La Tomatina - The largest food fight in the world

Caroline and I arrived into Valencia airport in the morning. We made our way into the city by train to our accommodation we had booked for the 4 nights we were here. La Tomatina is hosted in Bunol every year on the last Wednesday of August. This year it was on the 28th. We arrived to the office our Airbnb was run through and checked in, then one of the cleaners walked us to the building. There were lots of street markets and quite a bit of foot traffic on the way, compared to our trip to the office from the airport. We arrived on a Sunday, which is usually classified as rest day, where people stay home and stores shut. But, yeah, it was quite busy because the apartment is right next to the Central Market of Valencia.

Our accommodation we booked was called Saint Ferdinand Rooms and Breakfast. Quite a nice and well laid out apartment, with 3 other bedrooms that other guests would book. We had a balcony to ourselves which we would have breakfast on as it overlooked one of the streets that linked with the market, and had its own stores on it.

The first day we walked around to familiarise ourselves with the area. We didn't except a lot from Valencia, but we also knew it would be fairly nice since it's Spain and where we have been in this country already did a good job at setting the bar. But Valencia was stunning! A super laid back city, with a great lifestyle and good living. We didn't get to make it down to the beach while here, but the location of our accommodation and what surrounded us, was more than enough for our length of stay.

We stopped at Five Guys for lunch which I was surprised they had since its a UK food chain, but still tasted just as great.

The next 2 days were spent walking around and seeing as much as we could, as well as making sure we knew what to do on the morning of La Tomatina so we got to Bunol on time.

Like I said before, the area we were staying in was great, so we tried to see every side of it.

On the 28th, we got up early, around 5am I think, and made our way to the train station. We got on the train with all the others heading to Bunol and got ready for the chaos waiting for us at the other end. It took an hour to commute from Valencia, and once we stepped out we thought we were in the middle of no where. We passed several farmland areas on the train. I assume for tomatoes as that is what Valencia and Bunol are known to produce a lot of, as well as Vineyards. The large group of us stepped off the train dressed in white, knowing we will be red at the end of the day. We followed the group and ended up having to walk 20 or so minutes down the long road linked to the station. On the way down the road, there was a DJ in the middle, speakers full volume, punching out bangers. We knew we were in the right area. We had a litre bottle each of Sangria, as well as everyone else here. Drinking at 7am felt weird, but at least we weren't alone.

Our ticket we had purchased well in advance, allowed us to have a locker so we weren't carrying a bag around with us all day. We went and sorted that out before it got any later as there was so many people here in such a small place and we didn't want to get stuck in the crowds.

Arriving to the main location where the tomato throwing would happen, we got to see some of the ham pole challenge that happens here as well. The Ham Pole challenge is a wooden pole that is 12 foot or so tall, covered in soap with a ham tied to the top of it. The one who can get the ham off, wins. It wasn't won while we were there but it was still fun to see people stacking on top of each other, trying to get someone to the top. I think a kid got the closest to it this time around.

We were all packed down the small street, all the buildings were painted white, and covered in plastic to protect windows, doors and just the overall care of the homes from tomatoes damaging them. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder. You could see the stretch of street in the distances before it turned a corner. After being here for 20 minutes, we heard a truck horn and soon after saw a dumpster truck turn the corner.

Everyone started yelling as it made its way toward us. We all parted to the side of the road like the sea as it made its way slowly through. People were in the back of the truck throwing tomatoes out into the crowds. I believe 120 Tonnes of tomatoes are used within the 2 hours of throwing. The throwing starts at 11am and goes till 1pm. We didn't look very deep into the festival. When we saw one truck full of tomatoes, we were like "Hell Yeah!". And when another one came around the corner we were very surprised. So when another 10 or so trucks made their way down, blasting their horns, we were shocked and hyped at the same time.

As we threw tomatoes around, there was a cage of people with fire hoses spraying into the crowds. This would be for cleaning while the fight happened. But for this to happen for 2 hours straight, it created a sort of river as all the tomatoes on the street washed around and created a flow of red dirty water that got up to the ankles and sometimes above. The street was angled and it flowed through the crowd and all the way down to the beginning of it.

Being here in this crowd of people, participating in the annual celebration with locals felt so awesome to be a part of. Spain holds a special place in my heart. This was another dream come true and even though my eyes were covered in tomato acid, I loved every second.

I could go into detail about throwing tomatoes, and hitting people with them, but it would be very boring, so here are some photos. If you plan on doing it one year, just make sure you give the tomatoes a good squeeze before throwing them, as they can be really hard and hurt when getting hit.

We finished our day by going back to the starting point and having a shower. They had set up large areas with outdoor showers which was very handy. Everyone was covered in tomato pieces so a shower felt really good after all that. We grabbed our bag and went back to the train station. Still covered in soggy tomato, we went straight back to the apartment and showered all our clothes and shoes again, as well as ourselves for the next hour. This was our last night here in Valencia as well, so we packed our things ready for the morning.

This was kind of an emotional time as Caroline and I were parting ways the next day. In the morning we grabbed our bags and caught the train from Valencia to Barcelona Airport. Caroline was catching a flight back to Sweden for good. We had decided to part ways for a few personal reasons I won't mention, but ended everything on good terms and we keep in touch regularly. After being together 2 1/2 years, pretty much side by side, it was time to say bye. She had a life to live in Sweden, and I had a life to live in Australia. This trip spent with her the past 4 months was amazing and probably the best way we could have spent our last moments together, travelling.

I'm sure we will see each other again while travelling sometime.

She went through the gates and on to her flight. I caught a train into the city to my accommodation for the next 2 nights. I had booked a hostel called Amistat Beach Hostel from 29th to 31st August. The plan was to catch a flight from here 31st to Budapest, and link up with Stuart and Harry on the same flight back to Melbourne from there. For the 2 nights here in Barcelona I went to the beach and walked around the area taking some photos and organising my video files on my computer.

I found a fun spot by the beach to jump into the water where some local kids were jumping so I spent a whole day there and then walked around the area which had a skate park and some bars by the beach. It was an awesome last 2 days which I got to experience a little bit of what solo travel was like, which I have never properly done.

It was now the 31st and I checked out of the hostel early, something like 5am. walked a while to the station, caught a train to the airport and got my flight to Budapest. Linked up with Stuart and Harry at a cafe in the airport and then carried on to checking into the flight back to Melbourne. A very long flight and several movies later, we had arrived into Melbourne 1st September, 9:30pm.

This trip was nothing short of an amazing experience. Good and bad experiences, but that's what makes travel so interesting, finding out what was enjoyable and not, what you liked and didn't. It's always different where you go, who you go with, who you meet, where you stay and what time of year you go.

We did so much in such a small amount of time.

Japan - Osaka, Tokyo, Funatsu (Mount Fuji)

UK - London

Belgium - Brussels

Netherlands - Amsterdam

Germany - Berlin

Sweden - Linkoping, Gotenberg

Spain - Barcelona, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Valencia, Bunol

France - Bordeaux, Paris, Strasbourg

Switzerland - Zurich, Fribourg

Italy - Genoa, Padua, Venice, Verona, Vicenza, Florence, Naples, Pompeii, Giovinazzo, Bari

Montenegro - Bar, Tivat, Tara River

Serbia - Belgrade

Hungary - Budapest

Thank you to everyone Caroline and I met, everyone who looked after us and made our time so much more fun an amazing. All our friends we met and who joined us. All the families we met and fed us. All the locals who helped us and all the animals we got to pat.

This is the last travel blog I have for you all. If you have any questions about certain countries/cities of where we stayed and how we got around, send them through and I can try an answer them the best I can.

I will still write some blogs but it won't be as often.

Thanks for reading and see you next time.