hike day 26: zubiri, pamplona fiesta

our early morning quest for a cafe con leche turned into a 20 k extravaganza before we finally wolfed down some breakfast. patrick and i walked along evoking images of piping hot java and lip-smacking omelettes when we spotted a gazebo-style tent set up in front of a farm. some entrepreneurial soul had a little cottage industry going where a half-dozen pilgrims busied themselves grazing and pouring coffee down the hatch. to kick up the ambience a notch, the farmer had his teen son and daughter serenade us on the fiddle and accordion. much to the amusement of the pilgrim audience, they were out of sync both in rhythm and tuning but proud papa´s smiles made it a heart-warming scene nonetheless.

as we approached pamplona, the party atmosphere became increasingly palpable. rare were the locals not dressed in the trademark red and white colours of the province of navarra. people everywhere slept in parked cars, under citadella trees, dead drunk in the street at 11 am. in the old town, the city´s cleanup crew waited for noone to hose down the street refuse with enornous firemen´s hoses. apparently we had just missed the running of the bulls by a few hours, a daily event over the course of 9 huge party days where a daily average of 5 are typically gored, trampled or wounded in some unspeakable manner by the most bone-chilling monstrous toros you´ve ever laid eyes on. even at that early hour, bar patrons spilled out onto the streets bleary-eyed, evidently stretching out the previous night´s festivities. drum bands, piccolo bands, brass bands rang out from all corners of the city, folk dancers shook their booty in leg bells in the streets and vendors everywhere flogged their wares. what a party!