Post: #26

(07-14-2013 09:51 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(07-14-2013 03:54 AM)Citlalli Wrote:  What? I don't get the appeal of this. It looks like the dumbest shit i've ever seen. And the town square covered in broken glass and riot police beating people sounds great too.

The other option is going to California and getting a ticket for jaywalking.

lol. I always jaywalk and I have never gotten a ticket by the fucking fascist police here in California. but those fuckers will bust you for anything. hell, they can even search your car without a warrant (so much for the constitution).

Post: #27

(07-14-2013 09:51 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  The other option is going to California and getting a ticket for jaywalking.

Is running away from them considered running of the pigs?

Post: #28

Done both (ran with the bulls and got a jaywalking ticket). What do I win?

Post: #29

Running of the Bulls in Richmond

On August 24, 2013, you’ll have the chance to run with the bulls at Virginia Motorsports Park in North Dinwiddie.
The Great Bull Run is coming to town with multiple chances to run with the bulls throughout the day, followed by a Tomato Royale – a large tomato food fight open to the public.
No joke!

http://www.richmond.com/events/article_5...0f31a.html

Post: #30

I was there quite a few years ago. I agree with all the posts here. It was 10/10 wildly surpassed my expectations. Taking the train from San Sebastien to Pamplona the morning of the first day was an experience in itself. Everybody was going there, totally psyched. I had just finished reading James Michener's "the Drifters" that had a big section on the festival. So I was in Europe and decided to go. Met another solo American guy on the train and we hit the festival together. His Spanish was pretty good so that was a plus. We knew there would be no accommodation and had this vague idea that we would sleep in the park with the backpackers. But the tourist info center in the train station gave us a flyer with an address we could try. We went there and got the last room, available for four days. When we hit the main square it was about an hour or two after the festivities described above. Everybody wears white so there were people walking around with clothes drenched in red wine. I saw many people passed out on park benches with their backpacks on. That night was dead but from the next morning after the bulls ran at 8am the party never stopped. I was in one bar all night and at 8am they turned off the music, turned on the tv, watched the bulls run and then turned the music back in and the party continued. We met spanish and french girls. Even if they were with guys it didn't matter. We just walked around, talked to people partied with them, met people from the train, drank with them. I didn't run because after the first day i saw that the other people were more dangerous than the bulls. It's just a huge party atmosphere. You really don't think of hooking up, but one time i found a dark spot to take a piss and around the corner there were a bunch of people making out and two having sex in public against a wall.

You can read all the posts here, read hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" and Michener and think you know what to expect, but it's even better.

After Pamplona went to biarritz and picked up a very horny french chick in a disco. So party in Pamplona and game in Biarritz (french atlantic coast beach resort).

Post: #31

I see the latest information on the running of the bulls - San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain is five years old, as a Spaniard who has lived in Pamplona many years I'd like to share with you my thoughts and experience there.

Pamplona, Spain:
Pamplona is a city of around 300,000 people during the year, it's located in north central Spain, about one hour away to the French border and near the Basque Country (Pais Vasco, Euskalherria). It's around four hours by car or train from Madrid or Barcelona. During San Fermin the population is much larger, some people say about 1 million people - counting visitors - and that makes finding accommodation quite a challenge. This summer I posted on Airbnb my own apartment and weeks before San Fermin started it was booked for the 10 days of the festival, July 6 - July 15, and I was charging about 300 euros a day.
Pamplona has a small airport with a few flights to Madrid and Barcelona, there are also some international flights to Frankfurt, Germany and perhaps to some other European hubs, not sure about that since I haven't lived in Pamplona for many years now.

English levels: I'd say not very high, most (young) people should be able to hold a basic conversation in English and in bars and restaurants simple and basic orders should be understood. Saying so, most people are willing to try to speak in English.

San Fermin the festival:
There are a lot of different opinions about how the whole festival originated, I've heard so many different things from friends and relatives so I don't even know what to think and I'm a local. All I can say is that people in Pamplona take San Fermin very seriously, people from all ages go out and enjoy the atmosphere, everyone has a good time. Young people tend to go out at night and party hard, there is a lot of alcohol and craziness going on. Drugs are very common and easy to find. Sex is, I wouldn't say easy, but definitely easier than throughout the year when local chicks pretend to be good girls. Local dudes would generally try to get it on with foreign chicks and foreign guys would target local girls. There're music concerts going on pretty much everyday all day and people tend to drink and party very often in the street. Bars get really crowded and we like to party on the street.
As for the race itself, it starts at 8am and it only lasts a few minutes, it's very fast and it's very dangerous. People have died and every year many people get seriously injured, think bulls running over people, people getting gored, people falling down and hitting the hard pavement or getting cut from all the glass and dirt from the previous night. There's a lot of police controlling who is going to run but the few times I ran myself, I was totally hammered and I know for a fact that people run after partying all night long and some others are high on drugs. Be careful, this is not a joke.

Some other random thoughts:
There are lots of pickpockets, they target everyone but they seem to love foreigners. Phones, wallets, passports, credit cards etc are their favorite. I've had my phone stolen a couple of times.
Lots of people drunk and high means there are fights. Generally it doesn't get very serious but I wouldn't fuck with certain people such as gypsies (gitanos) since the often carry knives (not racist here, just pointing out a fact).
Drugs are widely used, however, it is illegal to do drugs in public and you can get arrested. Alcohol is totally okay in public.
At 5pm the corrida - bull fight starts in the plaza de toros - bull ring, many people who there to enjoy it, while others go there with friends and relatives to drink and eat. There's music being played and it's great fun. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the bull ring. I think foreigners might get over charged, sorry about that.
Hope this helps!