Cactus Language Blog

29th
APR

Cactus Opinion: Spanish in Pamplona

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Cactus Staff Opinion, Learning a language, Spanish

Senior Language Holiday Advisor Elvira Rodriguez tells us about her fam trip to Pamplona, Spain (April 08)

Hemingway fell in love with Pamplona and wrote a few novels based on this proud and ancient capital of Navarra, especially its world-renowned festival of San Fermin (the running of the bulls). Beautiful novels came out of his experience under the titles of A Dangerous Summer, Sun Also Rises and Death in the Afternoon. Despite Pamplona being widely known for this festival, it lasts just one week and the ”running” each day takes as little as 5 minutes! What do they do the rest of the year?

When I arrived in Pamplona I really did not know much of the place so my eyes were hungry and eager to discover it. I was taken to my hotel by a taxi driver, Juan, who in a matter of 10 minutes, using the most vivid adjectives and expressions, guided me through every step of a pilgrim’s travels through Pamplona, towards Santiago de Compostela. He could even recall the sound of the water running through clear water rivers, the beautiful landscapes and the inner peace that brings nature to the soul…he was really inspiring me, so I asked him when he did it and which way he took? He looked at me through the car’s mirror, a sparkle in his eye and a broad smile…well…I don’t need to do it!, he said, I have spoken to so many pilgrims in my taxi that I feel that I have already done it… mmm, he nearly got me there! Still, he left me wondering, if he speaks like that just by what pilgrims had said to him, what would he say if he had done it?…

Anyway, the day is not very friendly to my new arrival and welcomes me with a few scattered showers, however I have to say that it was very well behaved! Despite it raining every day I was there, it stopped every time I was doing a tour, visiting the outskirts, and I did see the city in its splendour with the gorgeous sun!

During my visit, we had a wonderful and hilarious guide who talked us through the history of Navarra and Pamplona, walking through the old town, where you can still see the remains of the fortress city, which had a key role in the military defence of the Pyrenees. The old part reminded me of Edinburgh, where the highest point of the castle is met by the descending gardens towards the park. Among their streets there are many restaurants, pintxo bars and more churches, including a cathedral, more that you could possibly need! This is really the city with one of the highest number of churches per capita!

For those who may not know, pintxo is what the rest of Spain called tapas, but I may say that they are completely different. It is normally served on top of a little slice of bread, but portions are big, fresh and you will find fish tapas in abundance due to the promixity to the sea. San Sebastian is only 45 minutes away! Prices are also very surprising, a nice Tortilla de patatas with ham and cheese pintxo is only €1.50, and all other pintxos have similar prices.

Then, we visited the school! Only 10 minutes walk from the centre of town and a lovely pleasant one, where you have a view of the city. The school is set on the top floor of a beautiful building that leaves you with a feeling of grandeur, with wide staircases and a wonderful restaurant where students have special rates of just over €6 for a 2-course meal, including bread and coffee or tea!

The school has seven classrooms, a resource centre with a library, a film & multimedia centre, an auditorium and wi-fi throught the building.

The atmosphere was the same one that you have on the streets of Pamplona: relaxed. At the time of my visit there was a school group from the UK that had come for a week to immerse themselves in the language; otherwise they have students of different nationalities and ages, the average being 23 to 25. I have to say that Pamplona is one of the few places where you can truly immerse yourself as there isn’t an English-speaking community, plus you really need to speak Spanish to get by as most of the services (with the exception of the tourist office and similar) speak little or no English.

On the second day of my stay, we were taken to a winery just outside Pamplona, Otazu. The journey was amazing, as the afternoon sun was setting, the landscape was getting painted by the sun’s gold dust and I could indulge on the most beautiful and radiant green of meadow after meadow, followed by wine grapes. The landscape is truly amazing, but that is not surprising as this province is extremely close to the Pyrenees. Pamplona is a great base if you enjoy hiking as it has stunning countryside and some of the most beautiful villages of the Navarran Pyrenees.

I learned more on this wine tasting than in any others that I have been in the past! I think it was the pure passion that the Manager of the winery had for the life of the grapes converting into wine together with the amazing metaphors he used to enchant us into his world. I learned that this winery is the furthest up north in Spain, where it is possible to cultivate grapes and that his wine was in a competition the following day in New York, among the 25 finest new wines of Spain!

We were also lucky enough to try different types of Pintxos by one of the regions top chefs! In Pamplona once a year, they also organise a Pintxo week where all top chefs present their new creations and vote for the best one! I enjoyed all of them, except the one with pigeon leg….

In only a few days, I was happily intoxicated by the warm welcome of the locals, their passion for their land, food, wine, hard work and most of all their friendliness.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief account and inspired you to come and visit Pamplona, where you have the relaxed feeling of a town with all the facilities, culture and night life of a big city, but in a smaller scale!

Vamos a Pamplona!