NH Iruna Park

A hint for doing the "run" more safely

by DSwede

I personally did the run a couple years ago. Yes, as to be expected, it is not entirely safe. However the bulls are not typically aggressive, but rather, they just are trying to avoid the crowds. When they do so, the corridors are busy enough that as they run from one congestion, they run into another one.

One hint to help stay a bit more safe is to remember that the cobblestone street that serves as the corridor for the run will be freshly washed. The bulls (and one cow) will take the corners wide, and if they slip, it will be here. To be safe, stay to the inside of the corners.

See my other "to-do" tip for more info on the running of the bulls.

Puente de la Magdalena

by mikey_e

The Puente de la Magdalena is a pretty 12th century Romanesque bridge that you are until to happen upon unless you get lost in your car or you walk up from the train station (as I did) and require breaks every 15 minutes or so during the climb. This is a fairly important bridge in that it forms part of the Camino de Santiago, although it is no longer an important transport route for the people of the city. The bridge is a great introduction to the city - in fact, it is older than many of the buildings and other structures in the Casco Viejo, and it provides a bit of perspective on just how old the city is.

Iglesia de San Augustín

by mikey_e

The Iglesia de San Augustín is an interesting church that is crammed up in the more orderly streets of the Casco Antiguo that abut the Segundo Ensanche. This is a newer church, and for that reason it blends in fairly well with other newer residential and commercial buildings around it. When I say “newer”, of course, I mean that they are likely from the late 19th or early 20th century – not that they are garish modern apartment buildings. The church has a fairly tall clock tower, which can provide some difficulty when trying to get the entire building in a photo shot. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of information on the church, although there is an interesting plaque here that notes that Garcilaso de la Vega, a fifteenth century Spanish playwright, was knighted here. Given the fairly simply lines of the building, I’d say it is probably Renaissance, but of course I’m not an expert.

gateway to northern spain

by frankie_ireland

"real beginning of camino frances"

i met pamplona on my way to santiago de compostella on the camino de santiago, it was after three days hard, hard walk throught the pyrenees but what a city, there is much more to it than simply the festival of san fermines which i narrowly missed.