It Is Refreshing, After Sitting for So Long in One Attitude

I’ve been feeling extremely restless lately. It’s gotta be all this walking…it seems sort of ironic – walking a good 4 kilometers every day ought to make me more tired, not less. But now that I’m in good shape, my muscles are often positively screaming for more exercise. When I’m walking, I feel like the Energizer bunny, like I could just go and go and go forever. And when I’m sitting…imagine a wind-up doll that somebody gave a few good cranks to and then held in place with their hand on its head. The ensuing jitters are a good analogy for what I feel like sometimes.

Because of this, I decided to take a nice, long (about two and a half hours, in fact) walk today, not having much else to do. So, with umbrella and mp3 player in tow (I found the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack to be very fitting for the romantic rainy-ness) I set off. And oh man, was it a good decision! I’ve wanted to explore one of Pamplona’s parks, called the Parque de Taconera, for a long time now. It’s really close to my flat, and today I ran out of excuses not to go look around. I’m so very glad I went! The park is gigantic, and so astoundingly gorgeous! I only saw a small portion of it, because I got distracted…more about that in a moment. But what I did see, I loved! There are some of the obligatory old Spanish buildings (the park melts into Casco Antiguo further on), some lovely fountains and statues, and lots of shrubberies, hedge mazes, and such. And there are a ton of little areas with benches or playground equipment where people can go to chill or have a picnic or whatever they please. And there’s even an animal enclosure inside the park! Nothing very exotic, but it was fun to see the mountain goats, peacocks, various fowl, and gorgeous deer. I feel like this park is the kind of place you could spend all day in!

I didn’t go too deeply into the park since I was alone and didn’t want to get lost in all the twisty passageways. I’ll venture farther in another day. I stayed somewhat around the perimeter this time, partly because I remembered a friend of mine talking about this path that takes you all the way around the city, and I’m not sure why but I had it in my head that you can get to it from Taconera, and I wanted to look for it. The outer edge seemed to be a likely place to start.

Anyway, I rounded a bend on the path I was walking on, and there, right before my eyes, was one of the most wonderful views I’ve seen since coming to Europe! The path was perpendicular to a stone walkway lined by a fence. Just beyond the fence was a steep drop-off, and beyond that, a huge section of Pamplona that I never even knew existed was laid out before me! To me, it looked more typically “Spanish” than any other place I’ve seen in town, save Casco Antiguo. All of the roofs were that quintessential rusty red color that evidently appears on houses all over Europe, and there were a few spires and domes and mossy stone bridges. There was even a river, with some kayakers paddling serenely along. Some of the houses dotted the spectacular hills in the background, tucked in among the evergreens that cover the mounds. How lucky their residents are! And the hills themselves made me want to cry with happiness – those dark shapes with their drifting veils of clouds were better than the ones I dream about when the vast, endless flatness of the North Dakotan plains fill me with boredom and agoraphobia.

I kept walking along the path, which appeared to me to be an extension of the Ciudadela – same mossy gray stones, same slanted walls. The whole thing reminded me of the battlements of some old fortress – which may well be what they are. Along the way, there were little paths that lead to sections of the wall that sticks out a little farther (my inner medieval nerd is telling me that there is probably an actual name for these, but I can’t currently remember what it is), where you can get an even better look at the view. The path branches off onto bigger roads as well, and I took these when the fancy struck me. And along the way, I saw a few signs that said “Paseo Ronda,” with a map that gave me reason to believe I had indeed found the path around the city. I didn’t walk the entire length of it, but I did visit a few of its tributaries. One of them led me up to a higher road, on the right side of which were the most European-looking houses that you could wish to see – stucco buildings of different colors built so close to one another that they touch, with the occasional narrow alleyway or wrought-iron balcony. Another path brought me to a place I recognized – a section of the Encierro, which is the route on which those crazy San Fermín-celebrators run for their lives from a herd of angry bulls. I even saw a building or two that looked very much like castles – if I ignored the customary Euskerran (the language of the Basque people) graffiti that appeared here and there, I felt like I had stepped back in time a few hundred years. The beauty and character of the whole area just astounded me! I can’t wait to go back. It's experiences like this that make me feel as though I've stepped into a movie or a novel...sometimes I just can't help but ask myself, "Is this actually happening?" I can hardly fathom how blessed I am.

It still amazes me that I continue to find such gems as this part of the city all the time in Pamplona. It just goes to show that with a little daring (and a touch of boredom as well), there are so many adventures to be had, and some of them are just a few steps away from home!