The highlight of the second day is the "Running of the Bulls". The bulls were preceded by a rowing boat race. Then three bulls came across the river on a barge and are "released" on shore. The idea is for the few dozen mounted cowboys to drive the bulls several blocks to a corral. Along the way, brave young people were to have some fun with the bulls. It turns out the bulls were too smart for this game. They kept coming back to the barge. Eventually bulls had to be lassoed and dragged off the barge. At this point, we had all we could stomach and left. Now I am wondering in Pamplona if they don't inject the bulls with stimulants.
In the evening we went around to even more performance stages, some formal, some informal, some bands, some jam sessions (fandango), some singing, some versing, some from memory, some improvising. Most of the music is Jaracho. From what I can see, Jaracho is a form of cheerful folk music, many guitars of all sizes, some singing, stumping/tapping dancing double as percussion. Most of the musicians are young, some as young as five. It's amazing to see such a thriving folk tradition.
First thing, we check out the situation at the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Candelaria. More roses. You can smell them the second you enter the church.
Then to the waterfront to look for the landing spot of the barge that will bring the bulls over.
The cowboys are ready.
Many vendors have put up temporary fencing to protect themselves from the bulls.
A boat race precedes the bulls.
The bulls arrive on the barge (center first below) and we are at a good spot for watching all the action. Click here and here for video or watch the embedded videos below.
Turning the bulls loose is a slow process as they don't want to leave the barge. Smart move!
The barge is in front of us, and the bulls will be "running" behind the barriers in back of us.
In the evening, before the music started, we watched the "Recorre Mojiganga" a "Parade of Paper Mache Caricature Figures" in the Plaza.
Once again, a great night of music and dance performances.
And fireworks.
Sun-Ling and John have been traveling the earth since 2008 while blogging, eating vegetarian and vegan, and riding public transportation. We love uphill day hikes, 20th-century architecture, Roman ruins, all bodies of water, local markets, shopping for groceries, aqueducts, miradors, trip planning, blablacar, and more.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Most Recent Post
Tajikistan: Dushanbe
From Panjakent, we took a shared taxi to Dushanbe, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. It turned out to be a super scenic ride in the mi...
Most Popular Posts of Last 30 Days
-
Khiva is really the first stop on our upstream tour of the Silk Road. An important post on the Silk Road, Khiva was razed and rebuilt many t...
-
From TashKent, we took a flight west to Nukus, located in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan. Nukus itself is a city establi...
-
Bukhara was a major city on the Silk Road. It had been the capital of various dynasties. Many of the buildings we see today originated duri...
-
It seems the more we travel, the more we are into archaeological sites. This time we went to Pachacamac, just to the south of Lima, and Hua...
-
From Samarkand, we crossed overland into Tajikistan to Panjakent, the first of many land border crossings to come. Even though Panjakent is ...
-
Last week we hauled our canoe and tent over to Merchants Millpond State Park and enjoyed some very fine camping and paddling. One day we p...
-
The Seoul City Wall was built in the 14-century. In the past 30 years the "fortress wall" has been restored and revitalized with a...
2 comments:
I enjoyed watching the videos. Very interesting about the bulls not interested in participating in the festivities.
Liz, IMO, those bulls were terrified of the crowds. I felt sorry for them. Thanks for the comment! -john
Post a Comment