My trip started in Ireland, where I met up with Gary, Jay, and Parker. We went to Gary's sisters wedding in Northern Ireland, and from there the only thing we had booked was a trip to Barcelona, Spain. We had talked about going to the Running of the bulls before I arrived in Ireland, but had not decided for sure. So after 3 days in Barcelona (Thursday morning), we checked out of our hostel and decided that we were headed to Pamplona. We had one big problem...we had no way to get there. If you have ever traveled with me, you know that something always goes wrong or that I don't plan to far in advance!
So we first headed to Estacion Sants where the train (operated by www.renfe.es ) leaves Barcelona headed for different parts of Spain. Gary, Jay, and Parker sent me to talk to the reservations desk to see if there were any tickets on the trains, because I knew how to talk a little bit of Spanish. The employee told me there were no more tickets (which I thought before I got in line, but I had to ask), and also gave me a warning not to run with the bulls. He was telling me that only extranjeros (tourists) run with the bulls and hardly and Spaniards because it is so dangerous. I told him thanks for the help and the tip and left to tell my friends that option one was a no go!
Next we walked to two rental car company's that were located within two blocks of the train station. They had no cars available for another 2 weeks. There is also a bus station that is located right next to Estacion Sants. All buses headed to Pamplona were sold out too!
I have to admit that at this point in time I was pretty discouraged. I had basically given up any hope that we were making it to Pamplona. We even all started talking about going back to find a hostel to check into for the night. Then we hit an Internet cafe just to check emails and to think of anything else that we might be able to do to get to Pamplona.
Thats when it happened...we checked one way flights to Pamplona and they were about 150 Euros (or about $200 US dollars). There was actually 3 seats on the next flight leaving Barcelona at 6pm and putting us into Pamplona at about 7:30 pm. We looked and each other in the Internet cafe, and all started laughing because we knew we were going to be running with the bulls in the morning!
The flight was pretty easy and quick. When we landed in Pamplona, and I can remember walking off 
the plane and feeling the difference in temperature compared to Barcelona. Barcelona was so hot day and night compared to Pamplona which was very cool since it is located closer in the mountains. The other thing that I noticed is that when we got our bags from the airport I saw everybody had on white pants, a white shirt, and a red sash (the typical clothes of the festival). We definitely looked out of place.
I had heard from other travelers in Barcelona that there were no rooms available anywhere, and that you could lock your bag up in the train station in Pamplona. I was not 100% on the bag situation, but we headed to the train station anyways to find out. So we all took a taxi from the airport to the train station which was on the other side of town.
When we arrived at the train station there was a sign that pointed to a locker area where you could rent a locker for the day/night. It worked out perfect. So we all ditched our bags and basically only took what we would need for the running in the morning. We had met a couple other people in the locker area who had been there all day and said it was crazy in the downtown part of Pamplona. We also found out that you can buy a white pair of pants, a white shirt, a scarf, and sash for about 8 Euros in the city. So that way we were "dressed" for the occasion.
I quickly found out that the Festival de San Fermin is one of the biggest party's that I have ever been to in my life. It was 9pm by the time we got to the center of town, and I had already seen people passed out in the streets and walking with liter beers everywhere. Most people had bought cheap sangria, that is in a box, or beer at a gas station to just walk around the streets and drink. Basically everybody was hanging out in the Plaza del Castillo since 12pm. That is when the Festival officially starts. Then all day they have bands playing until about 1 am. (Click HERE to view a live picture through a web cam of the Plaza del Castillo)
Since we didn't have anywhere to stay that night we heard that people were allowed to sleep in the Park that is close to downtown. So we headed there sleep until the sun came up. The park was kind of shady with people walking by you to see if you were a sleep to rob you. We were all wearing only a tshirt and pants, and since we were in the mountains during the night it was freezing! I can remember being so cold that i wrapped the sash around my face and tucked my arms in my shirt. I think I got one hour of sleep that night.
At about 6.45 am we all decided to get up and start walking toward the street where they had marked out the path for the Running of the Bulls. There were people still drinking in the streets which was pretty crazy to see. The running of the bulls starts at 8am and if you aren't in the selected path by 7.30 am then you aren't allowed to run. The one thing nobody told us is that you have to start at a certain point of the race or else you kicked off the street. At the beginning of the course there is one street that is strait up a little hill. At the point where it takes the first left the police put down a steel bar at about 7.35am. Once they put the bar down they have a crew of police that start from there and start kicking people off the street not allowing those people to run that morning.
We saw the police kicking people off the street and couldn't believe it, because we were past the
point where we could run. There was no way for us to get back into the running of the bulls at this point of time. We were so mad when we realized this because we had booked a train to Madrid for 11:30am, and would not have another chance to run if we didn't do it this morning. So we started sprinting back 4 blocks and looking for a place to get into the race. We saw a wooden fence and all jumped through a hole in the fence. Right after Parker got back in the course we saw the police block off the hole so that nobody else could get through. We were so lucky to get back in the running.
It is crazy leading up the 8am. Some people are still drinking, some people are screaming, others are yelling at girls in the crowd. At 8 am there is a rocket that is shot in the air telling you that it is time to start. They then send a 2nd rocket in the air telling you that the bulls have been released 
into the street. If you make it into the ring before the bulls get in there the whole crowd in the bull ring boo's you. So we wanted to wait for the bulls and run with them. There are so many people running that you can't tell sometimes if a bull is coming or not, because you will see 50 people sprinting towards you. I had so much adrenaline in my body when I saw a bull coming at me that I ran as fast as I could, and as it reached me I had just entered the ring and it was chaos inside!
When the last bull makes it into the ring they shut the gates to the bull ring. So if you didn't make it to the stadium with the bulls then you will be locked out. You will miss the 2nd part of the Running of the Bulls. When we got in the ring there were so many people there. The bull stadium was packed with spectators and I would say there were 500 runners or more that were in the ring.
Then as soon as they locked the doors they took all the bulls out of the ring, and then started to release them one at a time to run around the stadium. I would say that it is more dangerous in the stadium than running in the streets, because there are so many people in the ring that if a bull is coming at you you can't move out of the way. I can remember being in the middle of the crowd and saw a bull coming around the corner, but I couldn't move because there were 100 people around me trying to escape from being hit by the bull. Thank God I didn't get hit but it was crazy! I finally decided that I ran with the bulls, I stayed in the ring long enought to get hit by a bull, and now it is time for me to leave the ring! While I was in the stands I saw 3 people get crushed by a bull and they had to be carried out of the ring...
By 8:15 the whole thing is over with! It went so quick. I can't compare this experience to anything else I have done in my life. I had a ton of adrenaline running through my body! It is definitely dangerous, but my friends and I survived day 1 of the Running of the Bulls! It was so much fun.
