PAMPLONA, Spain -- This past Saturday, after a full 24 hours in transit, members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra arrived in Pamplona, the first stop on the orchestra's Pittsburgh 250 Ambassador Tour of Europe. During the 20-day trip, planned to coincide with Pittsburgh's birthday celebration, members of the PSO will play 13 concerts in 13 cities and six countries. The orchestra's travels will take the tour party of about 165 people through 14 airports and on five long-distance bus rides and one train trip.

The sunny tarmac at Pamplona's small airport was a cheerful greeting after the all-night trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The country here is serene and cool, and the low mountains that ring the city are carpeted with the soft green colors of winter vegetation.

While most of the orchestra checked into their hotel rooms to rest after the trip, a few made the 20-minute walk to the center of the city for some sightseeing. And there is much to see.

For musicians Pamplona is especially notable as the birthplace and hometown of violinist/composer Pablo Sarasate. Near the house where Sarasate lived is the cafe where Ernest Hemingway and his friends spent time. And Pamplona is the site of the midsummer "Running of the Bulls," a mad mix of humans and cattle that begins at the north end of the Old Town and ends at the bull ring at the south end. Pamplona's rich history goes back to its founding by the Roman general Pompeii in 75 B.C., who named the city Pompaelo, after himself. Due to the strategic location, fortifications have been a predominant feature of the city's personality from Roman times onward, and extensive examples of each era's stone and earthworks still exist.

The concert hall is across the street from one of the huge citadel walls. The hall's facade, an imposing sheet of black stone, and its name, "Baluarte" (Spanish for "bastion"), are tributes to the historic genesis of its design.

Housed in the stern exterior is the state-of-the-art concert hall, lined with wood and possessing excellent acoustics.

Monday night's program began with excerpts from Act III of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger" and his "Prelude and Liebestod" from "Tristan and Isolde." After intermission the orchestra performed Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The concert was conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, who will be leading all six of the concerts in Spain.

Although the hall was not completely full, the audience was attentive and appreciative, each successive curtain call more rousing. The applause was rewarded with two encores, charming works well known to audiences here: Granados' Intermezzo from "Goyescas" and Gimenez's "La Boda de Luis Alonzo: Intermedio No. 4." As is so often the case when the PSO tours, the resulting ovations ended only when the orchestra began to leave the stage.

Instruments and equipment were packed immediately after the concert and trucked overnight to the orchestra's next stop, Vitoria, Spain. The members of the orchestra followed yesterday morning, checking in to the next hotel around noon and preparing for Tuesday evening's concert. This will be the routine for the next four days, taking the orchestra through Vitoria, Castellon, Barcelona and Madrid.