We spent a weekend in Barcelona in February of 2012. We had only moved to London a few weeks before, but were already enthralled by the idea of being able to fly to Barcelona on a short two hour flight away. It was my first time to Spain ever.
After a few days of walking, eating tapas, drinking wine, and cycling around the city, we decided to take in a Barcelona football game. I admit I knew nothing about Barcelona football/soccer at this point. But we were there and I wanted to see what all the hype was about… I had heard something about this guy Messi who’s pretty famous in the world of “football”.
The game was on a Sunday night at 9:30pm, a little late for a Sunday night, right? Not in Barcelona! Seems the normal eating time there is 10pm at night. And not for Barcelona football either, as I soon found out.
The stadium seats 110,00 and is the third largest football stadium in the world. It was sold out! Barcelona Vs. Valencia. As I walked up to the stadium, I felt the energy. A unity that emerges when the whole city is routing together for their home team.
Usually with energy in sports comes a few fights as well. Years ago when I went to a football game in England I remember there were cops on horses that had to have the opposing team’s fans leave from another exit. But it was not like this in Barcelona. It was civilized at the same time – lots of families going to see the game together, everyone wearing their team jerseys and FC Barcelona scarves. Jim and I even purchased our own FC Barcelona scarves to join in on the fun and feel like we were a part of it!
Barcelona won the match. I felt so lucky to be able to be in Barcelona at a random Sunday night in February, celebrating with the rest of the city in their team win.
December 10, 2012
Spain, Travel