La Tomatina

Now for part two - Valencia and Barcelona.

Valencia was great fun. The tour I went on was a fucking shambles, but everyone on the tour still managed to have an awesome time. The hostel was nice but the men who ran it were total tossers, they didn't even ask me my name when I checked in. Then when we got home at 3am after a night out in some little town watching some lady getting an award for what I was sure was mullet of the year, they stopped everyone and wouldn't let anyone in until they had matched them to their passport. So me and the guy in my room crawled past the window and snuck into our room. Then at 6am a heap of guys came into our room yelling and carrying on all pissed off because they too had booked and paid for their tour, but when they got back to the hostel there were no beds in the whole hostel. So they kicked up a fuss and the old dudes running the place took them into every room turning on lights and waking up everyone to show them there were no rooms. But by the time they got to our room it was time to get up and go to La Tomatina so it didn't matter that they didn't have beds!

So 6.30 everyone on the tour gets to the station. ... everyone except the tour guide, who slept in til 8.00 (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact I hd her drinking tequila ay 2am). Everyone was so pissed when she got there. Then because we had to catch the later train there was no room to sit, not even on the floor, it was so crowded. I actually fell asleep standing up! And then I was like 'crap, I hope no-one saw', but a few people did and were laying shit on me later.

Anyway, la tomatina was so cool. You just can't describe what a surreal event it is. I definately recommend it to everybody. It starts you walk down to the tomato throwing street which is in the centre of bunol which is in a valley, so you walk down these little cobblestoned alleys where there are bars on the street selling sangria and beer ( fantastic hangover cure!) and there is music and all the local have tables set up outside where they are sitting having brunch and watching everyone go past.
When you get to the little street all the walls are covered in plastic and there are about 30,000 crowded in just waiting. It all starts with a gunshot. Everyone starts cheering and singing songs. But no tomatoes. You can't throw tomatoes until someone has scaled the greasy pole and got the ham off the nail.

Watching the pole is like watching a footy match, everyone is cheering and booing. Guys are going up the pole and stepping on eachothers heads and stuff to get higher. However, the locals don't want any tourist or girls getting the ham, so if they go too high, they grab them by the feet and rip them down. It ends up taking about half an hour to get the ham, but after that, that is when the tomato throwing starts.

But it's not just tomatoes. La Tomatina is officially a 'no shirts' event so all the guys start ripping off each others shirts and sometimes getting into the girls as well. But it was pretty easy to stay out of the rough patches so I managed to keep my shirt on. As well as the shirts being thrown around there is a truck with half a dozen high pressure hoses spraying everyone and then a truck drives through the middle of street dumping tomatoes in piles. It is so fun, everyone crowding back to get out of the way of the truck and then going mental throwing whatever they can pick up at whoever gets in the way. But to soon it is all over, and despite being drenched from head to foot and covered in tomatoes, I hadn't had enough.

So I wandered back up to the station with a few aussie chicks from the tour. On the way back all the locals stand outside with garden hoses cleaning people off. So we sat in the sunshine drying off, having a beer and watching all the tomato drenched people go by.

After that we headed back to the hostel for a shower and a nap before dinner. Dinner was great, eveyone from the tour was so hyped and the food was awesome and the sangria even better. After the food we left the restaurant and went to a salsa bar where all the retirees go to salsa. So I was having a dance when some one comes in and says 'emma (the tour guide) is outside with the owner of the restaurant and the police'. The tour people hadn't paid for our meal and we owe the €700. We go outside and emma is in tears and being told they are about to arrest her if she doesn't pay up! I couldn't believe it! Never, ever do anything with Wanderer's World they are just fuckwits! Anyway, emma gave them €200 and rang her boss who said he's sort it in the morning. So she didn't get arrested and we didn't have to fork out for it, so we were all happy and went off to the pub for more sangrias. I don't know what time I got home, but I woke in the morning with vague recollections of sitting outside the pub drinking sangrias with an aussie and american guy from the tour and this welsh guy on his stag night dressed in a little flowery bikini and pink pompoms on his head. Also memories of it raining and stomping around in puddles and swimming in a fountain. It was all good fun.

So after a bit of a sleep in, ie sleeping until the old guy came in and yelled at us that it was time to leave, I went to the beach with a few guys from the tour. I love the beach. I have missed the beach. Valencia beaches aren't quite perth beaches, but they are sandy and swimable so it was good.

So onward from Valencia. A couple of the guys from the tour were heading to Barcelona for the weekend, so I decided to tag along with them. We ended up getting to Barcelona about 10.30 and had planned nothing. The hostels were full so we managed to check into a hotel. Then we went out for a quiet drink. In Spain you cannot have a quiet drink, but it's not your fault. They don't pour properly. They just fill up your glass to half way with the spirit and top up with mixer. Two drinks and your gone. So we ended up dancing till closing time. By this time Jonno had picked up as many chicks as possible and was with this nutty little spanish chick who was leading the way when we left the club. We followed her down a few little alleys where a door opened and a big burly bouncers herded us in and down the stairs. We were in an underground club! It was so funny, the music was down really low and the security were running around going 'shhh' to people. It was fun though I got chatting to a guy with a huge mullet - boy they love their mullets in spain - and a gay dancer who was telling me all the best places to go in 'barthelona'. Anyway, Jonno comes up swearing because the little spanish chick had bit his toungue. We turn around and sean is making out with her. Then the club shut and we left. This chick was crazy, after making out with jonno and sean and trying with aiden she then started chasing me! She was saying 'kylie, treize' and pointing at me and her an jonno. and i was 'oh god run away'. then she disappears with sean again and he appear yelling, 'i hate that dirty slapper she bit me!' and he had a big bite mark in his tongue. then he disappears with her again and comes back and is swearing again because she threw dirt in his mouth. so funny.

geez, i'm getting lazy again. the last couple of days in barca were much the say, drinking, seeing the sites and some beach. we saw some of the gaudi buildings, such random stuff. the front doens't seem to match the back and it has all this cazy shit going on. probably my favourite would be the big blue one, but i can't remember what it was called.

well, now it is back to work this week. but no rest for the wicked and as it is my b'day this weekend it is sure to be a big one. so will let you all know how it goes. i'm going to get a new camera this week, so hopefully i will have some photos. did i tell you that my camera died when i was in paris. i was so pissed, but it had been going for a while. so now i am going to get a good one. yay.