Reunion with Kathryn in Spain

Spain: August 21 – September 1, 2010

First up, La Tomatina. The reason Kathryn and I decided to meet up in Spain after not seeing each other for a year and half. It’s listed in so many travel books as an “ultimate travel experience” so I figured this trip would be the time check it off the list.

We met in Valencia, where most people attending La Tomatina stay. The actual event takes place in a small town called Bunol, on the last Wednesday of August. This year it was held on August 25, 2010. I arrived in Valencia August 21, and met Kathryn the next day. In the days leading up to the fight, we did a bit of sightseeing in Valencia, but mostly went to the beach. One of the top tourist sites is the Ciudad De Las Artes y Las Ciencias, which has a really cool design and is a combo of museums and aquariums etc. We obviously visited the aquarium (if you know Kathryn, you’ll understand why this would be a must see) and it was the biggest aquarium I’ve ever visited. The highlight would have to be the sharks though. I’ve never seen sharks that big in real life. There were so many of them too, swimming around a circular tank. There are also some pretty cool tunnels you could walk though, where the sharks and other animals would swim over top of you.

We partied a bit in Valencia as well. We met a group of 5 guys from the UK at our hostel that had brought along neon body paint with big plans of having a rave night. We were the only 2 people they managed to recruit to join them. We kept it classy and creative though, just a lightning bolt for me and a star for Kathryn. It ended up being a pretty sweet night though, the only time we went really hard in Valencia.