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Founder’s Grand Cruise:  Day 10

10/25/2021

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Scouting Pamplona, Spain: Day 10’s Exploration of Pamplona

On the final full day of our Hemingway-esque journey across Southern Europe, we explore even further the city that the author lovingly returned to again and again. Our team set out to visit Pamplona’s best – from restaurant’s pushing the boundaries of Spanish cuisine to the historic places where Hemingway left his mark. 
We started the day at the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz, a luxury golf resort found just outside the city, before heading into town to visit the Plaza del Castillo to find two of Hemingway’s favorite destinations. Next, we enjoyed lunch at Pamplona’s incredible Abaco Restaurant, a Michelin Bib Gourmand and Repsol Guide two time “Sole” winner. After we’d explored a decent bit of Pamplona to work off our meal, we made our final destination of the day the Caravinagre Bar, located at the Hotel Maisonnave. During the Founder’s Grand Cruise, you’ll have the opportunity to visit these same brilliant places, each of which only enriches the San Fermin experience.
Walking the streets of Pamplona, Navarre, Spain
Walking the streets of Pamplona, Spain
The main floor hallway of the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz
The main floor hallway of the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz

A Quiet Morning at the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz

​Waking up on our last day, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of Spanish Tortilla, the traditional omelet of Spain, sausages, yogurt, toast, and espresso in the restaurant of Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz. We then took a tour of the facilities, which had recently expanded to allow the hotel to host even more visitors. A modern addition to the historic castle from which the hotel gets its name, each space of the hotel was beautifully designed to echo the tranquil feel of the old structure. We visited the spa, pools, meeting rooms, and lounges of the hotel, walking from one to the other along floor-to-ceiling windowed corridors lined with mature trees.
During the Founder’s Grand Cruise, the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz is your home base in Pamplona. A luxurious retreat with all the exciting festivities of San Fermin just 10 minutes away, the hotel is close to the action while still maintaining its tranquility. You’ll have easy access to and from the hotel during your stay, so you can jump into the midst of San Fermin whenever you’re ready.

Chasing Hemingway in the Plaza del Castillo

​After a relaxing morning at the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz, we boarded our transport into Pamplona to the Plaza del Castillo. Pamplona’s most well-known plaza behind City Hall Square, the Plaza del Castillo fills with locals, tourists, and Hemingway aficionados during the Festival of San Fermin. Hosting farmers’ markets, a number of restaurants and bars, street musicians, and all varieties of life, the plaza is one of Pamplona’s liveliest destinations. 
Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona, Navarre, Spain
Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona
Street performers at the Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona, Navarre, Spain
Street performers at the Plaza del Castillo
During our visit, we set out to see two of the Plaza del Castillo’s best attractions: the Hotel La Perla and Café Iruña. Both are famous for playing host to Ernest Hemingway, the patron saint of our Founder’s Grand Cruise. La Perla, a luxurious five-star hotel, is a traditional hotel where the author once stayed. Though usually booked many years in advance, one can still rent the exact suite that Hemingway stayed in, and you’ll find tributes to him all over the hotel. 
​Next, we made our way over to the Café Iruña. Hemingway enjoyed this spirited café so much that he featured it prominently in his novel, The Sun Also Rises. In the story, the main characters meet each day at the Café Iruña during San Fermin to converse and watch the square. Inside the café, you’ll find a statue of the author himself, posed at a corner of the bar fondly referred to as “Hemingway’s Corner.”

Consuming Culinary Innovation at Abaco Restaurant

Once we’d visited Hemingway’s famous stops, we continued our day with a meal that rivaled the author’s own spirit of adventure. We made our way through the cobblestone streets of Old Town Pamplona to a row of restaurants, bars, and venues that faced the Plaza de Toros, the famous bullfighting ring. We found Abaco Restaurant in the midst of the row of shops, an unassuming spot tucked away behind a small gate and courtyard. Our team was shown to the back room where Chef Jesús Íñigo, the proprietor of the restaurant, kept his Michelin Bib Gourmand and Repsole Guide Sole awards. 
Once we were seated, we were shown the tasting menu at Abaco:  11 courses of creative, traditionally-inspired dishes from Chef Jesús himself. Paired with delicious wines like the Herederos de Marqués de Riscal Rioja, a 2016 Reserva from the first winery in the Rioja region to produce wines in the traditional Bordeaux fashion, each course was a mouthwatering new experience that seemed to harken back to our entire Founder’s Grand Cruise journey. While most dishes were loving tributes to Spanish cuisine, like the Eel Snack with Citronella and Dashi, others borrowed from Spain’s northern neighbors, France. Examples include a delicious Foie Gras with Pear and Vanilla and a post-dessert Petit-Fours.
Part 1 of Chef Jesús' tasting menu, Abaco Restaurant Pamplona Spain
Part 1 of Chef Jesús' tasting menu
Part 1 of Chef Jesús' tasting menu, Abaco Restaurant Pamplona Spain
Part 2 of Chef Jesús' tasting menu
Herederos de Marqués de Riscal Rioja Reserva 2016 wine at Abaco Restaurant Pamplona Spain
Herederos de Marqués de Riscal Rioja Reserva 2016 wine at Abaco Restaurant
Michelin Bib Gourmand awards at Abaco Restaurant Pamplona Spain
Michelin Bib Gourmand awards at Abaco Restaurant
Chef Jesús Íñigo and our founder, Mark, at Abaco Restaurant
Chef Jesús Íñigo and our founder, Mark, at Abaco Restaurant
​The meal was something we’ll each remember for a long time to come – a celebration of our time in Bordeaux and Pamplona, the wonderful people we’d met along the way, and the adventurous spirit of Hemingway and the Founder’s Grand Cruise. We’d go on from here to explore evening Pamplona as its streets filled with life, becoming the living rooms of its good people.

A Passion for San Fermin at the Caravinagre Bar

We found our final destination once we’d had seen a good bit of Pamplona and walked the same route that the bulls run each July. Before we returned to the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz to pack for our journey home the next morning, we stopped at the Hotel Maisonnave’s Caravinagre Bar for some light tapas and wine. There, we learned about the hotel manager’s passion for preserving the San Fermin Festival in its traditional form, something that her family had been doing via the hotel for four generations. 
During San Fermin, you’ll have the opportunity to visit the Cavinagre Bar, as it opens its windows to the streets, when the hotel hosts a family-friendly San Fermin. Complete with a running of the bulls for children, where a bull costume-wearer chases them through the street, anyone can come and enjoy the fiesta in the street or in Caravinagre Bar.
The Founder's Grand Cruise team at the Caravinagre Bar, Pamplona, Navarre, Spain
The Founder's Grand Cruise team enjoying tapas at the Caravinagre Bar

A Retrospective of Day 10’s Excursions

The last day of our Founder’s Grand Cruise before we headed separate ways, Day 10 was an eventful day that bookended our Hemingway journey. From Bordeaux to Pamplona, we had followed in the author’s footsteps:  along the tranquil Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage Route he'd fished along and by the Chateau Margaux, for which Hemingway’s pervasive fondness of has trickled into his books and through his family, so that even his granddaughter was named Margaux. In Pamplona, we’d visited the same places he’d frequented, like the Plaza de Toros – with its monument to the author out front – and the Hotel La Perla and Café Iruña. 
​Day 10 was the perfect cap to our trip, giving us the opportunity to see many more Pamplona destinations as we prepared to leave. With our quiet morning at the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz, we were given the chance to reflect on our expedition as we relaxed in one of the luxurious lounges. In addition, we had the opportunity to eat one of the most adventurous meal’s we’d ever had at Chef Jesús Íñigo’s Abaco Restaurant. A resounding success, we would be sad that the journey was over, but excited to share it with our loved ones as we traveled home the next day. 
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Founder’s Grand Cruise:  Day 9

10/21/2021

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Scouting Pamplona, Spain: Day 9’s Exploration of Pamplona

​On Day Nine of our Founder’s Grand Cruise scouting trip, we immersed ourselves in multiple aspects of Pamplona’s incredible culture. As the city awaits the next Festival of San Fermin, it stays lively and colorful, with a friendly populace that fills the streets from dawn to dusk. Our first full day in Pamplona, we took full advantage of the opportunity we had in visiting one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite cities.
View from Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz
View from Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz
We began our day at the luxurious Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz, where we’d slept off the previous day’s adventures. Once we were ready, we visited the Catedral de Santa María la Real – also known as Pamplona Cathedral. With magnificent stained glass windows and towers reaching to the sky, the working cathedral is significant to the medieval Kings of Navarre. Next, we visited the Plaza de Toros de Pamplona, where guests of the Founder’s Grand Cruise will watch the famed San Fermin bullfights. After we’d worked up quite the appetite, we were treated to the tasting menu at Trastienda del Colmado, one of the brightest new stars in Pamplona’s restaurant scene. With a day full of excursions, the Authentic Voyages team was able to get a glimpse of the city as it geared up for San Fermin.

A Welcome to the Pamplona Cathedral

First up after breakfast at our hotel, we made our way to visit the Pamplona Cathedral. An awe-inspiring church located in Old Town with a neoclassical exterior and gothic interior, we entered as a set of priests finished their morning prayer. From the stained glass windows to the golden-hued features, the church was a sight to behold. We made our way through the main church and into the 13th century cloister, which runs alongside a courtyard, giving access to the numerous chapels and rooms. We were silent as we walked through the cathedral’s facilities, amazed by the history and beauty of each space. 
Interior Pamplona Cathedral Founder's Grand Cruise
Inside Pamplona Cathedral
Stained glass light in the Pamplona Cathedral
Stained glass light in the Pamplona Cathedral
Cloister of Pamplona Cathedral
Cloister of Pamplona Cathedral
During the San Fermin Festival, the church hosts a welcome tapas event for guests of Running of the Bulls. Gathered with other travelers, you’ll have the opportunity of a lifetime to sample the delicious food of Spain in the same building where the Kings of Navarre were crowned and later laid to rest.

Inside the Plaza de Toros de Pamplona

Next on our scouting journey through Pamplona, we visited the most famous destination of San Fermin. The Plaza de Toros de Pamplona is the final destination of the bulls after their guided run through the streets. Once the bulls arrive, they’ll be guided into the ring to fight one of the toreros. The Plaza de Toros is one of the most famous Ernest Hemingway destinations in the world -- a place he returned to again and again to watch the bullfights himself. Out front of the arena, a statue of Hemingway exists paying tribute to his love of San Fermin.
Inside the Plaza de Toros de Pamplona
Inside the Plaza de Toros de Pamplona
Seats in the Plaza de Toros de Pamplona
Seats in the Plaza de Toros de Pamplona
Once again silent when we visited – awe-inspired as we were at the cathedral – we could immediately sense the importance of the arena. Filled with seats, we could spot where the chairman of San Fermin would sit beside a number of other important figures to judge the bullfights below. With bull barricades that looked like they could stop an army, the arena had an air of intensity even while empty.
With the Founder’s Grand Cruise, guests will have the opportunity to visit the arena during San Fermin. Crowded with spectators as they glimpse one of the world’s oldest traditions, the legendary battles between toreros and their bulls are not to be missed.

A Bright Future for Pamplona Dining

After our day of earlier expeditions, a good bit of meetings, and a lot of walking around Pamplona, we’d worked up quite an appetite. Joined by some of our Pamplona friends, we visited the Trastienda del Colmado, a newly re-opened spot just outside of Old Town. The space was tucked away, a popular joint for locals. As if to prove that point, we found out later on that a famous fútbol player and his friends were occupying the table next to us. 
The menu of Trastienda del Colmado was an inspired assembly of traditional recipes with a twist. Our team ordered several appetizers and a good portion of the tasting menu. As each dish came to our table, the meal became more and more adventurous. After our late lunch, which quickly turned into dinner, Chef Israel came out to greet us. A young man, he had immersed himself in the culinary world from an early age, and was currently studying under a Michelin-starred chef in Pamplona. No doubt a talented fellow, we were more than happy to sample the food at his new restaurant -- a place that Hemingway would've certainly enjoyed.
Foie Gras at the Trastienda del Colmado
Foie Gras at the Trastienda del Colmado
Our team dining at the Trastienda del Colmado
Our team dining at the Trastienda del Colmado
Our founder, Mark, and Chef Israel of Trastienda del Colmado
Our founder, Mark, and Chef Israel of Trastienda del Colmado

A Retrospective of Day Nine’s Excursions

​Day Nine of our Founder’s Grand Cruise scouting trip proved to be the perfect crash course on Pamplona. Learning about its traditions, culture, and food, we fell in love with the historic city. We could hardly wait to see it during San Fermin, when it filled with even more visitors, all seeking the same spirit of adventure that brought Hemingway so many years ago. With one final day in Pamplona ahead of us in our scouting trip, we could hardly wait to see what was next in store.
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Founder’s Grand Cruise:  Day 8

10/20/2021

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Scouting Pamplona, Spain: Day 8’s Travel from France to Spain

With our river cruise adventure at its end, the Authentic Voyages scouting team enjoyed one final morning aboard the SS Bon Voyage before starting off on the next leg of our journey – Pamplona, Spain. Home to the famed San Fermin Festival, and perhaps best known for the Running of the Bulls, Pamplona would prove to be a lively place, awaiting us with new experiences, friends, food, and more.
For Day Eight of our Founder’s Grand Cruise, we met for breakfast on the ship before disembarking to board the Authentic Voyages Pyrenees Express. Taking us across the Pyrenees Mountains and into Northern Spain, we would enjoy our scenic drive, explore a working bull ranch, and then check into our luxury golf resort hotel to rest. Full of activities, our last day in France and first day in Spain would have us say goodbye to one of the world’s most endearing cities, and introduce us to another.
Once in Spain, we stopped for late morning coffee at the Hotel Venta Etxalar’s café, a homely place tucked into the forested mountains. Once we were re-caffeinated, the Authentic Voyages Pyrenees Express made the rest of the drive, arriving just in time for our grand welcome to Pamplona.

All aboard the Authentic Voyages Pyrenees Express

We disembarked our ship that morning with the help of a few of the ship’s gracious crew. The captain – leading his team by example – assisted us in carrying our luggage across the quay and to our motorcoach. Our driver was a Pamplona native named Michel, a retired Formula 3 racecar driver and a dear friend to our founder. He would speedily take us to to our destination with the smoothest mountain driving we’d ever seen in a late-model Peugeot minibus.
Leaving Bordeaux behind at 9:30 AM that morning, we drove south towards the Spanish boarder. Eventually we connected with the lower French Pyrenees, before crossing into Spain. Along the way, we had the chance to see parts of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, which runs from Lyon, France and south to Santiago, Spain. Certain spots between Lyon and Santiago, like the esteemed Bordeaux Cathedral, are UNESCO protected as destinations of the pilgrimage route.
Hotel Venta Extalar in Spain
Hotel Venta Extalar in Spain
After our scenic drive through France and Northern Spain, where we saw many of the same spots where Ernest Hemingway once fished, we made our way into Pamplona for a delicious lunch before our next excursion. Little did we know, our time in Pamplona would grow only more exciting as went to explore a working San Fermin bull ranch.

Visiting one of Navarra’s Bull Ranches

For our next excursion with our friend and driver Michel, we made our way to one of Navarra’s bull ranches, Ganadería Hermanas Azcona. Here, hundreds of bulls were raised in hopes of being one of the proud few featured during San Fermin.
Learning about Ganadería Hermanas Azcona, Navarra, Spain
Learning about Ganadería Hermanas Azcona
The Bull Ring of Ganadería Hermanas Azcona, Navarra, Spain
The Bull Ring of Ganadería Hermanas Azcona
Driving with the San Fermin bulls, Navarra, Spain
Driving with the San Fermin bulls
We were welcomed by Felix, the owner of Ganadería Hermanas Azcona, a friendly Navarra local. Felix also owned a demolition business, and received the bull ring at his ranch when his company was charged with taking down an old one in the city of Vitoria. After some introduction, we had the opportunity to learn a good bit about the process behind San Fermin bull selection and the history of the area’s bull fighters. We were astounded by Felix’s knowledge, and even had the chance to drive amidst a herd of his San Fermin bulls. Safe in our vehicles but within fifteen feet of the bulls, we were in awe of the magnificent creatures.
We felt very fortunate to have been given a tour of the Ganadería Hermanas Azcona bull ranch. There, you could feel the intensity of the bulls, the same that brought the ever-adventurous Ernest Hemingway to San Fermin time and time again. Our team had the opportunity to learn quite a lot during our time at the ranch. When visiting as part of the Founder’s Grand Cruise, guests will also have the opportunity to learn the art of Capea – managing the matador’s cape – from one of Spain’s most famous bullfighters. While we didn’t get to learn that during our scouting trip, having the chance to see and learn about San Fermin from a bull rancher was an educational experience we won’t forget.

A Retrospective of Day Eight’s Excursions

​With our long day of traveling and inspiring activities coming to an end, we made our way to the Hotel Castillo de Gorraiz Golf & Spa. Arriving to spacious rooms with beautiful views of the surrounding villages and mountains, we checked in for a quick meal and then were off to our rooms to rest for our first full day in Pamplona.
​From the outstanding service as we left the SS Bon Voyage in the morning to the educational bull ranch visit that evening, each part of Day Eight only made us more enthusiastic for this next leg of our Founder’s Grand Cruise scouting trip. Our team was extremely pleased with the day’s adventures, which made us feel as if we were walking in Ernest Hemingway’s footsteps ourselves. We could hardly wait for the next day’s excursions, where we dived even further into lively Pamplona and San Fermin.
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