This city will be remembered as the city of Festivals -- The Wine and Water Festival and La Tomatina.
The Wine and Water Festival was a unique and authentic experience. Our group bussed to a remote village outside of town and took part in the annual harvest celebration. After speaches and music in the bull arena, the entire village proceeded to parade down the streets to the beat of the band. Instruments and drinking vessels in hand, all participants played along with the music, danced and held their drinking vessels high into the air until filled with the first wine of the season. Awesome night.
La Tomatina was also a festival to remember. I think the local paper reported 45,000 in attendance. This was the craziest few hours of my life -- mass crowds and mob mentality, dancing and singing as we waited for the festivities to begin, locals spraying water to cool the crowds from the apartments high above, five massive dump trucks rolling through the already jam-packed crowds and releasing tomatos into the streets, and then an all-out tomato fight. I think I´m still finding pieces of tomato in my hair...
Other than that, Valencia was extremely HOT. Temperatures were 45 degrees celcius (115 F). With no AC in the hostel, Whitney and I were happy to say adios to Valencia and move onto Barcelona!
