I have lived to tell you the tale of La Tomatina...


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August 31st 2011
Published: August 31st 2011
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It all started on a dark morning, dark but warm, as warm as the days leading up to this moment... im running outta internet time though & the heat has zapped my creativity - memory & creativity gone - is there any hope for me?
So anyway 7am we hit the beat to catch a tube then train, we only have $20 each tucked in to our bras or shoes as we have nothing but the 2-3 layers of clothing we are wearing on us... we get to the tube station, the nearest one that will sell us a train ticket too... it will only accept coins - trick for young players! I escape the delight of the underground climate to search for open cafes who will a. understand me when i ask to swap my note for coins & b. be open & able to swap my money! ill add in here that sneaky/smart wee ruddy bought the right change with her... typical! haha not alot opens here very early so it was a bit of a mission but we got there - i got there as a very sweaty mess with a bunch of coins now stuffed down my bra also, yep both of these looks are hard to pull off, i feel that the goggles around my neck just finished it off nicely though! thank goodness i didn´t see anyone i knew!!!!
We make it to Bunol - approx 45mins away - pretty easily, we get the first tube we want then seats on the first train we wanted! nailed it!! we get off in Bunol with the other throngs of people and walk quite a wee way down in to the small valley... about halfway down i realised we would have to walk back up of course!! we had a nervous pee & a kebab then headed in to the streets where the tomatos would shortly arrive! we really had no idea what to expect - we stood in some wee street with thousands of other people getting water thrown on us by the residents from their apartments! this was sometimes nice but often hit you from behind & you thought your initial reaction was that you were under attack!! Everyone was packed shoulder to shoulder, standing in the heat - wasn´t as hot as valencia though, a wee bit nicer really! - the canon went off around 30mins later which signalled that someone, somewhere had gotten the ham of the top of a slippery pole and that the festivities/food fight had begun!!! around 30mins later the first truck - now semi filled - with tomatoes arrived where we were!!! we still have no idea where the pole & the ham bit took place!!! they STUNK! it was like home made tomato sauce, warmed up and all over you!!! we definately weren´t wading in tomatoes like we expected to be where we were but i think this might have been a good thing!!
Tracey & I went for a look a few blocks down around some quieter back streets to see if we could find the pole & ham - no luck! we did find a guy with a bucket full of tomato, tracey did a double take and that was it, we wore it!!! So it was down to the river to wash the tomato off - alot harder than it sounds, that stuff sticks really badly!! - then head back to the rendezvous point to meet the girls and get the heck outta that place! the thousands of us made our way up the hill which really wasn´t too bad when you are forced to walk at nothing more than a dwadle!
Again we had luck with the trains, got the first one then a seat AND no one smelling like warmed up tomatoe sauce too close to us! phew!
It has been a long hot day, been lots of fun but i am pleased to say that i can tick that one off the list!!! pretty cheap day too actually - $20 each then we got supplys for this evening - cheap cheap wine which isn´t even too nasty - for $10 each! very good day!!!!

So the blog thing is gonna be a wee bit out of sync as i have a ´´Valencia´´ blog on my computer which doesn´t have internet access at the mo! hence why i haven´t replied to anything via viber either fellow viber´ers!! should get some wi-fi over the next few days though so ill post that when i can & reply to any messages then too! can´t wait to get my photos of Levi Liss!!!!

Hope everyone is good - we are all safe & sound & fairly unscathed! rudz got some fairly gnarly blisters from her sandals the other day but bought the chemist out of blister bandaids & she survived today a-ok!!
So much for the heat making you not eat too... all the bread... and the cheese... and the beer to alleviate the heat - i hope we have the airbridge when we get home, its gonna be hard to roll me down the stairs on to the tarmac!!!! xx

PS just to confirm, im not proof reading anything, i would apologise but i wouldn´t mean it, i have wine waiting... and more cheese & some kind of meat on a kebab that i think might be pork! then dessert that trac is surprising us with, i def have no time for proof reading!!!

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