Throwing tomatoes, eating lots of ham, and enjoying Spain to the fullest!
From Porto we hopped on an overnight train across the Iberian penninsula to the Catalan city of Reus to visit a neat young couple we became friends with while spending a few days together in Wadi Rum desert in Jordan. Reus is famous for being the birthplace of the architect Gaudi, though the nearby small village of Riudoms also claims Guadi. Fortunately for us our female friend is from Reus and her boyfriend is from Riudoms so we got to hear both sides of the story told in a lively competitive manner. Again we were overwhelmed with Spanish hospitality as we ate fantastic rabbit paella, tomato rubbed breads, and lots of fresh seafood and roasted vegetables. They took us to some neat hiking spots, swimming streams, beaches, and even a day at a nearby amusement park.
Next we made a quick 1 night trip to Figueres to take in a special evening tour of the Dali Theatre-Museum complete with a Cava tasting under the stars in the courtyard. Then it was on to Barcelona to pick up the keys for an apartment that an MIT friend and her husband would be renting for the next 3 months. They needed someone to get the keys for them since their flight was arriving after the rental office closed; we needed a place to sleep and relax for a couple days; everyone was a winner. Other than taking an updated look at Segrada Familia we didn’t venture out to see many tourist sights but instead just enjoyed relaxing at outdoor cafes and catching up on much needed vegging out in front of a TV.
Our friends arrived just in time to enjoy some tapas near Las Ramblas and the next day we left in our rental car to pick up Shan’s friend from NYC who came to travel with us for a week. We made a quick stop near Sitges to visit friends we had made at a wedding in Colombia a couple years back and then drove to Valencia where we stayed a few nights. Valencia gave us a great chance to relax on the beach, eat lots of its famous paella and prepare ourselves for our next big adventure – tomatina!
We had to get up early (by Spanish standards) at 7am to make the drive to the small nearby town of Bunol to get a good spot for the annual tomato throwing bacchanal. It was absolutely wild as for 1 hour a few thousand people packed the tiny main street of this little town and dumped, threw, kicked, and literally swam in countless bushels of tomatoes. We rarely laughed so hard our entire trip and couldn’t believe the places in our clothes (and our bodies) from where we were still picking out tomato bits the next day.
After a relaxing time in Valencia we drove to Madrid, picked up Shan’s parents who decided to chaperone another 2 weeks of our honeymoon, and then headed straight for Sevilla to enjoy some time in Andalucia. We toured the sights, took in the architecture, and most of all gorged ourselves on the incredible Andalucian cuisine. We said goodbye to Shan’s friend and then continued on to Granada, Cordoba, Al Jerez, and then back to Madrid. Every day was pretty much the same: some sightseeing, lots of food, some more sightseeing, even more food, catch a flamengo performance or some other entertainment; then repeat. It was great.
Shan’s parents left to head back home and then it was time for us to fly to Peru for the last continent of our trip – South America.
– Anthony
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