Ok, so i´ll cut to the chase.
Arrived at 10 to buñol and already a very large amount of people trying to get to the main square, large amount is incalculable, i´d say already a few thousand??
Pushing and shoving got easier as I got more and more saturated in sweat (mine and others), beer (cups thrown around), water (sprayed around from roof tops), and sangria (so I became red early).
Then started the ´camiseta´ chants. A group gather around someone (willing or unwilling, usually males vs male) and rip their shirt off. About 70% of people got their shirts ripped off, not me thankfully!
After about 45 mins – 1 hour of this it was getting tiring, it was like a never ending mosh pit with no apparent rules. The streets were running thick with water and beer, and my shoes were sodden.
Through all this time there´d be frequent ´ole ole ole ole´ chants, and a large round of applause and cheer when someone climbed or got quite high on the traditional greased pole to get the ham at the top, which starts the tomato throwing.
All around us on the balconies and roof tops surrounding us were tv cameras, and photographers happily snapping away, with the crowd often playing to them and vying for attention. Also on the roof tops were locals who had buckets of water, hoses, and tomatoes lined up waiting to be thrown.
At 11 there was a huge bang and the roof top dwellers immediately swung into action, with the crowd expecting to be pelted, but before they crowd got hit, the rooftops had a war! They also aimed at the tv cameras. The bang signalled the arrival of the 7 dump trucks FULL to the brim with tomatoes which made its way slowly through the streets unleashing its red fury!!
If there was a squeeze in the streets beforehand, then squeezing the lorries through created madness! They took up half the street! We were treated to a barrage of tomatoes from them, and then as the tomatoes became more populous, we threw tomatoes back at them.
Occasionally a truck would stop and dump a whole heap and this is what EVERYONE was looking forward to.
FQ$•%%& AWESOME FUN.
After 15 mins my goggles had become useless as they were fogged up, so I went without. It was hard to bend down and pick up the tomatoes due to the throng of people, so I just went with the flow of people!
I got hit heeeeeaaappppsss including many in the back of my head and quite a few in the face too. I had well lost anyone from the hostel, but everyone at la tomatina was now ´every man for himself´ anyway, but having said that, everyone around you became your friend!
Lots of English/uk people, ozzies and kiwis were there, with many annoying pushy guys around, but they slid right past most of the time.
One popular and painful pastime was getting the ripped tshirts from the ground, soaking them in more liquid tomato, and knotting them, then letting them loose. There were tons in the air at any given time, I copped a few but lobbed them on to share the joy!
Wiping your eyes constantly was a must.
At one point in the street, the tomatoes came up halfway to my shins, and it was all chunky pureed fun!!! Many (Well, basically all in jandals) lost their jandals, so there were lots of scooping tools floating around.
Anyone who was on top of someones shoulders, wearing something silly, or some sort of inflatable hat was more fair game than everyone else, and there was lots of aiming at people on balconies.
Near the main square there were large water cannons which made the throwing a little tough because it was mostly tomato juice!
And when I did wee people I knew, you know that a tomato was going their way for sure! Of course that worked both ways tho….
I didn´t eat any, but could tasted the tomatoes like there was no other taste. Actually in the beginning with the roof top wars, I smelt the tomatoes before I was hit by one!
Jumping up and down to splash everyone was a favourite, by my favourite move was scooping with my hands and throwing it straight up.
At one stage I couldn´t hear anything in one ear, I scooped out a large amount of tomato and then I was fine!
Being on constant alert was exhausting, but that doesn´t mean it wasn´t fun!
CONSTANT F”•$•&%%$• FUN
At 12 another bang went off, and everyone paused and cheered. Note that I said paused, coz it basically continued after, tho not as intense. I stopped to take stock of how I was doing – feet in tomato swimming pool like shoes, sodden clothes, pulled and disfigured top, hair completely covered in paste, goggles filled with chunks hung around my neck, and something in my left eye. Inside I felt fantastic!
People slowly made their way back in the direction that they came from, and I say slowly because there were A LOT of people. Estimates are 30-40 thousand.
The smell was really really thick, it was of old tomatoes. Inescapable! More chants of ´camiseta´ as people were determined that we should be shirtless! A lot of stomping and splashing, tshirt throwing, and of course, puree slinging still happening – but it was all good!
I went past one side street which was angling downwards, and there was a river of red flowing down. Naturally I stopped to take a photo, and I got splattered completely over the left side of my face, which I promptly took a photo of! Actually I wonder if you can see the guy lining me up in his sights on my photo!
It took around half an hour to go about 80-100 meters – not many wanted to give up the fight!
Broke free from the crowd finally, and dawdled over to the bus which was about 10 mins away. The walk took about 40 mins coz I stopped at every opportunity to get hosed off, but it wasn´t enough. My legs started to sting a little from the tomato stuck to it. Luckily it was a particularly cloudy day and the sun didn´t burn the tomatoes to us, it only baked them on
Everyone who was white was now various shades of pink, and everyone carried a sickly sweaty beery tomato smell to them!! The river/stream turned red as bathers washed themselves, and beer sales raised significantly with the out pouring of the masses.
No bus, so took off my sodden and cold wet top, shoes and goggles, and left them with some hostellers looking for the bus. Noone was going to steal them, in fact, many people were simply throwing their clothes away!
Went back into the main area (which smelt worse than before) and bought a tshirt (of course), and the major clean up had already begun, which hoses, brooms, and shovels.
Back to the bus (which had arrived), changed into fresh clothes after scooping tomatoes out of my bra, then took digital camera into town. Rivers of utterly disgusting mush flowing everywhere, and tshirts, shoes and beer cups everywhere! It has made me rethink about eating tomatoes!!
Met up with more hostel people (one of whom breast stroked in the liquid tomato area) and even saw a guy in a tomato costume – classic!
Ate some food, but couldn´t stand the smell anymore, so went back to the bus where everyone was raving about the festival.
IT WAS JUST F$”%$•&•$ BRILLIANT
Some poor kiwis were sitting by a nice rental car… unfortunately they´d lost their keys in the madness!
Lots of girls walking around in bikinis, and guys just in shorts – it was like a day at the beach, except tomato seeds replaced sand and tomato juice replaces the salty feeling after a swim!
I will NEVER forget this day.
EVER.
So here I am on the train to Madrid, and i´m sure I still smell, even tho I had a quick shower at the hostel. My hair is still matted, I have tomatoes caded under my nails, my eyes are a little blurry, and my left eye keeps expelling some sort of gunk, and I just took off my headphones which have remnants of tomato on the ear buds! Ah, its going to be a long night to Bilbao!
1 comment:
My eyes hurt.
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