Spain 2015: La Tomatina

Day 2

#Tomatoed

This wasn't any normal travel to-do. This was a bucket list item! I had always wanted to go to La Tomatina ever since I saw a Tide Sunlight commercial of a little boy running around the streets of Buñol and getting splattered with tomatoes. For many years, I kept the festival in the back of my mind, hoping that I would one day get to experience it first-hand.

When Lala and I began planning Ireland, I realized that La Tomatina was going to take place the week after our trip... So I pushed for everything to work out in its favour, including the flights and my route throughout Spain.

When the day of the festival finally came, I was excited. I tried to prepare for the day as best as I could: I wore a tankini, and over it, an old shirt and a pair of jean shorts. I also brought a ziploc for my phone and a plastic bag for all of my other things, including a towel in anticipation of the splatter. I took the earliest subway out of Ayora station and travelled to Turia. I arrived at Turia at exactly the time I was supposed to meet with Spaintastic tours (they transport you to and from Buñol), and I was surprised to find crowds of people all waiting to board the buses. It was absolutely chaotic. It took a few minutes, but I found my way to my bus, confirmed my details, and took a seat among the other festival goers, which was a mix of people from all over the globe.

My wristband

The "before" picture

The drive to Buñol ended up being quite short. For forty-five minutes, it hardly felt like any time had passed before we began pulling into the parking lot. We got off the bus soon after and were led into the heart of the town. Conveniently, there were a lot of vendors along the route who sold everything from goggles to drinks. It goes without saying that there were a lot of drunk people even amongst our group so early in the morning.

Before we entered the festival grounds, our guide showed us the meeting point and sent us on our merry way to tomato doomsday. I chose to stay along the wall as I walked to meet the other 20,000+ people waiting to get pelted with tomatoes. On my way there, I saw locals on the highest floor of their boarded-up houses hosing or dumping the people down below with water. It was hilarious. They get as much of a kick out of the festival as we do!

I couldn't get to the centre-most point of the festival, but I definitely heard the gun shot that signaled the start of La Tomatina 2015. People cheered wildly at that point and soon pressed against the walls to make room for the first of at least five tomato trucks. Pandemonium soon struck, and tomatoes flew from everywhere you could think of! There was seriously nowhere to hide.

The aftermath

At first, it didn't seem like La Tomatina was doing me any damage, but I was soon proven wrong. I was covered head-to-toe in tomato juice and guts in under half an hour. The funniest moments of the entire fight include being the target of a random stranger, hearing a passerby say "this is so much fun!" as he is being covered with tomato guts, and being offered tomatoes to pelt other people with. By the time we heard the gun shot signaling the end of the fight, we were all ankle deep in tomato juice. It was a ridiculous and awesome feeling at the same time! 

I reunited with the guide and our group after the festival, and she took us by the river to wash-up. It was one of only two options to reach a slightly acceptable level of clean, the other being getting hosed down by the locals. I sat under one of the mini falls to shower, but even then I still had tomato skins and seeds from many crevices in my body. Gross, I know. TMI? Probably.

The group then made its way back to the parking lot and onto the bus bound for Valencia, and La Tomatina was over for all of us... Just like that.

Playa de la Malvarrosa

The boardwalk

I returned to Valencia feeling both happy and exhausted. When I arrived back at my host's place, I took a quick shower and slept for a few hours before waking up once more for la playa and the best arroceria in town (according to my host anyway!). 

Much to my stomach, feet, and heart's dismay, the restaurant turned out to be closed for the summer, and I was reduced to eating at the closest restaurant I could see.

Black rice paella

I ended up at a restaurant along the boardwalk with an amazing view of the Balearic Sea. I don't quite remember what I had ordered, but I vaguely remember it being some version of black rice paella. It was delicious for what it was worth and was paired well with a cold glass of zumo (not jugo de naranja as I had learned that night!).

Before I ordered that evening, I think it's worth mentioning that I got a taste of Valencian hospitality: an older gentleman decided to join me at my table, asked me a few questions, and wondered if I could have a drink with him. As I didn't know what his intention was, I graciously declined, and he went his own way. I later asked my host Belen about it, and she said that the people in Valencia are generally quite kind and that there really was no problem in having a drink with a stranger. Perhaps it had been a missed opportunity to learn more about the culture, but I had an amazing evening anyway. It was a great ending to a fantastic day. Viva Valencia!