Besides from apparently being one of the top cities where you can get your valuables taken from you, this place is the ultimate beach city. I stayed at the St. Jordi Garcia hostel which was a little hard to find, as it was in the middle of a massive maze of side streets. Most of my time here was spent at the beach, it was incredibly hot and the perfect weather for a few days out in the water.
One of the most memorable moments I had here was at Barceloneta Beach. This place was massive and was teeming with tons of people. Near the edge of the beach were a whole bunch of cement blocks that seemed to have just been thrown into the water and forgotten. A friend and I from the hostel raced each other across the blocks, jumping and dodging the cracks that would have left us seriously injured if we’d missed a step. On the rocks were interesting graffiti and initials from people around the world. I would definitely go back here.
Of course, since I was in Spain, I had to do La Tomatina, a massive tomato fight held in the city of Valencia on the last Wednesday of every August. Luckily our hostel offered trips to Valencia specifically for this. I remember we had to leave the hostel super early in the morning to be able to make it on time, as Valencia was a few hours south-west from where we were. I came with about twenty other backpackers and lost them in a matter of minutes during the tomato fight. This was by far the most intense thing I ever did in Europe. The event was held in the side streets of this little city and the crowd was so dense, people were actually getting suffocated during the action. I had a random traveler next to me with her face bright red and balling her eyes out because of the intensity. I remember cornering her and putting my arms around the both of us to try to get as much room around us as possible for air. To describe this tomato fight with the word “hectic” would be an understatement; it was complete and utter chaos with the entire ground beneath you covered in slimy tomato sludge whilst people around you are getting face washed and covered in juice. Of course, this was all a friendly atmosphere and there was as much smiles and laughter going around as there were tomatoes. People living up high in the apartments above would chuck buckets of water down and yell out to everyone in Spanish. In intervals, a large truck would slowly drive down the alley ways and chuck more tomatoes out of the back, with security around the vehicle to make sure no one was getting injured. I don’t know if I would ever do something like this again, it was just so unreal and felt a little unsafe at some points. I was wearing nothing but swim shorts, barefoot the entire time. This fight is not for the faint of heart, fun, but extreme as hell.
All in all, Barcelona and the city of Valencia was an alright place to visit. I was also in Madrid for a short time, but that was very brief and only to switch trains. For beaches and a crazy, unforgettable international food fight, visit this country.
- Visit Barceloneta Beach
- Partake in La Tomatina
devonheckard 