Barcelona, Catalonia Cool
It has been some years since I was last in Barcelona in fact my previous visit was prior to the 1992 Olympic Games. I remember it though. I had taken a long weekend on the nearby Costa Brava at a rather sorry resort called Malgrat le Mar. It was possible to take a train to Barcelona and the journey took about an hour. My travelling companion and I did not spend long in the city. We wandered up La Rambla, took in the Columbus state, had something to eat and headed back.
Barcelona's time had come gain so this time it was not to be a flying visit but a more leisurely four day holiday. We booked accommodation close to the music museum right in the centre of the town. A perfect place from which to explore the city. The hotel was fine, rather quirky but with no iar conditioning in the rooms. This was August.
First up for us as football (soccer) fans was a visit to the Camp Nou, the cavernous home of CF Barcelona. It cost as much to get in for the stadium visit as I would expect to pay to watch my own football team but this was a holiday so the €23 could just about be justified. Once in there was a choice. Take the audio guide or walk around the stadium using the simple markers advising where to go. We opted for the latter, guessing we pretty much knew our way around football grounds. Good choice. The marking was excellent, the access superb and the visit a joy. Visitors can not get onto the pitch but you can get close. When we were there, the groundsman was mowing the surface and the smell of freshly cut grass filled out nostrils.
Before long we were high in the upper stands sitting in the press and media area. What an astonishing view these journalists get. It seems like you are suspended by an invisible force over the playing area. Then it was back to the ground floor and into the dressing room area. The tour takes you into the visitors cavernous dressing room in which a small jacuzzi nestles in the middle. An ever changing screen depicts the faces of the many world stars which have played at the stadium. All in all money well spent we thought. Our trip to Barcelona continues.......
Barcelona's time had come gain so this time it was not to be a flying visit but a more leisurely four day holiday. We booked accommodation close to the music museum right in the centre of the town. A perfect place from which to explore the city. The hotel was fine, rather quirky but with no iar conditioning in the rooms. This was August.
First up for us as football (soccer) fans was a visit to the Camp Nou, the cavernous home of CF Barcelona. It cost as much to get in for the stadium visit as I would expect to pay to watch my own football team but this was a holiday so the €23 could just about be justified. Once in there was a choice. Take the audio guide or walk around the stadium using the simple markers advising where to go. We opted for the latter, guessing we pretty much knew our way around football grounds. Good choice. The marking was excellent, the access superb and the visit a joy. Visitors can not get onto the pitch but you can get close. When we were there, the groundsman was mowing the surface and the smell of freshly cut grass filled out nostrils.
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| CampNou, Barcelona CF. |
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