The Iberian Wandering Ends.

We're now in Ireland, near Dublin in the seaside town of Malahide.

We'll be here till Sunday when we fly back to the US.

Both of us were "done" with Spain after 3 weeks.  We'll probably not return to Spain and definitely not return to France.  

Some notes for my future reference:

ESims for Internet access.  I will not recommend Holafly.  Their setup process sucks and required active support to get working.  Once working, it had issues switching to best available provider network.  Their top up process doesn't work right, requiring more tech support.  If I ever travel overseas again, I'll try a different outfit.

Always find out what eating hours are.  Oh and Spain vs French eating hours? They're different.  Oh, and they're not that eager for business.

Tapas or Pinxtos.  Overhyped.  If you're not aggressive in plunging into crowds standing in front of Tapas counters, you'll go hungry.

Drivers are very aggressive, riding your ass like the asswipes that most of them are.  The worse are commercial vans.  I've lived/driven in Italy, the Spanish and French are worse.  

Northern Spain has beautiful countryside scenery, as does Portugal.  The people we encountered, though in regions dependent on tourism, are fed up with tourists.  The French we dealt with seemed actively hostile, the Spanish ones were indifferent.

Can't really blame the Spaniards, I think it's become a universal condition by people who are regularly inundated by tourists.  Cruise ships dumping thousands of gawking tourists at a time; busloads upon busloads of tourists wandering in large groups...clogging corridors and rooms at attractions...you get the idea.

As to Ireland, so far it's been friendly expressions from the people we've talked to.  Less than 90 minutes after landing, Martha and I were sitting in Gibney's Pub in Malahide enjoying Smithwicks Irish Ale and eating fish and chips.  No surly expressions from the bartender or wait staff!

Our hotel

We even enjoyed a nice sunset.

One of a few wooden carvings along nice bayside path back to hotel:

Already, I feel better.  By the end of the Spain traveling, I wasn't enjoying anything.

So, a few days of Irish exploring, then home!

The Iberian Wandering - Day 28: Olite Palace

Today's wander took us to the Palace/Castle in the town of Olite.

After a 20 mile wrong turn detour at a traffic circle, we got there just after the ticket office opened.  Popular place, already a dozen people ahead of us.

Pretty cool castle, built more for leisure and enjoyment than defense.  It's consistently rated in the top ten list of beautiful castles in Spain and I can see why.

Main Entrance 

After touring the castle, we wandered around a little bit:

As Noon approached we left as the crowds grew in size.

The drive back was on a back road which crossed the Erro river several times.

Luckily its not a heavily traffic road as it was narrow and had it's share of blind curves.

We head back to Bilbao tomorrow, both of us are pretty much done with Spain and are ready to head out.

The Iberian Wandering - Day 27: Pamplona Sights

Nice sunny day today, as we explored the route used by the annual Running of the Bulls event during the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona.

We parked in a a paid lot next to the Navarre Museum and headed to the start of the Encerrio or Running of the Bulls.

First, the pen where the bulls are kept before the start of the run:

Martha takes the bull by the horns

The route is marked by signs such as this one:

And this one (top third), the explanation is just at the beginning and end I recall.

Famous Calle de La Estafeta, main route for the Encerrio:

Contemplating the countdown

City Hall, yep the bulls run past it

Views along the Calle de la Estafeta:

While stout wooden fences keep the bulls and the runners pointed in right direction, where the streets narrow, the buildings themselves are the fence.

The Curva or Curve, where the bulls must make a sharp right turn.  Sometimes, they slip and crash into the herding fence posts.

Can you see the metal square covers into which the posts are installed during the Encerrio?

Here's a closer look at the covers:

The route is a short one, leading to the Bull Ring Stadium. A bust of Hemingway, whose book: The Sun also Rises, basically put Pamplona on the map

(No idea re Superman figure in background):

The portal through which the bulls are herded for the ensuing bullfighting events.

Next, we checked out the nearby sculpture of the Encerrio:

Apparently, Martha overhead an English speaking pair nearby:  "Let's take pictures now, remember how crowded it was last night!".   So we timed this spot just right.

At the end of the route, at the Plaza del Castillo, we stumbled onto Cafe Iruña.  It was apparently a favorite spot for Hemingway while in Pamplona so we got Espressos and Churros.

I managed to find the inside entryway to the bar where Hemingway's statue at the bar is located.  This was fortunate as the outside, with signage, entrance was shuttered close.

Arches outside the Cafe Iruña

We retraced our way back to the car to update our 2 hr parking ticket, then checked out the nearby Navarre Museum.  Entry fee was waived as all the floors above ground level are being worked on.

Some of the stuff that caught my eye:

At the museum's Mirador:

Remains of City Walls

Giant Mosaic on wall

Large mosaic floor inside museum

A "guess" at what the statue looked like originally:

In the chapel area, there was some modern "art" to go with the traditional Catholic Church icons and such:

Stone column, Stella?, outside the chapel.

Closeup of the center portion of the previously shown floor mosaic:

Last but definitely not least, the was a small audio/video exhibit (free) showcasing old film footage/photos of past Saint Fermin Festivals and running of the bulls.

There were digital Posters of past years:

Inside a very dark walkthrough exhibit, there were film clips showing the bull runs, the incredible mass of people attending the events and you could see shots of the large figures which parade through town during the festival.

Here's a video of the large figures, it's from sanfermin.com.  My video capture of the clip at the exhibit didn't turn out.

That's all from our brief foray to Pamplona, we left as the crowds grew and were back in our apartment in Erro for lunch.

Views of Erro: