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Well the last Blog entry from Cancun was cut short because some rude whinging poms were wetting their pants about needing to use the internet. And also apologies for this update taking so long to get done, but life has been hectic and internet isn't so cheap in Spain.
So this is a rushed overview of what we've been up to in Spain. We flew into Madrid on the 30th of July, and stayed for about a week with Lizzy, Luis' sister. From here we did a few day trips including El Escorial, Toledo, Salamanca, Cuenca and Segovia. We alsio caught up on some sights that were closed when last we came to Spain.
We then headed to Pamplona for 2 nights for the running of the bulls, which is crazy. The town is overflowing with (mostly drunk) tourists, and their rubbish, vomit and piss. But the local council does a great job of cleaning up every day. Some streets have rubbish a foot deep in the morning. If you walk around about 8 or 9am, you'll still see people sleeping in the parks or bus stations, probably have only just laid down. And they're prime targets for theives aswell. The bull run is a bit of a joke- there are so many people, and what they do is stand in a big crowd, some of them jumping up and down to see over the heads of others. When they spot something that may be a bull, they start running, the more adventurous leave it a little later than the others. But survival has little to do with skill or agility and more to do with luck. People get so terrified, they do crazy things, like manage to get themselves stuck 5 deep on the bulls' side of a post when there's a perfectly good other side to the post with no people. When the crowd had run past, and the bulls as well, people were allowed through the barriers and onto the street where the bulls had run. We had just done this when a bull ran past. So inadvertantly we did 'run with the bulls', and got alot closer than a hell of alot of other people did as well.
We camped at a camp ground outside Pamplona, which was a much better option as it was far cheaper, and clean.
After Portugal, which I may include as a separate entry, we returned to Spain, where we stayed with our friend Momo (from the crazy restaurant in Bolivia) at Costa del Sol. This was a relaxing combination of beach, pool and mountains, but with a ridiculous number of British tourists.
From Costa del Sol, we visited Morocco in Africa, which I'll include as a separate post.
When we returned to Spain, we took a 16hr bus ride to Barcelona, where we stayed with our friends Toni and Alba from our Peru trek. We did a few things here, the highlights were the beach and mountain climbing. As well as the fireworks at the annual festival of Begues.
Begues is a town of 5000 people near Barcelona. Here the last saturday of July, the townspeople celebrate by fighting firework wielding demons and devils, a firework laden bull on wheels, and a massive firebreathing dragon. What they (mainly teenagers and young adults) do is dig out some old (long) clothes, put them on and douse themselves in water. Then it is their job to prevent the dragon from entering the town. They form a human barrier, where they crouch down about 5 deep for the width of the road, and, chanting 'you will not pass' they are attacked. I say attacked because demons, dragons and bull all use fireworks or oversized sparklers which they point at the good guys in an effort to clear a path for the dragon. The youngsters sustain the heat and smoke for as long as possible, before they have to retreat, and reform a new barrier a little further down the street. The Dragon then advances, and the process starts again. This goes on for several hours.
Alba and her brother both got blistering burns on their legs and shoulders.
After Begues, we caught a flight to Stansted, England
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