Un Fin de Semana en Pamplona

I have just returned from spending the weekend in Pamplona for the festival of San Fermin. The bus ride down to Pamplona took about 6 hours, after a stop in Burgos. Burogs is a very important city in the history of Spain. Burgos is the birthplace of El Cid, the legendary general who led the Spaniards against their Moorish conquerers after some 800 years of rule. Some of his bones and the body of his wife are buried in the cathedral. The Burogs Cathedral was a amazing place to see, and it was made using the Gothic style of architecture. From Burgos, we went to Pamplona.
When we arrived in Pamplona, the famous "festival de San Fermín" had already began. One of the most known events during this festival is The Running Of The Bulls. It is the event that has given San Fermin world-wide fame and which is broadcast around the world during this fiesta in July. It is held at 8:00 each morning from the 7th to the 14th of July. It consists largely of young men (although women may also run) who run in front of the bulls to lead them from their pen into the bull-ring. It usually lasts from two to three minutes - although if there are complications due to loose bulls, it can last much longer. I saw this event, and it made me very sad that some people were seriously injured and some people died this year. We were told by the school not to run with the bulls because it is very dangerous. Instead, we bought tickets to sit inside the bull ring to watch the bulls enter. We saw the events on the street through a television monitor, and we saw the rest of the events in the bull ring as the bulls ran through. This is a very dangerous event, but many people from all over the world run with the bulls each year.
Have you ever looked at the book, Where's Waldo? Well, that's how I felt this weekend. Pamplona was the place of the biggest costume party that I have ever seen. Everyone wears white, a red sash, and a red necktie. We were told to stay in groups because if someone gets lost, it will be very difficult to find them. If you describe your friend as wearing white with a red sash and necktie, that describes just about every other person around you. I felt as though I were in a Where's Waldo book, and I would have loved for someone to have taken a picture from an aerial view in which I could try to find myself. I believe it would have been impossible.
Each night during San Fermin, there is a fireworks show. This show was simply amazing. The fireworks were amazing, and just when you thought the show was over, they started shooting out more fireworks. It was definitely the best fireworks show that I had ever seen, and I felt better about not being in the United States to see fireworks on the 4th of July. At one point, my friends and I started to quietly sing "America the Beautiful". Ha!
After all of the events at Pamplona, we took a day trip to San Sebastian and Biarritz, France. These two places had beautiful beaches. We spent about 20 minutes at San Sebastian to take pictures, and we spent about 3 hours at Biarritz to enjoy the beach. I felt somewhat complete in France as my friend and I decided to eat "french fries." They were absolutely delicious, and we decided that they definitely should be called french fries. After the beach, we headed back to Pamplona for another round of the Running of the Bulls.
When I woke up in the morning, I had a terrible stomachache and was not able to attend the 2nd running of the bulls. I heard that it was equally as dangerous as the 1st day, and several people were injured. We had to get on the bus at 9:30am, and I felt horrible all day. I was told that I had food poisoning, and I am still battling a terrible stomachache at this moment. I hope to make a miraculous improvement in the next few days.