Barca Futbol!

Last week some friends and I went to Barcelona for the Barcelona vs. Valencia soccer game.  It was intense--if there is one thing Spanish people are crazy about, it's soccer.  The game was at Camp Nou, the Barcelona stadium which is the biggest soccer stadium in the world.  It was basically sold out, even though it was a Wednesday night game.  We splurged and bought the second level of tickets, so our seats were amazing.  They were on the second tier, front row, right behind on the goal.  We could see the sweat on the players... :)  It ended up being a great game to go to.  Valencia scored around half-time, so all the Barcelona fans were a little annoyed, but then their team pulled through and scored right in the final seconds.  They went crazy.  I hate that soccer games can end in ties; I wanted someone to win.  But it was fun.  It was also neat because Valencia is technically Alicante's team, since Alicante is the second largest city in the Valencia region.  But, we decided it would be smart to go with the flow and cheer for Barcelona...we were definitely outnumbered and surrounded by Barcelona fans.  The Valencia fans that had come to the game had to be escorted from the stadium by cops...that's how crazy these people are about soccer.  

The next day we spent exploring the major sights of Barcelona.  I saw Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia, both famous works by Guadi.  The construction of the Sagrada Familia Basilica began in 1882 and is scheduled to be completed in 2026.  But that's a long story... (joke).  Park Guell had mosaics everywhere and was so beautiful.  Its up on top of a giant hill and overlooks the whole city.  Loved it.  We walked around La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter, the most famous part of Barcelona.  It kind of reminded me of a giant Alicante, really huge.  The Gothic Quarter was my favorite- it was small winding streets with awesome ancient buildings everywhere.  Tons of churches, boutiques, cafes- so cute.  Finally we went to the Arc de Triumf,  kind of like the one in Paris, except in Barcelona it is made of red brick.  It's massive.

It was a great weekend-went by way too fast!