraded, judged, and ranked. Not sure what the actual fate is of the ones that are selected. Honestly, they turn out in hoards for any reason to celebrate.

Our view of the finalists

Leap of Faith

The Grotto, built on the exact spot where Bernadette had her visions. The candles represent the burning bush and to the left are fountains from the spring where you can wash your face, hands or feet or fill containers to take with you. There are stone baths to the right of the Grotto that accommodate  nearly 400,000 people each year. Since the first healing, as many as 7000 healings have been claimed but only 68 are recognized as miracles. The grounds contain a huge hospital and other medical facilities and hundreds of nurses can be seen in starch white uniforms. Several times a day, they bring the patients/pilgrims in special wheelchairs to visit the Grotto. Although mostly older patients, there were young patients and we saw many paraplegics which of course made us think of our wounded warriors.

 

 

 

 

St. Bernadette of Lourdes



Immaculate Conception
Basilica

 

When we routed our departure from our "remote" French hamlet, we discovered we were going to be very near Lourdes and decided we had to add another day in order to visit. We both agreed that our experience was indescribable so we are not going to try. Suffice to say we are so glad we didn't miss it.  We will just post some photos with commentary. The bottom left photo is the area just to the right of the entrance to the Basilica. The bottom right is the nave in the Basilica.

A prospective on the size of the gold crown.
That is a medieval fortress in the background.