ith them all night too but I told him that I don’t like cocaine very much and so when they got pizza Sean and I peaced out. We had come with the plan to figure out where to stay once we got there and while we were looking for a campground I noticed that masses of people seemed to be walking the opposite way of us. I told Sean that I think we should go with the flow, so we did. It ended up leading to quite possibly the craziest fireworks show that either of us had ever seen. The show wasn’t just one long continuous firing but instead went in fazes with 1 giant blast separating each one. They had some fireworks that I had never seen before which was cool but the best part was the grand finale. I will try and describe this as best I can… you know the firework that is golden and almost rains downward like a giant glittering weeping willow in the sky? Well I hope so because that’s the best I got. For the finish they probably launched 300 or so into the air within about 40 seconds, I know this because I took a video that is kinda crappy and not worth posting online. Sean and I were in complete awe; after it ended we just stood there with our jaws dropped in disbelief at what we just witnessed. It was as if they tried to blow up the sky and fill it with gold, it was like the champagne super nova in the sky from the Oasis song.Afterwards we kept with our motto of follow the crowd, which was now thousands of people, into the heart of the city. There we found concert after concert after concert. To make a long story a little shorter, the concerts were cool but by about 3 we were getting tired and went to this park to try and sleep for a while. We had put our bags in lockers and couldn’t get to them until 6am so we tried to sleep on park benches. I think I might have slept for a good half hour or so but I got woken up by people talking right by me. It turned out that Sean could
n’t sleep and was cold so he left and some other people figured that out of all the benches the one next to me would be good to hang out at. Sean came back a little later and we were both freezing by then so we found this restaurant that served baked potatoes and warmed up in there for a while. It turns out that when people party all night they get really hungry from 4-5am, just a little FYI. At 6 we went and got our stuff, which included sleeping bags, and we went back to the park and slept in them for 2 hours until we had to wake up and go see the Running of the Bulls.Ok, if you are still reading at this point, this is where I start regretting things. You may have heard me talk about the Running of the Bulls and although this wasn’t the more famous Pamplona festival, it still was very legit and muy loco. We followed the crowd once again to the bull ring where the running was happening. They had big fences set up on the sides of the course but I didn’t really understand what was going on, they had bulls in one end, and then some runners were just hanging out in the middle, and I couldn’t figure out which way they were
supposed to run. I decided that it would be best to watch the run first and then if I still wanted to run come back the following morning and run (they run every morning during the festival). We climbed up onto the tops of the fences and not long after a crazed mob of men came running towards us with bulls in chase. The course went only about 50yds past us and then stopped, I was confused because some of they guys who ran had been standing in front of me and only went the last 50yds. But all of a sudden they started running back the other way as the bulls were re-released from the corral at the end. It made more sense then, instead of having one long course like in Pamplona, they just run back and forth a few times. The whole 
thing was intense but I felt like I could survive it and after they ran past me a second time I definitely was regretting my inaction in the whole thing. However as they ran past us a final time one of the last runners was getting passed on his left by a bull. As it ran by him he reached out and touched its back which it didn’t like to much so it kicked him in his knee and he got knocked down so fast that his head hit the ground, then bounced up and hit the wooden fence, then luckily he rolled under the fence and out of danger. Immediately people started yelling and one pair of the many paramedics were quickly on the scene to carry him off. After the running was over the crowd all hurried into the stadium so of course Sean and I followed. We were lucky to get seats as it quickly got packed full and a little while later 5 guys came out and were introduced to us. They then all went to one area of the big ring and with the opening of a door, out came a bull that was charging really-really fast. It was another one of those moments when Sean and I were like, no way is this happening (amigos from Westmont, you know how much Sean likes “no way”, it was said very often during this trip). The bull immediately started chasing 
each guy who would then quickly run behind a safety wall. One by one they would take turns taunting the bull and then letting it get as close to them as possible before they would dodge out of the way. As if that wasn’t exciting enough the men started pairing up and have the bull chase one guy as the other ran in the opposite direction straight towards the bull. As the bull would lower its horns to gore the stupid guy running straight at it, the guy would then jump and clear the length of the bull. And as if that wasn’t exciting enough they started doing flips over the bull, and then backflips. It was just crazy, and awesome, and ridiculous all at the same time. By the way if you ever wondered what kind of music is played during something like this, the favorite wasn’t classical Spanish music or anything, instead the music of choice was the theme to Pirates of the Caribbean and also “I will survive” which was fitting and ironic, another FYI. After a short break the guys came back out with this big 4 way teeter-totter that you hold onto with your hands. As the bull would come towards one guy, his partner on the other side would pull his weight downward thus lifting up the man in danger and letting the bull run right under him. This system seemed to work fairly well for a while but then the bull started running in a circle around the playground toy of death trying to stick guy after 
guy after guy. He ended up getting one guy pretty good but his buddy, acting fast but not fast enough, pulled him up above the bull. The whole time I was kinda dreading that these bulls were going to be killed. I’m not one for killing or hurting animals, remember Mom and Dad when I watched “Bear”, so I wasn’t looking forward to the end of the show. Bull fighting is part of Spanish culture and I also knew that it was something I should experience during my time here. Luckily for me and the bulls, after the crowd gave a standing ovation to the 5 brave men, random guys from the crowd started jumping the railing and running out into the ring. Confused and
intrigued Sean and I stayed in our seats to see what would happen next. Sure enough the corral door opened up again and out came another charging bull. It immediately singled out a middle-aged man in a bright red jacket who proceeded to run for his life and slip, yes slip, as he tried to hide behind the safety wall. He was just inches from getting a horn to the head but made it to safety. In disbelief once again I was like “of course they would let anyone into the bull ring, why not?” We figured out that the goal was to put a ring onto the bulls´ horn so these guys were getting really close to danger.Afterwards we continued with the theme of “follow the crowd” which was once again thousands of people, and went and got some breakfast and then hung around the city for the rest of the day before catching a bus back home. It was a crazy and fun day and a half and if I would´ve had a better place to sleep besides a park, I would’ve stayed and ran with the bulls the next morning, at least I tell myself that, it would’ve been super scary.
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