The Pamplona Lowdown
Juevinxtos, cafes bombons, and Plaza del Castillo are three things that I've learned to love and appreciate in Pamplona. They're also things that I had no idea even existed before living here. In all honesty, I didn't know a lot about any of the places that I had applied to as it was hard to find a website that had a complete lowdown about life in each city.
Now, with a little personal experience to run off, I think it's time I give you all the "big picture" of my little city.
The Weather:
The first thing anyone asks about. Pamplona weather has caught me off guard a bit. When I was in Canada, I always thought Spain would be tropical, hot, humid... I basically expected Florida weather. However, it's a lot more like Canada (home, sweet home). Since I arrived, we've been sitting around 20C in the morning and reaching 25-30C in the day. This is typical for summer. It doesn't always feel blaring hot, even at 30C because the air here is dry (and I mean super dry). It's slowly starting to feel like fall with chilly mornings. I've been warned to expect around 0-5C in winter (little do they know I only brought my light winter jacket, and my usual winter one for -30C is still in Canada).
The People:
From a Canadian perspective, I view the Spanish culture as more feminine, collective and oriented for the short-term. Women greet each other with a kiss on each cheek, friends hold hands or link arms, and conversations are held with smaller distance between yourself and others. It's not uncommon for someone to grab your arm during a conversation. Hierarchy is also important, as seen in the use of more formal verb conjugations when speaking to elders, teachers or anyone else of higher age or status than you. Being oriented for the short-term means that they value the present, focusing on quick results and enjoying leisure time.
I've noticed that people are much more likely to be out in a larger group of people than alone. This made me stand out as a newcomer to the city during the first week, before I had met anyone. In terms of clothing, the Spanish don't dress drastically different than in Canada. However, I would peg Pamplona (I can't speak for the rest of Spain) to be a more conservative city as wearing short dresses, skirts, and shorts during the day is a key way to receive a lot of attention.
The first thing anyone asks about. Pamplona weather has caught me off guard a bit. When I was in Canada, I always thought Spain would be tropical, hot, humid... I basically expected Florida weather. However, it's a lot more like Canada (home, sweet home). Since I arrived, we've been sitting around 20C in the morning and reaching 25-30C in the day. This is typical for summer. It doesn't always feel blaring hot, even at 30C because the air here is dry (and I mean super dry). It's slowly starting to feel like fall with chilly mornings. I've been warned to expect around 0-5C in winter (little do they know I only brought my light winter jacket, and my usual winter one for -30C is still in Canada).The People:
From a Canadian perspective, I view the Spanish culture as more feminine, collective and oriented for the short-term. Women greet each other with a kiss on each cheek, friends hold hands or link arms, and conversations are held with smaller distance between yourself and others. It's not uncommon for someone to grab your arm during a conversation. Hierarchy is also important, as seen in the use of more formal verb conjugations when speaking to elders, teachers or anyone else of higher age or status than you. Being oriented for the short-term means that they value the present, focusing on quick results and enjoying leisure time.
I've noticed that people are much more likely to be out in a larger group of people than alone. This made me stand out as a newcomer to the city during the first week, before I had met anyone. In terms of clothing, the Spanish don't dress drastically different than in Canada. However, I would peg Pamplona (I can't speak for the rest of Spain) to be a more conservative city as wearing short dresses, skirts, and shorts during the day is a key way to receive a lot of attention.
Food, Drinks & Parties:
It took me some time to adjust to the Spanish style of eating, as an early breakfast is often small, a medium-sized lunch is had around 2:00pm and a larger dinner is had around 9:00-10:00pm. To fill in the gap, restaurants and bars serve pintxos (pronounced: pinch-o) all day and night. Pintxos are mini appetizers sized perfectly for one person. On Thursday, in Pamplona only, Pintxos are served with a glass of wine or beer for only 2 Euros!Popular foods here are cured ham and bread, tortillas (they're like an omelette, sort of...) and patatas bravas (potatoes with garlic and siracha sauces, SO yummy). See pictured: the best patatas bravas in the city.
For all my coffee lovers, I'm sorry... there's no such thing as an XL double-double. The Spanish live on small espressos (or cafe con leche, if you want it with milk). So, prepare yourself for four orders of coffee everyday if you need the same daily caffeine fix as you get at home.
In terms of other drinks, I've learned that sangria is the drink you order if you want to be pegged as a tourist. Instead, order tinto de verano! It's very similar, and when ordered con limon (with lemon), it is half lemonade and half red wine with a twist of orange. So yummy. Another popular drink, and bear with me on this, is red wine and coca-cola. A Kalimotxo. I haven't had it yet, so I can't give you the inside scoop, but knowing how much they value great food and drinks in Spain, I would trust their idea.
In Canada, we pre-drink around 9:00pm, get to the bar for 11:00pm and make it home for 2:00 or 3:00am. So does Australia. However, Spain only eats dinner at 10:00pm, making 12:00am the time to start pre-drinks. And 12:00am is the early side. Most bars only open at midnight and fill up around 2:00am, meaning that we don't usually get home until 5:00am.
Getting Around:
Being a small city, it's really easy to walk around Pamplona. It's 30 minutes to get from my university to the city centre. Bus and bike are also super popular options! Pamplona has a great bus system which more or less comes on time and often. The routes change at night and end early, so it's not an option to get home from the bar (unless you're out until 6:30am).
A large public transit presence doesn't mean there still isn't a lot of traffic. To navigate this, most cities in Europe make great use of traffic circles. They're amazing for both smoothly directing cars and confusing a pedestrian who is trying to find a new grocery store.
The Sights:
Besides their beloved festival, Pamplona also has many gorgeous parks such as la Ciudadela. La Ciudadela was a star-shaped wall that was used during wars to block out enemies from attacking the city. As years passed and Pamplona grew in size, they removed one of the five tips of the star, to allow more room for businesses and streets.
Plaza del Castillo, el Caballo Blanco and the Pamplona Cathedral are other historic and beautiful sights of this city.
Cost of Living:
According to Expatistan.com, the average cost of living in Spain is 16% lower than in Canada (yay for me!)
Things like groceries, rent, bus passes, clothes and hair/nail services are nearly the same as in Canada. Though, if you're a lover of food and drinks like I am, you're going to love to know that it's these two things that make the average cost of living lower than Canada. An average bottle of wine in a store is 4 Euros ($6 CAD) with an expensive bottle being 14 Euros ($20 CAD). In a restaurant, wine and beer is 2-4 Euros ($3-6 CAD) and pintxos are usually 3-4 Euros ($4.50-6 CAD).
I'm sincerely hoping that last paragraph was the one that convinced you to come for a visit! Pamplona is a gorgeous city, and I hope this quick city guide was valuable for anyone considering travelling or taking an exchange to Spain (looking at you, second-year BIB kids).
Until the next post,
Al
Things like groceries, rent, bus passes, clothes and hair/nail services are nearly the same as in Canada. Though, if you're a lover of food and drinks like I am, you're going to love to know that it's these two things that make the average cost of living lower than Canada. An average bottle of wine in a store is 4 Euros ($6 CAD) with an expensive bottle being 14 Euros ($20 CAD). In a restaurant, wine and beer is 2-4 Euros ($3-6 CAD) and pintxos are usually 3-4 Euros ($4.50-6 CAD).I'm sincerely hoping that last paragraph was the one that convinced you to come for a visit! Pamplona is a gorgeous city, and I hope this quick city guide was valuable for anyone considering travelling or taking an exchange to Spain (looking at you, second-year BIB kids).
Until the next post,
Al
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