The Philadelphia Peña and Taurino Club actively encourages the la fiesta visitor to visit sites surrounding Pamplona. There are two (2) scientifically proven advantages to the proper utilization of what we like to call “the side trip.”

Advantage No. 1: “rest for the weary.”

This may come as a shock, but Pamplona becomes, on occasion, very crowded. Just a tad, though. We believe this has something to do with French citizens fleeing gathering hordes for the celebration of Bastille Day. Nevertheless, when it starts to feel like 1979 at “The Who” concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, we start checking bus schedules for getting out of town.

Advantage No. 2: resumption of “normal body temperature.”

Pamplona gets hot. Trees whistle for dogs. The mountains whisper “By Mennen.” Some days, it’s so hot that – even with millions of visitors – you don’t hear a sound in the street at 1400. On these days, “laying in the park” won’t satisfy your need for cooler temperatures.

In 1926, Ernest Hemingway invented the "sidetrip" upon publishing "The Sun Also Rises," and published accounts of the author's actual forays into the wilderness and small towns surrounding Pamplona are facinating and compelling.  With due respect, Ari and I feel we've perfected Hemingway's early efforts at the perfect day outside the fiesta.

There are many, many options.

San Sebastian / Donostia. The beaches and restaurants of San Sebastian are commonly known as the Mother of All Side Trips (MOAST). While once tethered to the bus schedule, we’ve historically enjoyed San Sebastian so much, we graduated up to the rental car requirement. Some years, it’s hard to differentiate from which town we are side tripping.

The drive to San Sebastian is easy and through beautiful countryside. Once, we had a flat tire, the spare tire instructions were in German (thank you, Avis), and a sheep nearly mugged me. But, that story is for another time. In town, look for the parking garages along Paseo de la Concha, as street parking is reserved for the earliest of arrivers and the King, apparently.

Known as Donostia among the Basque, San Sebastian’s less than an hour drive north from Pamplona. Just keep driving until you hit the beach. There are two (2) beaches facing Mar Catábrico – Playa de Ondarreta and Playa de la Concha. The former is more for families with little kids, which – clearly – you want no part of.

Behind La Concha is a famous boulevard for a paseo, and a time/temperature tower – remember, la corrida starts at 1830. Down the steps to the beach, there is an area for locker, towel, soap, and shower rental. Actually, I don’t think you rent the soap. The facility is very economical and clean, and tourist friendly. There are also some lousy sandwich shops which serve paprika flavored Doritos. They’re gross. So, you’re better off packing a lunch.
On the other hand, you can buy a Magnum – Europe’s No. 1 Hand Held Ice Cream Bar. 


          View on the Drive                                           San Sebastian                                            La Concha 

For 1€, you can rent a chair, which – to blend in like a local – you should face away from the water and toward the sun in the morning hours. Incidentally, with the chair, there is some complex ticket exchange. If someone can explain it to us, we’d be very grateful.

While crowded by mid-day, it’s as civil as any beach I’ve ever been to (no radios or horseshoes). There’s a gentle wave on the beach, and a very significant tide. At low tide, you can scurry over the slippery rocks to Playa de Ondarreta. I don’t know why, but we always do this. After risking our life, we usually turn back immediately after confirming, “Yep. It’s still here.”

Before Isla de Santa Clara, there are two (2) swimming platforms. One has a sliding board, and the other a “high” diving board. Peña members that swim to these platforms are held in the highest regard; others continue to maintain their junior status. Personally, I have to recover out there for a about a ½ hour, while 80 year old locals dog paddle by. At low tide, scary giant kelp disconcertingly tickles your feet while swimming out far.

At the beach, we get a thalassotherapy treatment at La Perla Spa ($22E), which is the ancient treatment for aches and pains, of which there are many, associated with “running on cobblestones.” In Basque, thalassotherapy means “spraying you in the face with cold water while old ladies watch and laugh.” Seriously, jumping between freezing and boiling seawater plus steam baths, ice showers, and saunas get us through to Probe de Mì. Plus, you have to wear a cool shower cap.  NOTE:  After significant rennovations in 2007, the La Perla Spa was seriously damaged in a winter storm in 2008.  In July 2008, it was not even close to being reopened.  

Trust me, if you are staying through the entire fiesta and you're over 18, you'll need to hit a thalassotherapy.  In San Sebastian, if La Perla is not open, a good substitute is the "Hydra Wellness Centre & Spa" ($16E), which is located inside the wonderful Hotel Maria Cristina, at Paseo Republica Argentina, 4.  It's got a giant stainless steel saltwater pool, fountains, a steam room and a sauna.  Another option in found in the French border town of Hendaye, discussed more below.

While San Fermìn persists, there is a usually a strange meeting of the eyes, and sharing of exaggerated stories, on the beach among those ducking in from Pamplona. Learn the secret handshake. We especially enjoy these chance encounters with kindred spirits, and the exchange of information. Where you from? Where you staying? How’d you get here? Where’d you eat? Did you see that bull? Did you swim to the platform, too?

After cleaning up at the showers, it’s time to eat. We head into Parte Vieja, which is the old-city of San Sebastian. Facing the beach, just walk to the right along La Concha. Once you’ve crossed Alameda del Boulevard (“Avenue of the Blvd.” in Basque) and behind the Ayuntamiento, you’ve reached the greatest concentration of Great Food in the Hemisphere.

Here, you have two (2) options: sit down or tapas crawl.

For tapas, we prefer 

         Gorriti – c/San Juan, corner c/Lorenzio – best classic Basque counter top tapas.  Our personal favorite.
         La Cepa – c/31 de Augusto, 7 
         Ganbara, c/San Jeronimo, 21 
         Gaztelu, c/31 de Augusto 
         Narrika, c/Narrika 
         Astelena, corner of Plaza Constitucion 
         Nagusia Lau,  c/Mayor 4 -- great cold tapas.
         Galparsoro Okindegia, c/Mayor 6 -- other worldly pastry. 

Or, Borda Berri, c/Fermin Calbeton, 12 -- in July 2008, we had made us "to order" tender cow’s cheek, as seen here. So, so              yummy.  We returned later, as it was the best pintxo I’ve ever tasted.

Or, just look for anything on calles 31 de Augusto, Fermin Calbeton, Pescaderia, Aldamar, or San Jeronimo.

For sit down, we alway reserve a table at Bodegón Alejandro (c/Fermin Calberton, 4), where we eat very well, and the people have always been more than gracious.  Their desserts are wonderful.  Also, the fish at Casa Vallés, at Reyes Católicos, 10, is renown. 

Looking at a map, the easiest way to get to San Sebastian from Pamplona is along the A15. Even on the Autovià you’ll see the pretty (can I say that here?) countryside. Driving home, we suggest the Death March Drive Home to Pamplona, that is, using the C133 which follows the Bidasoa River. At the N121, you enter the stunning Baztàn Valley en route to Pamplona.

Roncesvalles. Roncesvalles is a province of Navarra and east of Pamplona, and it’s found in the Aezcoa Valley. Less than an hour drive, its among the Pyrenees and only a couple of miles from the French border.

Also known as Orreaga (or Valley of the Thorns) in Basque, Roncesvalles is the site of the Basque victory over Charlemagne on August 15, 778, which was romanticized in the epic poem “La Chanson de Roland.” The area oozes the Middle Ages, and thorns apparently.

With forest trails, rivers, dolmens, meadows, beech and fir trees, mountains, a reservoir, old shepherd huts, hikes from Roncesvalles are amply outlined at http://www.roncesvalles.es/.

Our favorite is the “Sorogain” trail (off N135), which leads into the hills, where we have found ice from hail storms the night before, and very low temperatures, even when Pamplona is sweltering.


                    The Dam                                                 The Valley                                          Roncesvalles Hiking

Often, you’ll find cattle, sheep, and other livestock wandering the hills with you. Basque shepherds we startle are always friendly, but appropriately amused by our huffing and puffing through the hills.

The Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim path between France and Spain, passes through Roncesvalles. St. James, after serving as an apostle, became known for his appearance in battles with invading Moors. Later known as Santiago Matamoros (Moor-slayer), St. James most famously appeared at the battle of Clavijo near Logroño, where he rode a white charger and personally scythed his way through tens of thousands of Moors.

In the actual town of Roncesvalles, we visit the “Colegiata,” built by King Sancho VII el Fuerte (the Strong), which houses his giant tomb. Behind an iron grill, you can see a bit of the chain (broken by Sancho) that had been used to guard the Muslim chieftan’s tent.

Above the town is the famous Ibañeta Pass. A stone marker marks the spot of the legendary battle (aptly named, the “Battle of Roncesvalles”) described in the French poem, La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland).

In reality, after besieging and demolishing Pamplona, Charlemagne began carting ill-gotten booty north and home. The rearguard of Charlemagne’s army was decimated by the Basque in and around the Ibañeta Pass, while Roland (a knight and the commander of the rearguard), waited on blowing his horn and then threw his sword, Durandal. The name of his horn may never be known.

Exploiting the story, the Catholic Church changed the Basque to Muslims, and started selling souvenirs along the camino. Wow, the Catholic Church’s first bake sale! Legends of Roland’s bravery were used to pump up the Norman troops at the Battle of Hastings. So, Western History in a nutshell: Edward, Harold, Williams, Normandy, Halley’s Comet, channel crossing, Hastings, arrow in the eye, and tapestry. Done, and done. All thanks to the Basque running of Roland.

From the back of the abbey, the hike to the pass is about an hour through beech forests. At the top you’ll find a bell used to guide Middle Age pilgrims through the fog. On the way back you’ll find – not unexpectedly – the abbey you left from.

The Roland monument is located beside the Chapel of San Salvador, in the Ibañeta pass. The remains of the Roman triumph tower located in the Urkulu mountain, illustrate the importance of this area as a natural way since the Middle Ages, or so says the book I read about it.

Monasterio de San Juan de la Peña. About 1 ½ hours from Pamplona, and south of Jaca along N240, the Monasterio de San Juan de la Peña is along a side road near the village of Santa Cruz de la Seros. It’s known for its long name. An Aragón Monastery during the Middle Ages, the fortified buildings were used for “normal monastic activities” – whatever they are – and to wage war against invading Muslims. It is known as a “cradle” of Christian resistance during the 700-year occupation of Spain by the Moors. Farther north, you’ll find the “high chair,” “crib,” “car seat” and “big boy bed” of the Hare Krishna.

More famously, pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago visited to view the Holy Grail, which was moved from various sites in the region to hide it from the Moors, until later used in Indiana Jones 3.
 
Considered to be on the “balcony of the Pyrenees,” there are now many impressive hikes around the area. There is an excellent website at http://www.monasteriosanjuan.com/.

Sierra de Aralar. Aralar is a large mountain range, with springs, and meadows and groups of beech, oak and hazelnut trees. Cattle and horses roam freely, but there’s plenty of room for a nice hike or picnic. Or nap. Since 2008, there’s been an influx of national funds to improve the roads and tourist services in the area. It’s a stunningly beautiful area which you could spend a lifetime exploring. At the top, you’ll find the Sanctuary of Aralar, which was robbed by the famous art thief Eric "The Belgian" in 1979. Nearby, Teodosi de GoZi killed a dragon after returning from the Crusades (who hasn’t?), and Charlemagne wandered through the area. So, they got that going for them. Seriously, the forests are super spooky (ala Hansel and Gretel), and I wouldn’t be surprised to stumble on a dragon.

Nearby you’ll find the ...