Bang! The first firecracker goes off letting you know the first bull was released. Bang! 15 seconds later the second firecracker is lit to let you know all the bulls are in the street. Yes, we ran with the bulls. There were 6 bulls and 8 steers with the bulls weighing in over 550kg each.

We started in the town square and nestled ourselves along the left inside turn as we are told the bulls have a tough time turning that sharp. 8 seconds into the race the first of the six bulls rushes past us. For some strange reason I felt like they were harmless. Like it was your dog running up to you after a long day of work. But then you snap out of it after getting pushed left and right by the crazy Aussies, a few local, an the rest tourists. The bulls ran past us and as fast as we could we tried to keep up. Running down the street you head into "dead mans turn" and make it a necessity to get on the right side and hug the wall. With only a few steers behind us we really wanted stay close and safe. We made it to the end of the race and just outside the stadium where thousands are in side to cheer on the bulls. In 3 minutes our race was over and we headed over to bar and watched the replay on tv.

The previous night we ended up getting into Pamplona late so we headed to the festivities. We checked our backpacks in this huge hall and quickly met up with two Canadians and two Americans. We walked the streets with sangria and tried to avoid getting sprayed buy that awful drink. The real drunks would spray sangria out of their bag, shoot it out of water guns, or just dump a bottle on you. We did get soaked, Randi more than me, but it's all part of the event.

At 1am the six of us decided it was time to go to sleep. So we went back to the hall, grabbed our blankets, sweaters, pillows, and anything that was warm and slept in the park. Hostels and hotels were over booked and over priced So the park was the only option. We were up at 6 and with the thousands of others, ready to run.

Off to Pontevedra, Spain to visit with my cousin who is finishing up her doctorate.

Ciao,

B & R