9/14/10 Barca!!

Brief Synopsis of Tuesday:

Bus ride back to Barcelona.  Slept for a while, studied art history with Michael for a little bit, stopped in Tarragoza for lunch… I got a bocadillo with tortilla de patata, which was a safe choice because Diana wanted rice, but ended up ordering blood sausage stuffed with rice (it looks even less appealing than it sounds), and David got some sort of pig intestine.  It tasted fine in the beginning, but the after taste left something to be desired.  We got back to Barcelona around 7:00 pm which was when the exciting part of my day began….

            Daven, Emily and I had tickets to a futbol game.  FC Barcelona vs. Panathinaikos.  Panathinaikos is a team from Greece that is also in the Champions League.  Daven, Emily and I took the metro to my apartment and dropped off our bags.  They live on the other side of town so it was the easiest way to make it to the game on time.  We then walked a few blocks to the stadium, pretty much just following the crowds of people.  Getting into the stadium was so easy, and they don’t check bags at all.  I didn’t have a bag, but you could bring as much food/ drinks into the stadium as you wanted.  Daven had a bottle of water and they only made him take off the cap.  All our tickets were in the same section, but not next to each other.  My ticket row 19, seat 25 didn’t exist.  The seats only went to 23, but it didn’t matter because we met some kids from Luxemburg who told us we could sit wherever we wanted until someone kicked us out.  We all sat together and watched the first half from the top of the stadium.  Camp Nou is the biggest stadium I’ve ever been in, seating close to 100,000 people.  FC Barcelona dominated the game.

A few observations from a foreign soccer game: 

The opposing team had its own section and each side of it was line with security guards in orange jackets.  They were all on the other side of the stadium from us.  The crowd we were in was not as rowdy, as I expected it to be, but the Panathinaikos fans were chanting and singing the whole time.  During the whole first half, everyone stayed in their seats and no one was eating/ drinking much.  Unlike U.S. sporting events, the crowd was pretty sober and intent on watching every play.  I left 3 minutes before the 1^st half ended to get a bocadillo since I hadn’t eaten since lunch and it was about 10 p.m.  Unfortunately, I missed Barca’s 3^rd goal, but I did get a reasonably priced sandwich and the line for food and beverages was tiny.  Even once the half ended, the lines did not grow that much.  All the food was reasonably price.  I paid 4 euros for a bocadillo… much better that $4 for a water at Fenway.  Beer and soda were between 2 and 3 euro, which I thought seemed way more reasonable than in the U.S.  Despite the amazing prices, no eats or drinks at the game.  

            Second half, we moved down to see better, just finding some empty seats.  It was nice being able to see more than just the numbers.  It was fine that I didn’t bring a roster with me to tell who is who, because people in the crowd had all the jerseys.  All I did was look at the people in front of me to see which name matched which number.  The team ended up winning 5 to 1 and then we walked back to the apartment.  There were people and mopeds everywhere.  I was happy that I didn’t then have to get on the metro like Daven and Emily.