Hola from LaTomatina...

So I think where I left you Sarah and I was getting our sleep on at Stansted airport... we boarded our flight... Ryanair... no allocated seats but still managed to get a window seat... score.

We arrive in Valencia and to say it was bloody hot would be an understatement... we hop off the plane and line up to get our passports checked... whilst lining up we overheard a conversation between an Aussie guy and a kiwi girl... the kiwi girl had a UK passport and was complaining that she never gets a stamp and the aussie guy was saying that she would... anyway Sarah being the nosey person she is butted in on the kiwi girls side agreeing that she won't get a stamp... we chatted with them for a bit, got our bags and got a taxi to our hostel to start our tour...

We were a little early so had a couple of hours to kill so like always we slept... once we checked in we are and then slept for the rest of the day... At 7 we went and met up with our tour and got an intro into what to expect for the next few days... after the intro we went to the supermarket got some ice and €1 sangria... and went to the rooftop terrace and got our drink on... we then met up with the group and headed off on a pub crawl... the tour group were big on drinking games.. First we had buffalo so if you drank in your right hand you had to skull, the other was duck... we were all given a playing card and the game duck was someone would say duck to you and if you didn't have your card on you then you had to skull or if you didn't have your drink you had to do 10 pushups... and shark... if someone yells out shark then you have to get off the ground and the last one off has to drink... so we played these games for the weekend. We moved on to a second pub where Sarah and I danced like idiots and then decide about midnight to pull a Houdini and get some food... however everything was closed.. Apparently a new law was just passed that all food venues have to shut at midnight... this was an outrage... Sarah and I were offering good money to people on the street for food as we were so hungry we felt like junkies looking for our next fix... when this fell through we headed back to the hostel where the kitchen was not yet closed... success! we started making toast when the cleaner came in saying no no it is closed... we pulled out our aussie charm and she let us finish making our toast... she wasn't thrilled with the idea but we hurried and snuck to our room.. When we walked in our roommates were there... Rob who is Aussie and dating Gemma who is English... rob begged us to share but we were not giving up our vegemite... we also had a kiwi couple in the room with us... after our toast we called it a night...

The next day was a free day. We slept in as long as we could but it was so hot...6 people one room and no aircon... aghhhhh anyway we got up and had brekky... ran into a English guy that was on our tour and rob and Gemma and the 5 of us hit the beach.. We stayed in the warm sea for 3-4 hours... the water was beautiful... I of course forgot to slip slop slap and had the biggest raccoon burn...white eyes... red face. After the beach we headed back and got some more drinks then headed to the rooftop terrace as tonight is water and wine festival in a town an hour away... we had predrinks and got ready then headed on the bus to Requena for the water and wine festival... the bus ride was agonising as it was an hour and I needed the bathroom soooo bad... when we arrived everyone was in the same boat and it was every man for themself, people scattered left, right finding anything tree, car or bush to squat behind.. It was a classy affair...

After everyone relieved themselves we headed into the town... there were people everywhere and we headed towards the bullring for the start of the festivities... Now the water and wine festival is a celebration of the first harvest of grapes... The town celebrates by starting in the bull ring where they have like 5 bands spaced out throughout the stands and they have like a band off playing Spanish music... there is also a bullring and anyone can go and run around with the bulls... I am not going to confirm or deny that Sarah and I ended up in the bullring... ok ok we did of course... was awesome fun... after a few hours of dancing and playing our home made maracas (coke bottle and rice) the bands file out into the streets and forms a parade... you follow the band that you liked best or whatever one is around where you are.. You dance through the streets... the locals throw water from their balconies as you dance on the streets below... there are big trucks with free sangria in them and you just scoop it up and drink it... this party lasted for us until about 3am.. we were dancing in the streets drinking free wine and saturated from all the water... was the best night and festival ever... we got on the bus to head back to Valencia and have 3 hours sleep before LaTomatina... however there was a chick on the bus that couldn't handle her booze and the bus driver wouldn't leave with he on the bus so the ambulance came and then they wouldn't take her off the bus... an hour later they finally get her off and we are on our way.. We get in at 5... 2 hours sleep...

We wake up to the tour girls banging on the door at 7am to wake us up... ahhh 2 hours sleep is not enough.. We get ready on autopilot and board the bus for bunol for the world's biggest food fight. We head in... Sez has a beer in hand, I have a sangria and we head into the mix of it... there is still over an hour til it starts and people are already pushing and shoving and it is pretty intense like a crazy mosh pit... it's too much for us so we head about 10 metres back and have some space. We run into kids that are a part of our tour and then all of a sudden it begins... the cannon goes off and the anticipation sets in... We wait and wait and wait... and then we see the trucks roll in... The dump a load of tomatoes right in front of us and the chaos begins... tomatoes are thrown everywhere, smashing into everyone... the goggles and fogging up and the skin is turning a lovely shade of red... we are copping tomatoes from everywhere... sez gets one right in the scon from the kiwi on our tour... and I cop one from another kiwi... damn New Zealanders :) before we knew it the second cannon sounds and it is all over and we have survived...we stumble out of the pit covered in tomato and looking a little worse for wear.. We hose off and make our way to the bus... After changing we hop on the bus and head back to the hostel where we sleep... well try to but it is to hot so we go get some more sangria and head to the roof top where we have some drinks before heading out on our final night of the tour... we sit up there with rob and Gemma, the English boys and the hoff and rachel... who were the tour leaders... at about 10 we headed to the clubs to meet up with the other people on the first festival tours... we went to a rooftop club which played old school hip hop from high school days.. After too many drinks, too little sleep and too many festivals we called it a night and that marked the end of an epic time on tour...

The next day we just changed to a hostel with aircon and literally ate bad food and watched movies all day... next stop was Portugal