Pamplona (Iruña)

(Plaza del Castillo)

On Saturday my roommates and I took a little day trip to Pamplona. It was about a 2 hour bus ride and although it's still considered to be part of the Basque country it is actually the capital of the Navarra province. We were told that it is a very charming little town, but other than the Festival de San Fermines (Running of the Bulls) in July, there isn't much to do.

We arrived at about 11am and explored the Ciudadela first. This is an old citadel fortress dating back from 1571. We wondered around the outside of the fortress not knowing there was an inside until later. So we returned at night before returning home to the inner portion where there was a beautiful park with lots of old buildings that are now exhibition rooms.

Then we walked to Casco Antiguo, or the old town where most of the things to see are. We saw the beautiful Plaza del Castillo, where a 14th century castle used to be set. This the area known for the best bars and cafes and it is where we decided to eat lunch at a beautiful place called Cafe Iruña. Also in this plaza sits the famous La Perla hotel, the hotel where Ernest Hemingway would stay whenever he came to watch the Running of the Bulls. It is said he would watch from his hotel bedroom and write about the events as they took place. He is the person responsible for making the town of Pamplona famous so there are tons of places named after him in this town. (Of course I love this!)

Then we walked up the famous street where the Running of the Bulls takes place called Calle de Estafeta and walked along it all the way to the famous Plaza de Toros. Supposedly besides the plazas de toros in Madrid and Mexico City, it is the next largest bull ring. It was also recently renovated in 2005. We didn't really get a chance to see it because inside the bullring there was a huge tent set up with a market (Feria de Navidad). We had fun shopping in there though!

We returned to Casco Antiguo to visit some of the more famous buildings including the 18th century town hall and a famous cathedral. We basically saw the entire town including a long lunch within 7 hours. But we were all glad we took the trip and walked along the famous route of the Running of the Bulls that occurs every summer. Pamplona is small but just like every other northern town, it's absolutely beautiful with so much history.