Port in Portugal to Tiramisu in Paris

After a great time at La Tomatina I headed to Lisbon, Portugal.

While in Lisbon I stayed at the Home Lisbon Hostel which was absolutely amazing! The staff there is friendly and personal, it's easy to meet people, there is a huge selection of English movies, and they have Mamma's dinner every night. Each evening for 10€ "Momma" (one of the staff's mom) cooks a full three course dinner. The night I joined the main entree was s steaming helping of the traditional dish of creamy codfish and rice. The meal also includes endless sangria and a glass of port for the toast at the end of dinner. The meal was done family style with long tables set complete with candles and bread. All the guests sit together eating and drinking and at the end Momma chooses someone to make a toast and everyone cheers and drinks their port. Port is a strong sweet fortified red wine that is made only in Portugal. 

After dinner a few of us sat around talking and eventually made our way to the bars. Apparently the bar district of Lisbon has more bars per square meter then anywhere in the world. We went into a small quirky place where some Brazilians soon had all of us dancing to the Portuguese music. 

I did a walking tour one morning in Lisbon. Walking tours are typically free through hostels and are an interesting way to see and get to know a city.

I learned that a massive earthquake hit Lisbon on All Saints Day in 1755. The earthquake was a 9.0 and lasted for about six minutes. (For comparison, the earthquake that hit Japan in 2011 was also a 9.0 and lasted for about a minute). After the earthquake hit the candles lit for the dead for All Saints Day caused massive fires to erupt through the city. The survivors gathered to the edge of the city in the open square. They watched as the large Tagus river receded and disappeared before their eyes. An enormous tsunami then hit wiping out all those seeking refuge in the square. Two more large waves hit the city and fires continued to burn for five days after.

 

The next day a friend and I took the train to a nearby beach town, Cascais. We took a hostel worker's advice and enjoyed a delicious lunch of small grilled squids that were coated in a sauce of olive oil, garlic, and cilantro. So good!

(Sandcastle at Cascais)

Lisbon holds Fiera Da Ladra or "Thieves Market" every Tuesday and Saturday. It was fun to walk around looking at all the goods. There was everything from ancient artifacts and jewelry to knockoff sunglasses to toothbrushes and CDs. It's a giant flea market where you can find just about anything.

Lisbon was a beautiful city and the hostel was the best I've stayed at so far. After a few days there I then took the train to Porto where I stayed at the Poet's Hostel. I didn't spend much time in Porto but it was a lovely city by the sea with plenty of Port wine and delicious pastries flaky and buttery or soft and doughy filled with custards or spices.

One night in Porto I signed up for the hostel's dinner. It was just me, a Finnish girl, a German boy, and the staff. We enjoyed tapenades of cheese and olives, a vegetarian lasagna (filled with a light cheese sauce, zucchini, mushrooms, and peppers), and for dessert, a warm mango crisp with a rich crumbly crust filled with warm mango and drizzled with sweet mango sauce. The staff made jokes all night and everyone spoke English. Whenever there is a group of people who all speak a different language English works as the medium that mostly everyone understands. This works out nicely for me.

(Poet's Hostel)

After Porto I jetted off to Paris since I had to work in France in a couple weeks.

Paris was very nice and very expensive. Hostels and hotels are ridiculously priced for only decent places. I saw all the sights and picnicked outside the Eiffel tower but mostly sat at cafes drinking coffee with a friend people watching.

Paris was lovely although I spent way too much money. I should also note that I had the most delicious tiramisu of my life. It was served cold and the cream was thick and sweet with a perfectly spongey center and a dusting of cofee Now off to work in Western France!

La Tomatina!

(Sunset at Cafe del Mar, Ibiza, Spain)

After a few days spent on the island of Ibiza enjoying the gorgeous beaches and some famous DJs it was finally time for La Tomatina in Bunol, Spain! Over 40,000 people would gather in a small crowded street to chuck tomatoes at each other.

We woke up nice and early to meet up with the tour company [Festivals Around the World] along with hundreds of other people (mostly Australians) that would bus us over to Bunol from Valencia for the festival. When we arrived we bought some 2€ goggles, goggles that would end up breaking five minutes after buying them so were a pointless purchase, then we shoved our way through the crowd to the main street.

My new Aussie friend and I pushed our way through thousands of people until we made it to the front and center of the madness. We were only feet away from the greased up pole with a ham hanging from the top. We watched as men brutally climbed on one another attempting to climb up the greasy pole and pull down the ham marking the beginning of the tomato fight. After only failed attempts leaving men bruised and bloody a cannon boomed marking the beginning of the tomato fight.

Once in the center of the crowd you had no choice but to stay where you were with the small cobblestone street packed with bodies, no alleys leading out, and all doorways blocked by giant tarps. So after I had squeezed my way to the very middle I realized something terrible...I had to pee. I looked for anywhere to go...a tree or dumpster to hide behind, a restaurant, home, anything! I was out of luck. After a half hour or so of trying my hardest to hold it I realized that I couldn't hold it any longer. Right there, in the middle of the street, squished between thousands of people, I peed my pants. Luckily no one seemed to notice.

Trucks slowly pushed through the crowd dumping tomatoes along with people inside the trucks throwing tomatoes. It was chaos! Tomatoes everywhere! People were
 shoving and pushing and cheering and singing. Tomatoes were in my eyes, in my
 hair, and soaked through my clothes. At one point my friend and I were shoved into a mass of people lying in the tomato sauce singing and scooping up thick tomato juice off the street spraying everyone.

The tomato fight lasted one hour with another canon boom signaling the end. The tomato throwing ceased and people above began spraying hoses in the streets to attempt to clean everyone off. We made our way back to the bus. We were bruised, sunburnt, covered in tomato filth, and exhausted as we drove back to Valencia.

I don't think I ever need to go to La Tomatina again but it truly was an amazing once in a lifetime experience

Wiki Facts About La Tomatina:

Description: (Wikipedia)
"At around 10 AM, festivities begin with the first event of the Tomatina. It is the "palo jabón", similar to the greasy pole. The goal is to climb a greased pole with a ham on top. As this happens, the crowd work into a frenzy of singing and dancing while being showered in water from hoses. Once someone is able to drop the ham off the pole, the start signal for the tomato fight is given by firing the water shot in the air and trucks make their entry. The signal for the onset is at about 11 when a loud shot rings out, and the chaos begins.^[1] Several trucks throw tomatoes in abundance in the Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, where they are less expensive and are grown specifically for the holidays, being of inferior taste.^[2] For the participants the use of goggles and gloves are recommended. The tomatoes must be crushed before being thrown so as to reduce the risk of injury. The estimated number of tomatoes used are around 150,000 i.e. over 40 metric tons.^[3] After exactly one hour, the fight ends with the firing of the second shot, announcing the end. The whole town square is colored red and rivers of tomato juice flow freely. Fire Trucks hose down the streets and participants use hoses that locals provide to remove the tomato paste from their bodies. Some participants go to the pool of “los peñones” to wash. After the cleaning, the village cobblestone streets are pristine due to the acidity of the tomato disinfecting and thoroughly cleaning the surfaces.^[4]"

ORIGIN OF FESTIVAL: (Wikipedia)

In 1945, during a parade of gigantes y cabezudos, young men who wanted to be in the event staged a brawl in town's main square, the Plaza del Pueblo. There was a vegetable stand nearby, so they picked up tomatoes and used them as weapons. The police had to intervene to break up the fight and forced those responsible to pay the damages incurred. This is the most popular of many theories about how the Tomatina started.

The following year the young people repeated the fight on the same Wednesday of August, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in subsequent years, the party was established. In 1950, the town allowed the tomato hurl to take place, however the next year it was again stopped. A lot of young people were imprisoned but the Buñol residents forced the authorities to let them go. The festival gained popularity with more and more participants getting involved every year. After subsequent years it was banned again with threats of serious penalties. In the year 1957, some young people planned to celebrate "the tomato's funeral", with singers, musicians, and comedies. The main attraction however, was the coffin with a big tomato inside being carried around by youth and a band playing the funeral marches. Considering this popularity of the festival and the alarming demand, 1957 saw the festival becoming official with certain rules and restrictions. These rules have gone through a lot of modifications over the years.

Another important landmark in the history of this festival is the year 1975. From this year onwards, "Los Clavarios de San Luis Bertrán" (San Luis Bertrán is the patron of the town of Buñol ) organised the whole festival and brought in tomatoes which had previously been brought by the local people. Soon after this, in 1980, the town hall took the responsibility of organizing the festival.