Vineyards and catacombs and bulls, oh, my!

Warning: Only one picture on this blog post. I have to wait until I get back to Lyon to post more pictures.

I'm super sorry for not blogging before now. My computer (a 2009 Apple Macbook) recently crashed, taking along just about everything with it. Luckily, I've posted every picture ever to Facebook (on private, of course), so no pictures are missing. Thank goodness.

Last weekend was the most exciting (and exhausting) weekend of my life. We began on Thursday; an eight-hour drive to San Sebaastian, Spain. Upon arrival, we learn it gets dark there around 11:30. What do we do? Go surfing that night, of course.

After renting our surf boards and buying our surf gear, I HAVE to ask the worker, "What aqua predators frequent these waters?" "Sharks," he said. "What kind?" I ask. This is an extremely relevant question. As an avid Shark Week-watcher, I need to know. He laughs and says JAY KAY, and I'm off to surf in potentially deadly waters.

Just being a diva/surfing.

Surfing class

Robb doesn't give us much instruction; just to "stand up" when it "feels right." Luckily, there's a beginner's surfing class right in front of us (see next picture), so we discreetly listen in on that.

Rules of surfing: Defeat the 4-foot tall waves that crash into your 8-foot-long surf board constantly to make it to the "chill zone". Here, there aren't many waves; you just wait for the perfect one. When you spot the perfect one about 30 feet away (Sidenote: what's the perfect one? It "looks" big. Yeah, great.), then you paddle as hard as possible toward the shore. The wave should lift you up on its white caps, then you stand, and keep your balance to ride the wave in. Sounds easy, right? False.

Just checking out the surf

High fives!

Just being adorable.

Expert?

I nosedived close to 5 times; "put more weigh on the back," I hear. Fine. Finally, I get up on the board. VICTORY, I think. Now, I have to keep balance, while avoiding the 1000 children playing in front of me. NOT an easy task. After about 10 wipeouts, the coast was clear.  The guys joked that everyone left the beach, afraid of me hitting them. I doubt this was a joke.

Timothy was awesome, of course. He stood up about 10 times and surfed his little heart out. It was really the most invigorating thing I've ever done. More so than any other athletic activity I've ever participated in. The RUSH you feel when you stand up on that board is unmatched. I can see why people risk getting their legs eaten off by Jaws to surf.

After surfing, we were exhausted. Plus, we had a LONG day of Running with the Bulls, so it was time to go home.

Hang ten!

The next morning, the four of us awoke around 4:30AM. We made the 1-hour drive to Pamplona to see the FAMOUS Running of the Bulls. Everywhere, people were dress in white pants, white shirt, with a red scarf and red belt. Everyone was hammered, as well. I mean, seriously intoxicated. It was 6:00am! So I had my cappucino and was just fine.

The actual running began at 8AM. Since none of the girls (plus Tim) were running, we purchased tickets into the stadium to check out the stadium events. Not having any real expectations, it was the most awesome thing ever.

Basically, people just run around and get mauled by bulls. Bulls buck and kick and run into people, and the crowd cheers with glee. I spent 1.5 hours dying laughing in that stadium. It was just about the best thing ever.

In the staidum

After the Running, there wasn't much to do. We forgot about "siestas" in Spain, which are their 5-hour naps from like 10am-3pm. So we left Pamplona and headed back to San Sebastien for more surfing.

After surfing a bit more, it was time for a night on the town with our group. About 12 of us clubbed around San Sebastien, to end our night semi-early for our 4-hour haul to Bordeaux in the morning.

Bordeaux, France, is the most famous red wine region in the entire world. As a recent red-wine-lover, this was a good thing. Also, it was Bastille Day, and everyone was partying.

The group with our flowers, and a random father and child.

On our tour of Bordeaux!

We enjoyed good food, good wine, and good people, for the entire weekend. On Sunday, we went to a Bordeaux wine tour in St. Emillion, which is a nearby wine region. The cellars were old and chilly, and the wine was fantastic. After purchasing a few bottles, it was time to head back to Lyon for class.

9 days and counting until I return to the United States. Do I HAVE to?!