Tour Day 5 - Pamplona and San Sebastion

Tuesday 26th July 2016

The bus leaves at 8 am this morning, still a pretty civilised time, with a plan to have a late lunch in Pamplona.

It will be pretty much a driving day today with a few stops along the way. We will be finally leaving the Province of Catalonia, and driving through Aragon, Navarra and finishing up in the Basque Country in San Sebastion.

Apparently commercial drivers licences in Spain have a chip inserted in them which records the time the driver goes without a break and also the speed he travels at, providing a record for police should he be pulled over. Our driver is therefore very conscientious about taking the required breaks along the way. Our first stop is at a roadside service centre in Aragon.

We had a cup of coffee and were back on the road within 30 minutes. There was one further stop on Navarra before we moved on to Pamplona, the Capital of Navarra for a lunch and a walking tour.

The countryside is very scenic and rural, looking like pretty productive country. There are still some mountainous sections but not as severe as when were were very close to the Pyrenees.

We arrived in Pamplona at around 2.15pm and went straight to lunch at Cafe Iruna. Lunch today was supposed to be at our cost, but the guide announced that Tauck would pick up the bill and we would be having a selection of Tapas with wine or beer provided.

Cafe Iruna is in the main square and was a favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway

Hemminway's favourite bar is now a monument to him including a statue

The tapas was good, and we were then ready for our walking tour.  Pamplona, of course, is where the annual running of the bulls takes place in July each year as part of an annual festival. Fortunately we have just missed it, but the advice is that you wouldn't want to be here during that week.

The walk takes us from Cafe Iruna, past the Hotel La Perla, where Hemingway spent his time when in Pamplona, and down the path where bulls run from their holding pens to the bullring, before the bullfights commence.

Hotel La Perla

The distance the bulls run is not that great, but the streets are narrow, and wooden barriers are set up to guide the bulls into the entrance to the street from the holding pens.

Our guide, Todd, on the barrier at the commencement of the run

Glass shopfronts are board up to prevent damage, as the streets are very narrow.

At this point there is a 90 degree turn before the bulls run up the street to the bullring

Street leading up to the ring

There are plenty of shops along the way promoting the event

This one, at the end of the run has a countdown clock till next years event.

Across the road from this shop is the bullring.

The bulls enter the ring through the red door

We walked back to the bus past the obligatory monument, before hitting the road again off to the Basque Country. We were soon back in rugged terrain, with tunnels through mountains as we entered the Basque Region. The origin of the Basques apparently still remains a mystery. They have their own language, which is not of Latin origin, and they appear to have lived in isolation from the Castillians for thousands of years. There are DNA studies going on to try to come up with an answer, but as yet it is unresolved.

Finally we arrive in San Sebastion. What a stunning place ! As you come over the hill and look out in to the Bay of Biscay for the first time, the view is sensational. Before going to out hotel, the bus took us to the top of a hill at one end of the main beach for a photo opportunity.

It was then off to our hotel, the Hotel Maria Christina, the top hotel in San Sebastion.

Hotel Maria Christina

The rooms are luxurious, and bigger than any I have seen in Europe. THe bathroom is about the size of a normal hotel room.

A lot of famous people have stayed here over the years and at least one of them has a  suite named after them.

Dinner tonight was at the hotel restaurant, a'la carte with wine included. As expected the food was excellent