Hola Madrid

Warning: This is a very image heavy post on my trip to Spain for a week in the summer.

At the end of August I met my friend Kirsten in Madrid before going to Valencia for La Tomatina Festival.

Plaza De La Cibeles

Temple of Debod which was rebuilt and given to Madrid for Spain's assistance when an Egyptian temple was destroyed.

Plaza Mayor

Mercado de San Miguel - a market in Madrid that sells fresh tapas (mainly all seafood and ham)

While in Madrid we toured the Monasterio Descalzas Reales (The Royal Monastery cloister of the barefoot nuns) this convent has been operational since the 15th century and still has 19 nuns living there. The nuns aren't allowed contact with the outside world except if they have to go to the hospital.

Monestary in Sol 

Puerta de Alcala 

We went for a walk around the Buen Retiro Park at sunset

Hotel Michael Jackson stayed in - Westin Palace

We got some tapas in Sol

Patates Bravas, Chorizo, Chicken and Seafood Paella, Croquetta de Jamon, Jamon and green peppers 

One of my favourite parts of Madrid was touring the famous Las Ventas bullfighting ring. Both Kirsten and I agreed we wouldn't be comfortable seeing a match, but the building was spectacular! And it was interesting to learn about the Spanish tradition of bullfighting.

Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas 

The outside 

We went on another tour of the Royal Palace, it's the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family, but is only used for state ceremonies. We were allowed to tour only a fraction of the building's 3,400 rooms. 

Palacio Real courtyard (Plaza de La Armeria) the royal family doesn't actually live here

Madrid's official symbol is of a bear and strawberry tree, I am still unsure of what the meaning behind the two are?

Puerto De La Sol

One of the main things I wanted to see while in Spain was flamenco dancing. We signed up for a deal which included tapas at a restaurant, a flamenco dancing performance and a pub crawl. The performance was unreal, I couldn't get over how talented they all were. All the music was made from clapping different rhythms and a single guitar.

Flamenco Dancing - Los Tables

 We went on an hour bus ride to the nearby city, Segovia which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is known for the famous aqueduct build in the 1st century. I would definitely recommend a day trip to Segovia if you're ever in Madrid - it was worth it!

Segovia Cathedral, 16th century

View from the top of the Aqueduct

Aquaduct 

Aqueduct from the first century with 167 arches

Next, we headed to Valencia on the fast train (which got to over 300km/hr) to join the festival-goers for La Tomatina. There were three options we could have chose for La Tomatina: hotel, hostel or camping. Luckily our hostel was a college dorm room (Galileo Galilei) so it was more of an upgrade from a normal hostel. This year "Festivals all around" had the most people they'd ever had for La Tomatina, and I think because of that it was more chaotic and disorganized than usual. After an introduction with everyone, we took a bus into Valencia's downtown for dinner and a pub crawl.

The next day, we went back into the downtown and broke into groups for a walking tour of the city then got some free time before returning back to the hostel. Unfortunately where we were staying was quite a distance than the actual downtown so it was tricky to get back. That night was a pool party which Kirsten and I didn't attend. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but it seemed that everyone on the trip was really young so it wasn't as enjoyable to go out with them.

Valencia Central Market 

The day was here! The bus left at about 6:00 am for the small town of Bunol which is famous for this event. For those who don't know, La Tomatina is an annual event that's known as the world's biggest food fight where people throw tomatoes at each other. It started in 1945 when a tomato fight broke out after a disagreement, and continued since on the last Wednesday of August. The fight lasts for an hour, and then the whole town is covered in squished tomatoes and has to be hosed down by fire trucks. There are specific rules that you must first squish the tomato before throwing it out of safety. This year (2015) was the 70th year of the festival, and there was an estimated 160 tons of tomatoes that are brought out in giant trucks. It really was an insane experience being crammed in a tiny area with 50,000 people (in a town of around 9,000.) 

Ready with our t-shirts and wristbands

Aussies + a Canadian ready for the tomatoes

Aftermath.. this is after rinsing off for the first time

After all the chaos, we took the train back to Madrid for one last full day until flying back to London. I wanted to tour the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid's "football" stadium. It would've been better if I actually liked soccer, but regardless it was really cool to see! To end our trip we went out for one last dinner and sangria!