Another highlight on the red line was the massive soccer fútbol stadium Camp Nou.
The largest stadium in all of Europe is home to the FC Barcelona squad…
…and can pack in an amazing 98+ thousand sardines!
For a mere €13, you can take a self guided tour of the stadium…
…which even includes a visit inside the team locker room…
…which is sorta neat when you see the white board where many a game was won or lost…
… until you see the showers, which is sorta creepy in a way. Who really wants to see where these guys shower!?
After leaving the locker room, you pass by the chapel…
…on the way down to the pitch.
After visiting the official press room…
…and sitting in the stands…
…and in the press box…
…you can see some of the many trophies won…
…in the museum.
Check out these old-school shin guards!
And old-school pelota.
And one of the finest foosball tables I’ve ever laid eyes on.
One of the more touristy offerings is the ability to have your photo taken with a digital cardboard cutout of one of the players. I almost would have shelled out the extra cash, but since Ronaldinho* is no longer with the club, his virtual cardboard likeness is not available for imposing onto a green screen. Bummer. All in all this attraction is a must see for any fútbol fan.
* for those of you who are unfamiliar with Ronaldinho, here’s 5 and a half minutes of his magic:
I admit it, I’m a tourist. As a tourist I feel it is within my touristic duties to sit on the top of a open-air double-decker ‘bus turistic’ and take photos of local landmarks, cuz isn’t that what tourists do?? All I need now is a fanny pack and some sunscreen on my nose and I’ll fit right in. If you ever get the chance to be a tourist in Barcelona like me, I’d highly recommend taking the red line (ruta roja) tourist bus. It runs about every 5-minutes and stops at some of the cities major attractions.
Travel Tip: Most people start the trip at Plaça de Catalunya which is just north of La Rambla. If you don’t get to the bus stop bright and early, there will be a long line of people. Just about everyone wants to sit up top for the best views. The trick is to take a seat on the bottom level as you’ll get on a bus sooner, and then at the very first stop, when people get off, then move to the upper deck.
Once on the bus, they will give you a set of cheap blue earbuds and you can listen to a recorded tour (available in 9 languages). After the tour, it’s tradition (apparently) to toss your earbuds on top of the bus stop overhang.
One of the recurring themes of the audio guide is all of the architecture by Catalan architect Antoni GaudÃ. His building designs are unmistakable and unlike anything you’ve ever seen. One of the first stops on the tour is at Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada FamÃlia which is just one of GaudÃs works.
He actually worked on this temple for 40 years! If you think that’s a long time to work on a building, that’s nothing! This temple is in perpetual development! Construction of this landmark began in 1882, and as you can see from the photo, still goes on today! When asked why it’s taken so long, Gaudà replied “My client is not in a hurry.” His client here of course being god! Hahah.
A few more stops along the route (and a few Gaudà buildings later) you will come to the stop for Park Güell. When you come to this stop, get off the bus. Immediately. Do not pass go. Do not collect two-hundred euros. Just get off the bus and walk up the hill to your right for about a quarter mile to find the entrance to Park Güell.
This park as you may have guessed was also designed by Mr. GaudÃ. Entrance to the park is free and you can easily spend a couple hours just wandering all over the grounds marveling at the bizarre twists and turns of the unique architecture.
And if you like mosaics (mom)…
…you’ll love this park, as almost everything is covered in elaborate yet somewhat random mosaics as you can see in the terraces curvy benches…
…and multicolored mosaic dragon.
Walking further up into the park…
…reveals even more peculiar stone archways…
…and spectacular views of the city of Barcelona…
Gaudà is clearly another one of those rare madd geniuses, and it was a pleasure taking a stroll through his mind here in his park.
When we arrived last night, we had to walk from the subway station to our hostel, which was only a block away from La Rambla. This city street is lined with shops and street vendors selling everything from souvenirs and food to turtles and birds (possibly also as food). La Rambla certainly has its share of tourists. And where you find tourists, you’re bound to find people trying to make a buck off them. Sometimes pan handlers and street performers can be annoying, but not here. Here on La Rambla the street performers don some truely amazing costumes. Here’s just a small sampling of some of the elaborate outfits we saw last night and this morning.
I can easily see now why Heathrow has such a bad rap. That place is like a maze! And we felt like rats. Especially when we disembarked the plane and walked through the jetway to a little glass room, full of other rats. The room was locked on all sides, and people were literally banging on the glass doors trying to get the attention of some employees upstairs so they would look down and see us trapped in the box and hopefully let us out. It wasn’t a moment too soon either when they finally released us, as it was about to get ugly in there with no cheese! That momentary delay could have easily been the deciding factor that caused us to miss our connecting flight. We made the best of it however by fully utilizing all the amenities at the airports VIP lounge. Just one of the perks of having a black card! Due to our later than expected arrival it was a bit too dark out to see much of the city, but from what I did see it looked impressive. Can’t wait to explore tomorrow! Everyone that we’ve talked to thus far says it’s definitely one of their favorite cities.
