This Wednesday, the 27th of August, the small town of Buñol will once again play host to one of the world’s most famously bizarre festivals: The Tomatina.

Source: arroncorey@flickr

You’ve probably seen the images — hundreds of people throwing millions of tomatoes at each other, turning the city’s streets into a mushy, red mess. The celebration has been going on for 63 years, and serves as a way to get stress out before the beginning of fall. It’s always on the last Wednesday of August.

Buñol is just 45 minutes by train from Valencia, and Renfe has special service there on Wednesday. Below is a copy of their information flier. There are a lot of trains both there and back but please note — I have no idea how crowded or full the trains will be. Also note that the trains leave from Sant Isidre not the main train station.

There are numerous operators offering bus rides for about €30 — which is far more than what Renfe charges. There’s information on buses here.

We recently had the chance to visit a friend’s childhood home in Enguera, which is a small town nestled in the hills surrounding Xátiva, about an hour south of Valencia city.

The picturesque village is small and home to just over 5000 people, but the township extends to over 240 km², taking in huge swaths of publicly accessible mountain land.

We visited Enguera on a Sunday, when the temperature was approaching 40°. The streets were empty and slient, apart from the occasional television blaring from inside one of the shuttered buildings. Hiking up and down the village’s steep hills, beginning to feel faint from the heat, it seemed as though we were dreaming, in a ghost town. The disconcerting emptiness ended, though, once we got to the town pool, where all of Enguera was cooling down.

For such a small village, Enguera boasts an extremely impressive church, perched atop a hill, and a rich history. Check out some of photos from Enguera’s past here. And the mountainous surroundings offer hikers a plethora of options for day long walks. There’s plenty to do.

If you have the chance to visit, make sure to eat some Arroz del Horno, a specialty from the area. We were lucky enough to have it cooked by our friend’s mother — a real treat.

It can be difficult to reach Enguera from Valencia via public transportation, so taking a car is the best option. If you can’t drive, check out Enguera’s website (Spanish only) for information on trains and buses to and from Valencia.

Enguera’s Location on our Valencia Map

Variety Magazine recently ran an article about the MUAA Museum of Audio Visual Arts, which is scheduled to open a year from now, in Alzira (location), just 25 miles south of Valencia city.

Alzira

There is precious little on-line about this museum (here’s an article in Spanish), but it sounds as though it will be pretty cool. It will be the only such museum in Europe, and is privately funded. There will be a 3D theater and even viewing booths for blind people, which will emit heat or cold, as well as aromas that compliment the films (note to blind people: don’t go see Alive at this theater, unless you want to experience frostbite with the smell of human flesh).

Entrance will cost €18, which continues Valencia’s unfortunate trend of overpriced museums. Does anyone have more information about the MUAA?

If you’re interested in movies, don’t forget to check out our film recommendation website, Criticker.

On Friday, we took a trip down to El Palmar — a sleepy village found on the southern end of the Albufera national park.

The town is extremely easy to reach. With the MetroBus 190a (operated by Autocares Herca) it takes 40 minutes from Valencia, for just €1.70. The buses don’t run with great frequency, so make sure you have current information from their website or a tourist office before you leave.

We were kind of stupid with our timing when we went. El Palmar is a beautiful little town but, at least in early April, there isn’t much to do. We were able to find one church, no stores, and about thirty-thousand restaurants. The streets were largely deserted, apart from a few other tourists and a menacing cadre of hungry senior citizens, straight off a bus, slowly hobbling to the nearest restaurant, arms out-stretched, groaning “Paella… paella… maampf…”.

But they’re clever, those gray-haired zombies — El Palmar is a great place to go for paella, and you’d be doing yourself a great disservice to skip it. Many claim that you can’t find better paella in Spain. We ate at El Canyamel and would have to agree. Delicious.

Now that we’ve gone once, I can anoint myself an El Palmar Expert ©, and humbly suggest an itinerary for the perfect day trip:

What a great day you’ve just had!

More than a hundred festivals celebrating the legendary battles between the Moors and Christians take place every year across Spain. The largest and most popular of these occurs in the beautiful Valencian mountain town of Alcoy.

Source: Trianita @ Flicker

Alcoy’s festival takes place on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of April. The first day is focused on processions, the second is dedicated to Saint George, and the third day sees noisy and chaotic recreations of the battle. The events are based loosely on King Jamie I’s victorious Battle of Alcoy in the 13th century.

At first, the festival’s name led me to believe that it celebrated the once-peaceful coexistence of the Christians and Moors (peaceful, at least, while under Moorish rule). I should have known better. Without trying to get too political, the existence of such a festival makes me wonder if a full healing of the rift between Arabs and Christians is even possible in southern Spain. I mean, the festival’s message is, “Hooray, we whooped your moorish ass”. How many centuries do we have to wait, before the bad blood evaporates? Or is Alcoy just throwing a fun party, to which I’m attributing too much meaning?

Source: Trianita @ Flicker

Unfortunately, we’re not going to make it this year to the fiesta, due to prior engagements. But Alcoy definitely seems to be worth a visit, fiesta or no fiesta. It has 60,000 inhabitants and is gorgeously nestled among a few mountain ranges. A day in the city & a day hiking around the mountains sounds like a pretty perfect weekend. From Valencia city, there is a bus which takes about an hour and 20 minutes, and costs €7.75 (more information here)

Link: Alcoyfoto.com - Photos of Alcoy
Link: Alcoy.es - Alcoy’s webpage, with a ton of information (Spanish)
Location on our Valencia Map