Barca 5 - 0 Almeria

Trip Start Jun 17, 2008

Trip End Dec 17, 2008

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Where I stayed

Outside Jamie's

(Terrassa hotels)

Flag of Spain and Canary Islands Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, October 24, 2008

Well, we arrived in Barcelona with no help from the Sat Nav, so when we hit Terrassa (about 30kms from Barcelona), where my brother now lives, we had no choice but to call him. Even though Jamie lives in Terrassa, his directions were less than useful which meant I had to practice my Spanish on a local, which was amusing at best as it is some 6 years since I lived in Spain and used any meaningful Spanish. Eventually we were headed in the right direction, albeit without a number plate as all the bumps in the road had caused it to snap off & it was now sitting behind my driver's chair. Once we got closer to where we hoped was the right place, Jamie had thankfully walked down to the main road from his flat, and was stood on the corner waving at us. Once we had negotiated the tricky one way system, we were there 10minutes later (thank God).

We had intended to free park for the next couple of nights on one of the side streets near Jamie's flat. Luckily we found a place not too far away, but it did involve some excellent manoeuvring of Winnie to negotiate the space, which did impress my brother. After saying our hello's we headed to the shop to pick up some drinks & food for the evening before settling in at Jamie's for the night. We chatted over pizza and a couple of beers, catching up and meeting my brothers new Mexican girlfriend, before heading back to Winnie for a good night's sleep.

We were last in Barcelona for our birthdays in 2006, as they are only 3 days apart so we tend to get away somewhere if we can to celebrate. When my brother suggested that we either venture into Barcelona or visit Montserrat for the day, there was no choice. Barcelona would be heaving on a Saturday, and we had been before, so Montserrat it was. Being big football fans, one thing we had both wanted to do on our last visit was to watch Barcelona FC play at the Nou Camp, but on our previous visit they were playing away unfortunately. After a quick check on the internet, we discovered that they were playing at home against Almeria tonight - it was an opportunity we could not pass up. So, after working our way around the website we managed to find 4 tickets for that night at 10pm (they play so late in Spain) for only 26 Euros a piece - a bargain compared to Premiership tickets. Our day was sorted.

The four of us travelled to Montserrat by train, then took the Cable car to the summit instead of the venicular, which is the alternative route to the top. The views across the mountains were spectacular and quite different from our previous rides, as usually when we are inside a cable car we watch snow capped mountains pass us by or of course we can't see anything due to the clouds. On reaching the summit we were greeted with a 50ft hike to the monastery, and to my surprise before us stood a whole community - something I was not expecting. Clearly people had inhabited this place for a long time, not only were there mod con facilities for us tourists, but also along the back of the mountains side were many apartments. The monastery itself is quite something - on every wall are amazing and quite beautiful portraits along with statues befitting of such a place. Once inside the courtyard, that leads to the centre church, a passageway directs all comers to the right where the entrance to the Black Madonna lies. My brother, who had been before, suggested that it may not be a good idea to venture into this part of the building, as on his last visit the queues to see the Black Madonna lasted for over two hours - this just made me want to see her even more. So down the hallway we ventured, room after room, each as inspiring and intriguing in design and grandeur as the next, until after luckily only 15 minutes of queuing we reached the Black Madonna. After giving an offering, we stood before this hallowed statue. Laid with gold and shining like a beacon in the dark, many of the visitors knelt before her saying a silent prayer, then followed by a kiss said their goodbyes. On exiting the passageways that led out of the monastery, thousands of candles lined the walk way, left in remembrance of those whom needed help as well as those who had passed on. Apparantly, since the Monastery was built, a candle has always remained burning in one form of another. We took some lunch overlooking the Cable Car station, then worked it off by walking through the Stations of the Cross, represented with individual pieces of artwork along the route. It was then time to head back down the mountain and catch our train back to Jamie's ready for our journey to the Nou Camp.

After keeping ourselves entertained on the train by playing the name game, we arrived in Barcelona for the main event. We followed the crowd to the Nou Camp, which was a sight befitting to their status as one of the leading football clubs in the world - grand and splendid yes, but also very confusing. We found the ticket collection booth after 30 minutes of huffing and puffing past the thousands of fans - most of which seemed to be speaking English in one form or another. After the ticket booth man wanted to play a little trick on us by telling us he only had two tickets (not funny!), we began another long walk to the opposite side of the stadium to our seats. Along the way we picked up a hotdog and a beer for �3 each - something that you have no chance of in any premiership game.

Once inside the stadium we headed up to our 26 Euro seats, and 6 flights of stairs later we arrived. So, I wasn't expecting much for the price we paid, but to my surprise the views were exceptional, & it looked like that would be the case sat anywhere in the stadium. Barcelona were playing Almeria, who currently sat 6th in the table, so I was expecting a well contested match. That was until Eto'o scored in the 5th minute - it was at this point I realised we were going to see a few goals - albeit at the other end of the pitch. So, 4 more goals later and it was half time, and now a hat trick for Eto'o. As usual with Barcelona, once the change of ends came not another goal was scored - the fans booed, but little changed - they were in training mode, but who can blame them, 5-0 up and they only get paid �100,000 a week. I have been to many games watching my beloved Liverpool, England and even Claire's team Huddersfield, but this out of every match was the least atmosphere I had ever experienced in a game. The Spanish shout, boo quite a bit, blow noisy horns, but as for our English singing there was none. Maybe they would play for the whole 90 minutes if their wages were reduced by 1%, and they used the money to pay a song writer to inspire them a little more. An incredible experience for any football fan though, & we can't complain - at least it wasn't 0-0.

By the time we got to the train station after the match, it was 12.30am & we had just missed our train. This meant we had to wait another 45 mins before catching the last train back to Jamie's for the night. We arrived back at 2.30am, but it was something I would quite happily do over and over again.
We said our goodbye's the next morning, and went chasing the sun by heading down the coast towards Malaga - hopefully for our last few weeks of sunny weather before turning north and beginning our journey towards home!