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After a few hours in our new home town of London, we met Squach and flew off to Valencia, Spain for 4 days of festivals and parties with Rawan and Haneen.
The first night we were taken to a bar in the "Old Town" where they were serving €2 shots. Seemed like a good idea at the time.....
€90 later we are face down in our room snoring. In the morning, we think it would be a good idea to check out the town. And what a pretty town it is! We eat gelato and decide to climb not one, but two building in the 36 degree heat. The Holly grail is in one of the catheral... vatican approved i might add... but it was 4 Euros to see it. Pass. The sacrifices we make when one a budget... that's 2 shots of tequilla right there.
We come home from our adventure, not to sleep, but to prepare for the wine and water festival. They say its a local festival and a very authentic experience. We are told to buy some cheap alcohol and vessels for wine. Ok. We drive 2 hours to a little town and sit around the main square drinking from watering cans and buckets waiting for the festival to start. Very classy i know. But at least more classy then the girl who took off her shirt and swimmers, grabbed the mega phone and started chanting t*** out for the boys... t*** out for the boys".
Anyhow... The festival kicks off and we follow a truck full of vino down the little streets. We pass up our vessels which get filled to the top and I drink... thinking how mature i am getting drinking wine! The locals, in good spirits (or to say get out of our town - not sure which) pour buckets of water on the crowds below who dance and sing in the rain. At 3am, we drive home... cold and absolutely pissed.
We are given permission to sleep for 3 hours before the wake up call for La Tomatina... This is what we have been waiting for! We are told to wear sports bra and two tops as they will probably get ripped off. We are warned that it gets pretty rough and that girls should stick to guy so he can protect her. OMG I am scared!
We board the bus and join hoards of fellow tomato seekers to Bunol where the fight takes place. In just one little street, up to 80,000 people squeeze in. It is like a river and every person is just a drop of water. As soon as we let ourselves in the stream, we are swept away wtih the current with not much say as to where we end up. I hope we dont end up in the middle where the t-shirt ripping happens.
We were in a pretty go spot up the street a little where we could see the bell tower (significant i understand) and thousands of waiting people in either very little, very old or very funny outfits. We stand in the heat for 2 hours waiting and waiting for something to happening. Buckets of water are thrown on us from above... so refreshing in the Spanish heat.
From what I gather.... at 11am there is a bang and someone has to "Ding Dong a bell" (or cut down a pig) from a greasy pole. Then trucks full of tomatos drive down the street (This street??!!) and offloads over rip and smelly tomatos on us. We fight and then at 12, all fighting must stop. OK. Fair enough.
The the giant mosh pit, Troy clings to me and I cling to Squach so we dont loose each other. Rawan and Haneen have managed to squeeze through the crowd and end up right in the middle. Finally at 11, there is the first bell and massive cheers from the crowd. We wait impatiently for the trucks and explode when we see the first truck coming around the corner.
Somehow they slowly make their way through the already jam packed street. We have to push up against houses to let them through.... sacrificing oxygen of course. People on top of the trucks throw tomatoes at everyone and we throw them at each other. Then the third truck leaves behind a pool of tomato mush behind it. We play in the pasta sauce... and it is soooomuch fun! I even manage to snag a few photos.
After the second boom, we are swept through the town as if a dam has broken... and past stalls of locals selling sangria, beer, paella and hot dogs. There are also locals with hoses to hose off all the tomato mush on us. We toss our clothes and shoes, gratefully get hosed off, and let the rest dry up like sun dried tomatoes.
- comments
anna well, i was going to buy some sun-dried tomates---maybe not now!! sounds crazy!!xxx mum