First off, I need to apologize for the long lapse between blogs. I thought it would be easier to just write a wrap up on Valencia as I was there for about five weeks. The plan was to just do the write up when I arrived, however I came straight back to job interviews. I also brought back a viral flu I picked up along the way and that took me out for a good week and a half. Was not pleasant to say the least. A massive apology to my new flat mates as this was not the way I wanted to start living with them.

Okay, enough about that. So where to begin. Well I picked a hell of a time to go to Spain. Not only did I arrive for the hottest month of the year I also decided to arrive during the start of the heat wave. Clap, Clap on my part. But hey, leaving London at 13 degrees to come to a nice balmy 40. At least I was warm.
I met with my air bnb host Carmen and quickly found that while messages she sends are in English. Carmen barely spoke a word of it. Combine that with my limited Spanish and well let’s say I’m glad I had Google translate on hand. Carmen was very nice and showed me where everything was that’d id need to settle in for my extended stay.

So, I decided this would be more of a relax save money and try and start looking for work so I’m sorted when I head back after La Tomatina and that would be my finish of my travels for the moment. So, the plan was simple. See the sites and just settle into a routine and explore till end of August.
The first week was all just explore and walk around the city and see the sights and sounds. Where I was staying was in Russfa and was a lovely place to stay. Again, it was away from the tourist areas as such and was nice to be where the locals are. Also pays to learn as much of the language if you’re travelling alone and plan to stay in the local areas.

Valencia has some amazing places to go to and visit the architecture is amazing. Even the bull ring. Though I will say this. Not a fan of bullfights period. I think its cruel and not needed today. But aside from that there are still fantastic markets and old buildings as well as new ones like the City of science they have built. Great to go for a walk at night to glimpse.

They also have a pleasant beach. But would advise try and go as far from the port as you can as one the beach is always busy but also, they get a bit or trash coming in from the large cruise boats that dock.
Valencia is an interesting contrast during the day its mainly closed when you walk around due to the heat. However as soon as the sun goes down it becomes a very vibrant and busy atmosphere to get lost in.

Though I was saving money and therefore cooking my own meals. I did indulge in a few Spanish dishes and the bakery just down the street from where I stayed. Though I did enjoy tapas and had some amazing ones on my first night (pro tip. Def check the prices of tapas as some places charge more in tourist areas.

Go a few blocks and you’ll find wonderful places to eat for a tenth of the cost) but Paella was my go to dish. Again, though if you head to the central Valencia market there is a couple of restaurants that have these lunch deals for seven Euro for a drink paella and desert. DO NOT DO IT! It is not worth the money and frankly the paella they had was far from good.  Hold off and find a nicer restaurant and just eat food from the market. They have lots of beautiful meats, cheeses and a lot of other produce to fill you up while you’re walking about all day.

One thing I learnt is that the Spanish don’t seem do spicy food. It was a  mission and a half trying to find chilies for the dishes I made myself. I found interesting and maybe a misconception I had that they enjoy hot food.

I spent most of my time looking for and applying for jobs, doing phone interviews and really wishing I had a laptop or decent system. Though my tablet has served well, I needed something a lot more powerful to do more tasks and work on cv and applications. But I managed well. That and training at the local  gym. I settled in well for the most part. Before I knew it was coming up to the final part of the travels I had booked.
La Tomatina!

First off big thanks to my mate Mike (another bearded brother  i found along the way) for sending me the pictures from the festival as I somehow lost all my pictures from my go pro from the festival (bloody gutted). But lesson learnt. If you have a go pro make sure you sync that shit daily to be safe.

So, I left my comfy bnb for probably one of the busiest hostels in Valencia. Thank god, I had a booking as when I turned up seemed the tour group who I was doing this tour with had 150 people between two hostels and people lining up to try and sleep on couches there. Total mad house. But was a blast. I was in a six bedroom with five Aussies to one kiwi. So, the ratio was about even (One kiwi equals about 5 Aussies, right?). We all got along great even though one we ended up calling one Putin, for a few reasons. But they were all good guys. I was lucky for sure to be with this lot. To be fair. Everyone i met, was great including this tour.

But must say this La Tomatina is two and a half days of insanity. First night was a group dinner and was at least 75 of use from the tour group that attended and was an epic meal and then went to the bar next door where a lot of shots may or may not have been consumed and a lot of dancing I think… that plus some cards against humanity that we found at the hostel afterwards made for an epic start to the trip.

Next morning was off to a place called Peniscola and yes that’s how its spelt and no, it’s not how you think you say it. This was another place that had a castle filmed from game of thrones and was awesome to see.  It also had a pleasant beach but we got hit with a massive rain storm and so enjoyed a massive seafood lunch and enjoyed chatting with some from our group instead. That night, we had a flamenco show and well was nice to get about I would say most of us were disappointed. It was only because I thought hew was a Spanish peter griffin, the consensus of the group was Nacho Libre. Though at the end they had a few of the local’s dance instead and to be fair they killed it better than the guy performing.  Again, to finish off with more Cards against humanity and prepare for the massive day ahead.

So, there are a couple of things you should really note for La Tomatina. Goggles are a clever idea. Really clever idea. Second, don’t be that dick that doesn’t crush your tomato before throwing it. The tomatoes are not ripe and a lot are harder than you think. They can do some considerable damage. Also, some clever Muppet introduced small potatoes. Again, Dick move Bro. If you’re tall like me, expect to get targeted, you stick out so you will get hit a lot. This is not sounding so great so far. But was an absolute blast and had the most epic time. You have 25,000 people crammed into one street with tons of tomatoes and its insane the amount of fun you have. I ended up with a good group of friends I made and we stuck together through the fire hoses smashing freezing water on everyone to the trucks coming through and forcing everyone to crush together so not to be run over. Combine that with tasty food and heavily strong drinks from the locals and it’s a day I won’t forget.

Even though the festival was only for a couple of hours everyone was exhausted and we still had an after party to attend out at a vineyard. We had a massive group of people and because we got there early got out drinks found some good seats and chilled before the music started and played some Picillo and have you ever. Was an epic night and a hell of a way to finish up the festival but also my time in Valencia.

Now is the time I headed back to finally move in and settle into a normal routine and get a job and all that fun stuff and try start my new life in Edinburgh.