One destination that I wanted to check out was Pamplona. Being an hour north of Tudela, it was going to be an easy drive and we decided that we would take the toll way there and then the “picturesque” drive back via Estella (according to the Europe Drive guide, between Pamplona and Estella is “picturesque” and then the secondary road back to Tudela. So the tollway was no issue and we got to Pamplona with no issues – even found a wheelchair accessible parking spot available without looking for one! We parked, paid for an hour and decided to find the Tourism Office which was nearby to find out what was with the parking metre and why it said only Zone 1 and 2 people could park there until 2pm (it was 11am currently) and if it was like other cities we were finding, we did not have to pay at all. Well, this city is like others – ignore all parking signs, if you have a decal, you are free to park as long as you want! So we just left the car and took the tourism lady up on a walking tour we could do on our own. We sort of abbreviated it so that we would end up back at our car instead of cross town! So here are our pictures in two groups – old Pamplona and the wall and churches. Then, from a bulls perspective, what they see (minus the garbage cans and people walking obviously) when they do the “Running of the Bulls” – which is only 800 metres from one end of Old Town into the Bull Ring. On our way along the “Running of the Bulls” route we did stop for lunch and I randomly picked a place as they advertised a risotto meal for 15 Euros. Well, was I in for a treat! I pulled out my Spanish translation card for Gluten Free and the man said he understood and that Risotto was the Primo course and what did I want for my Secondo course? I really just wanted Risotto but it was a two course meal, so I picked chicken which came with apples. Andrew had a sandwich from the display. We were sitting there (I had my back to the kitchen) and out the man came with a round bread in a basket FOR ME! He kept motioning me me to have it and I was aprehensive as NO ONE has ever given me bread that smelled so good before! So he ran and got the bag and sure enough they had baked this bread for me! It was crusty on the outside and pure softness on the inside. You have to have CD to understand what pure luxury this was! Even Andrew said it was good! He got a sample and that was it! The risotto arrived – cheese risotto and it was heavenly and I was full! So I wrote a note to the waiter and he bundled my chicken up to go! All this cost us 19 Euros including 2 drinks and Andrew’s sandwich and we had dinner for tonight! After that, while walking back to the car, it was afternoon siesta time and everything was closed – specifically a shoe store where they had shoes like the ones I had bought in Barcelona – same Made in Spain – but 5 Euros cheaper! I think Andrew was quietly happy that it was closed as no more shoes right now for Lynda! Instead we went grocery shopping and got some replacement supplies for our continued picnics in various places as I now had used Amazon.es and gotten a insulated picnic bag to carry our items plus a bag of ice. The drive from Pamplona to Estella was uneventful and NOT “picturesque” compared to what we have already seen! So we continued south and on that drive it was quite beautiful – driving through combined wine and grain country in rolling hills… That evening we sat on our terrace on the top floor of the hotel and ate my chicken left overs and had some GF lemon cake (from Carrefour) for dessert! A wonderful end to a lovely day as the church bells rang in the background.
Here is the Running of the Bulls Route!
