Pizza, Pasta, Gelato... yum.

La Tomatina, wow. I decided afterwards (and I think each of my friends did as well) that I am so glad I went to La Tomatina, but I would never, ever do it again. It is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. It was crazy, wild, painful, exhausting, disgusting fun!

The day before the festival, Cam and I went for a run out in the park next to our apartment. It was the first run of my trip, meaning the first in over 2 and a half months! I really needed it though and hope to keep running at least 2-3 times a month. We ran about 40 minutes at noon, it was unbelievably hot! Our group of 7 went out in Valencia to pick up some things for the festival, goggles. shoes, outfits, etc. Cam and I went to the beach, which was alright, very warm water, yet kinda dirty. That night, we planned on going out in Valencia because we hadn't heard any more details about the wine festival. The plan was to get up early the next morning and meet some other friends at the train station and head to La Tomatina together. I am so glad that plan changed!! We heard from some people that there is a big party in Bunol (the town of the festival) the night before and we shouldn't wait till the morning to go. We found this out very late, though, and the trains weren't running at the time. So the 7 of us hopped in 2 cabs at about 1 in the morning and made it down to Bunol. We jumped right into the party, which was basically a massive outdoor rave that lasted all night until 10 AM the next morning when the festival started! The party was really fun and everybody had a blast. As you will see in the pictures, I had a massive bullseye painted on my upper body as well as another on my forehead. Needless to say, I was getting a lot of looks from everyone! But Cam was in a Speedo and Tom was wearing a white dress, so I guess we all were getting looks. Almost got in a fight with about 12 Spanish guys who clearly did not like us tourists.

We made it out into the streets of Bunol, right in the heart of things. There is a wooden pole, about 5 meters high, that had a chicken or a ham or something attached at the very top. The entire pole is then greased up, I think it was soap. The idea is, the tomato throwing doesn't start until someone gets to the top of the pole and pulls the meat down. We were right up close, and I even spent about 20 mins at the base of the pole with people climbing on top of me. It was basically a mosh pit, with hundreds of people pushing and climbing on each other, everyone was hot and sweaty, pretty gross. No one was really working together to get to the top (stupid Aussies, most of them :) ). 2 hours passed with people trying to get to the top of the pole! I couldn't believe it was taking so long. After all that time, finally the cannon sounded without anyone ever getting to the top of the pole. Trucks filled with people and tomatoes started rolling down the street. Within minutes, thousands of tomatoes were flying through the air and we were ankle deep in them. Throughout this, everyone wearing a tee-shirt (both guys and girls) had them ripped off. So there were wet tee-shirts being balled up and thrown as well, not to mention the Spanish guys whipping people with them. As it went on, I started getting hit with a LOT of tomatoes, obviously. They started to hurt, though, and I took about 4 tomatoes right to the face. One of them gave me a bump on my forehead, another one gave me a black eye. That one hurt so bad I almost fell over, I was seeing stars! It felt like getting hit with a baseball. Supposedly the Spanish guys bring some of their own tomatoes that they freeze first. Bunch of assholes. Anyway, I spent a lot of the time turned away from the tomato trucks, protecting the girls in our group. Therefore I took a bunch of tomatoes to the back of my head and neck, which are still pretty tender from bruising. The girls wanted out, but there was no escape. Just way too many people to even move. Just before it all ended, the last couple trucks actually opened their rear doors and tomatoes just poured into the street. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to jump in. I basically dove into tomato soup. When I finally stood up (with help), it was literally knee deep! I was pretty glad when it all ended, as I smelled horrible and felt like I just got my ass kicked.

We made our way down the hill to the 'showers' and the river flowing down the street. I rolled around on the ground for awhile until I was somewhat clean. Around this time, I reached for my pocket and my camera was nowhere to be found :( It was a huge mistake to even bring it, I had it in a double ziplock bag and only used it before the festival. I didn't take it out during the tomatoes. My pocket was buttoned as well, I figure someone must have picked it at the end of the tomato fight before we headed to the showers. Turned out to be a 200 euro mistake. That's what I paid for a new one in Venice, though at least I now have a brand new model. Oh well, lesson learned, and I only lost about 4 days worth of pictures. I just borrowed Cameron's camera and am using his pics for those days cuz they were basically the same as mine. Took about 2 hours to get through the crowds and back to the apartment with everyone. We all pretty much showered and went to sleep as we had been up for about 36 hours. I got up at midnight and checked out some of Valencia's nightlife with Matt.

The next day, Cameron and I finally parted ways after 2 and a half weeks travelling together. He headed back to London, I bussed up to Madrid with Matt. I had a flight booked for Venice the next morning. He was headed to Marrakesh a couple hours later. We went out for some cheap tapas in Madrid and then decided to head back to the hostel to get some sleep. My flight was at 7:15 so I was going to have to get up very early. I had just climbed into bed about 1 AM (really looking forward to about 3 hours sleep!) when 2 people staying in my room, Jack and Julia, walked in and announced it was time for everyone to go on a pub crawl. They also informed me that the metro wouldn't be running until 6 AM, which would be cutting it close to get to my flight. They were flying too, and had a cab booked with a spot open. So I climbed outta bed quick and went with them on the pub crawl! The cab was to leave right after the last club. I had a lot of fun, and the last club was the same one I had been to about a month earlier in Madrid, the one with 7 floors. I made it out to the airport just in time for my flight. Slept a bit, but still woke up in Venice feeling exhausted, not to mention still sore all over from La Tomatina. So I wasn't in the best mood when my backpack didn't show up. I filed a claim with the airline and started thinking about the pain in the ass it was going to be to buy a new backpack and all new clothes. I got into Venice and began a 5 hour search for my hostel. Probably the worst day of my trip so far. The hostel gave me the worst possible directions, plus Venice has to be the most difficult city in the world to navigate. Possibly worse than Morocco. I finally called the hostel and they told me it was on the completely opposite side of the city to what the google map had shown online. Had to boat over and then ask about 8 people how to get there. The hostel wasn't that great anyway, and overpriced like everything in Venice.

Despite the circumstances, I thought Venice was absolutely beautiful. It is pretty fun working your way through the winding streets and bridges and canals (as long as you don't need to be anywhere at a certain time or have luggage with you). There are quite a few cool sights to see. Plus the pizza and paninis and gelato were amazing! Then the good news, the airline found my bag and delivered it to my hostel the next afternoon. Only had to go one day with dirty clothes and an unfortunate odor. The extra toothbrush and toothpaste in my daypack sure saved me. I also bought a new camera, I definitely didn't want to miss taking pictures in Venice! I went out to check out the bar scene that night as well. I met an American couple from Texas that were really nice and bought me a few beers at a couple different bars. My hostel had a 1:30 curfew, meaning if you show up late you are locked out. It took me 40 mins to walk to the bars, but for the walk back I didn't look at my watch until it was 1:05! I grabbed a 2 euro slice of pizza next door to the back and jogged most of the way back, showed up just as the hostel was locking up. Glad I didn't have to sleep on the street, that would have been one horrible Venice experience.

I hopped on a boat the next morning, then a train, and arrived in Verona early afternoon. I had a guesthouse booked, and once more had a terrible time finding it. After getting on the third bus, I spotted it, rang the buzzer and no answer. I sat outside the door for 15 mins wondering what to do. Finally I opened the mail slot and noticed the key taped to it and a post-it titled STEPHENS. When I got in, there was another note on my bed informing me that the owner wouldn't be around till the following afternoon and that I should leave the money in the mailbox. Pretty trusting guy! I never even met him. I spent the evening exploring Verona, saw the Romeo and Juliet (or Giulietta as they call her) sights, including Juliet's house, the famous balcony, and a statue of her. It wasn't as cheesy as I expected. Verona is a gorgeous city with awesome architecture and beautiful views along the main river. On my way back from checking out the castle (with a moat and drawbridge), I passed by the main square with a 1st century Roman amphitheater. There were hoards of people in line to get in, so I stopped by the ticket office to see what was going on. I heard something about a performance and ending up buying a 20 euro ticket. I got in line still unsure what I was going to see. I finally found a brochure as I entered and realized I was about to see a Verdi opera!! It was the final night of a summer opera series at the amphitheater, which holds 20,000 people. I saw Aida, by Verdi as I said, who is the most famous and well known Italian opera composer. I sat up on the stone steps, wearing shorts and flip flops while the people down below in the 200 euro floor seats were wearing suits and even some tuxedos. It was my first opera and it blew my away. I obviously have no idea what they were singing about, but it sounded awesome. The music, the set, the costumes were all incredible. It's hard to believe the actors can sing as loud as they do without microphones. The opera lasted nearly 4 hours! Didn't leave till 1 AM. I found a bar without a single English speaker and had a few glasses of 2 euro Italian wine (so cheap and so good!). This was now the third night in a row I had gone out alone because I hadn't met a single person at my hostel (the one in Venice was deserted).

After one night in Verona, I had seen all the sights, so I hopped on a train to Balogna where I arrived yesterday. I found the only hostel in town and was very glad to meet a huge slew of people and finally have some human interaction. This hostel is huge, though it is 6 km out of town, but an easy bus ride. Yesterday I stayed in and relaxed with some new friends. We all ordered pizza (the hostel has a free delivery deal with a local pizza place) and watched 'The Hangover' on my netbook. It was really nice to have a night in like that. I woke up today feeling awake and refreshed. I spent today exploring Balogna. There are not that many sights to see, it is mainly just a laid back university town. The university is actually the oldest one in Europe. A lot of the people at my hostel are studying abroad there, and are sightseeing before they move into university residences. I saw a couple art museums, a huge basilica, and then climbed up to the top of a tower, the tallest in town with some amazing views. Tonight I am going to try some pasta with the famous Balognese sauce, which they call ragu. Picked up a couple bottles of cheap wine and am going to check out the nightlife with some people from my hostel.

I think I will stay a third night here in Balogna so I can do a day trip tomorrow to Ferrara and maybe Ravenna as well. The following day I plan on heading down to Florence. I am really looking forward to Florence as I have heard amazing things and know I will enjoy all the art and culture there. Oh, I picked up a new small backpack today from H & M for 20 euros. It is really cool looking and has lots of pockets. The one I had been using went to the garbage, it was starting to rip. I am also getting excited for Octoberfest, though it is still 2 and a half weeks away. I now have about 15 friends that are going (including Cam), who are currently all over Europe. It will be cool to see people that I haven't seen in a month or two. I am also considering going to a party in Paris this weekend. The crazy French guys from Portugal keep hounding me to go! Might be an expensive trip to get there, but it will be a 2 day party and it sounds epic. The guys would pick me up, have a place for me, feed me, etc. If I can find a relatively cheap flight or train ride I will do it.