Swimming in Tomatoes at LA TOMATINA!

Happy Friday everyone! It's August and one thing is on my mind, in just a couple of weeks is the CRAZY Tomatina Tomato Fight in Bunol, Spain! Happening every last Wednesday in August (this year it's the 29th!), Christian and I both agree that it's the craziest, most fun event we've ever experienced. If you're in Spain or Europe, GET TO TOMATINA!! Or maybe your interest is piqued for next year? Our Tomatina experience went off without a hitch! Check it out...

*Oh! And catch my guest post about Greece-Croatia-Amsterdam over at Wanderlustee!!*

It was nearing 4AM and I still couldn't get to sleep in our tiny hostel in Valencia, Spain...because in just a few hours we would be taking part in a HUGE food fight...the famous Tomatina Festival! Ok ok in addition to the excitement, maybe it was also the non-existent air-conditioning coupled with 90 degree weather and almost 100% humidity that was keeping me awake. Luckily though, my eyes were already open by the time the alarm went off ;).

We tossed on some old clothes, grabbed our goggles and a grocery bag taped shut with clothes we could wear post-tomato fight. En route to the train station it seemed like we were the only ones crazy enough to get up at 5AM to catch the earliest train to the small town of Bunol, where the fight would take place. Then people would pop out of no where, come out of alleys, walk up the metro and before we knew it, we were only two in a massive crowd of people also headed towards Bunol! We battled the crowd at the train station for a ticket, and straight-up sprinted so we could get on the train ASAP--we wanted to be right in the middle of the action! We crammed into the train like sardines and 45 minutes later, we arrived :).

As soon as we got off the train, street vendors were selling bocadillos jamon and huge cups of sangria. Ya so what if it was 7AM! We stocked up on some beers and sangria and made our way to the city center with our end goal being as close to the Serrano ham leg as possible. Confused? Let me clarify...the tomato fight only begins once someone climbs up a greased up 30-foot pole to take down a Serrano ham leg that is tied to the top...or the tomato trucks begin driving at 11AM...whichever comes first. Watching these guys fight to the death to get to the ham was amazing--human pyramids, feet in the face and all out duels to get this pig leg down!! Well 10:59AM came and no luck--but so close! Suddenly no one cared about the ham leg, the alarm sounded to signify the start of the fight and then we saw the first dump truck filled with tomatoes rolling through...here we go!!!!!!!!!!

Christian and I were sooooooo giddy with excitement. I made sure my ballerina shoes were still taped on my feet, we put our goggles in place and we were ready to go. Then one truck came, then another, then another, then we just lost track. TOMATOES WERE FLYING!!! People grabbed plastic cups and shoveled tomato sauce on strangers nearby and everyone was laughing their asses off! Christian got a tomato to the face and soon so did I. One hour passed by, the bells sounded to signify the end of the tomato fight and everyone was soaked head-to-toe in tomato sludge. Tomatoes were even piled above our ankles! 

Luckily the locals bring their water hoses out and shower everyone off. Christian and I brought some water bottles and hoped that our emergency bag of clothes didn't get soaked too and success! Our post-fight clothes were fully intact :). We found a corner, had a makeshift shower, changed and ditched our Tomatina clothes. Following the music, we found a square selling cheap beer with a full DJ set blasting! Sure why not!

The train ride back to Valencia was a blur...we were exhausted and so excited we to take part in this massive food fight! As they do in Spain, we took advantage of a siesta and had a late night dinner eating pinxtos at Sagardi...and trying to think of our next crazy adventure...we still have yet to top Tomatina!! 

Our word of advice? Get as close as possible to the greasy pole with the ham on top! It's where most of the action happens. And by all means--PUSH YOUR WAY THROUGH THAT CROWD! And have a blast!!

What's the craziest travel experience you've ever had?!!! We're itching for another! 

CRAZINESSSSS just beginning...

A nightcap at Sagardi for dinner :). So delicious! Grab what you want and pay per toothpick!

Top 5 Travel Experiences...so far!

Today I'm doing a link-up with fellow blogger and Amsterdam expat Ellen from Company of Clever. I have been BLESSED to be able to live in the beautiful city of Amsterdam and to participate in some pretty amazing adventures along the way. I can't wait to explore the rest of this amazing world and see what other crazy things we can get our hands on! For now though, here's a round-up of my most memorable travel experiences to date! Disclaimer: It was extremely difficult to narrow down to 5 and ofcourse these are in no particular order. I guarantee if you do one or all of these, you're really in store for some unforgettable moments...

...so here goes! My Top 5 Favorite Travel Experiences... 

1.) Navigating through MOROCCO’s ancient cities and riding camels and sandboarding in the Sahara…followed by sleeping under the stars :)

One of the best holidays Christian and I had was when we spent a week exploring Fez and Marrakech, Morocco! The souks, riads and hospitality of Moroccan people made us fall in love with the country. The best part was when we rode camels into the Sahara, went sandboarding and slept on the dunes under a bazillion twinkly stars!  

2.) Throwing tomatoes at SPAIN’s most famous food fight: LA TOMATINA!

On the last Wednesday of August, thrill-seekers venture from near and far to Bunol, Spain, to take part in a crazy tomato fight that I know we will never forget! We started off the morning at 5AM drinking sangria, laughed our butts off during the hour long tomato-flinging and finished the day drinking Spanish beer and dancing to DJs (tapas were involved too ofcourse!)…unimaginable fun!!! 

3.) Dogsledding and snowmobiling in FINLAND’s Arctic Circle

I’d never even put thought into what snowmobiling and dogsledding was like until I was actually doing it on a trip up to the Arctic Circle with Christian during our semester abroad in Finland. I blogged a bit about it here and can say without a doubt that it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life…check out the video below!

4.) Island hopping in GREECE

Oooooh Greece!! I would return to Greece in an absolute second! Christian, my best friend Smitty, Denis (a French friend Christian and I studied in Finland with) and Emma (an awesome Finn, new friend of ours AND Denis' girlfriend) spent 1 week visiting Santorini and Naxos. Cruising between the Greek isles was just as breathtaking as it sounds…and it was too easy to convert each ferry to a party boat! We’re counting down the minutes until we reunite with Denis and Emma again this summer to cruise around Croatia’s Dalmatian coast :).

5.) Being a part of full-fledged World Cup madness in HOLLAND!

It’s not soccer fever, it’s FOOTBALL FEVER! It sucked me in so much that even I was nearly in tears watching the Dutch team lose to the Spanish in the World Cup Final in 2010 (I joined 250,000 other fans and 5 gigantic live TV screens in Museumplein...you could feel the energy of the crowd deep in your bones!). It was definitely a summer to remember and I can’t wait to dress from head to toe in orange (the color of the Dutch team!) this summer when they compete in the European Cup 2012…ORANJE! ORANJE! ORANJE!

Any AHHH-MAZING experiences that you've had? I'd love to hear them and add them to my list!!! :)

Madrid, Spain

It’s pretty incredible to live overseas, especially in Europe where within 2-3 hours a budget flight can whisk you off to incredible places—Italy, Spain, Greece, London—the possibilities are truly endless. Every year, Christian and I sort through all of our pictures for the year and make a big yearbook of all our photos. It’s a great way to look back on them later on and keeps us thinking ‘wow I can’t believe we were there!’ Our first weekend trip of the year in 2011 was to Madrid, Spain. Actually it was a fancy birthday present for ME! I spent my birthday week in California helping my twin sis search for bridesmaids dresses for her seriously gorgeous wedding but spent my actual birthday in Orlando, Florida, with parents and my twin sister (we visited the Harry Potter theme park and LOVED it! Me, Twinnie and my mom are the ultimate Harry Potter fans!). Christian sat this trip out and stayed behind in Holland, however he had a birthday surprise up his sleeve: he ordered a Madrid city guide from Amazon, had it delivered to my parent’s house in Cali complete with a note that said ‘I know you love tapas…so we’re going tapas bar hopping in Madrid! Happy Birthday!’ I’m so lucky to have a guy like this…two years previous he bought me tickets to Prague…he’s aaaaahmazing. Madrid is beautiful…dotted with palaces, tapas bars and an incredible indoor food market--Mercado de San Miguel. The market was definitely the highlight of the weekend with plenty of barrels of local wines and delicatessens serving freshly prepared tapas and bocadillos. We only had 36 hours in Madrid, but we put on our walking shoes (well boots for me! This is Europe afterall :)) and let our stomachs do the wandering…