Barça, Barça, Baaarça!

Following closely on the heels of the Sayle/Adams family, the Hainsworth/Bennett’s whirlwind tour of Barcelona was highlighted by visits to two of the greatest monuments to Catalan  culture - Sagrada Familia and the Camp Nou. 

I won’t recount our very similar Sagrada Familia experience - Norm’s great post the other day captured many of the same feelings and thoughts we experienced.  Suffice it to say that it is my favourite building ever.  Norm, I will gladly accompany you on a return visit to see it completed in 2028 (or so), in’shallah.

The Camp Nou is home to arguably the world’s most famous football (soccer) club, FC Barcelona and the world’s best player, Lionel Messi. The “bucket list” of many a futbol fan around the world (including yours truly) includes watching Barca play at the 99,354 seat Camp Nou stadium. On Sunday night, a few hours after arriving in the city, we hopped on the subway for a short ride to the stadium.  As we left the subway it started to rain, so we were thoroughly soaked by the time we got to our seats, way up in the third tier of Europe’s largest stadium.  The Camp Nou is usually sold out, but since Barca had already clinched the Spanish league title the week before, there were only 56,000 fans, which is why we were able to get tickets. The pouring rain may have also deterred a few regular Barca fans.

20,000 umbrellas!

The game started and ended with the crowd singing Cant Del Barca, a rousing chant that includes a series of triple hand claps and finishes with “Barça, Barça, Baaaarça!” reverberating through the ground.  Everyone knew the words, from the 4 year-olds sporting their Messi and Iniesta jerseys, to the 70-ish couple beside us. FC Barcelona is unique amongst football clubs - it’s owned and operated by its supporters - and the club has become a huge symbol of Catalan culture. The away team was Real Valladolid and we had some fun trying to comprehend and replicate the Catalan announcer’s pronunciation, which sounded like a series of only vowels, “buy-ah-oh-eeh”.  As usual, the game was dominated by Barca, with two first half goals sealing the outcome. 

Happy family, but mostly the boy in the middle

It was unfortunate that we didn’t get to see the injured Messi work his magic on the field, but he came out for the trophy presentation after the game.  Just as the game ended, the rain finally stopped and the championship celebration began.  To the strains of “We are the Champions”, the Barca players and their families, coaches and staff came out to accept the La Liga trophy for the 22^nd time. Confetti cannons and laser lights flooded the stadium with burgundy and blue and then, right over our heads, a fireworks display to rival any Canada Day celebration.  The players did a victory lap with the trophy to salute their supporters, who stayed to the end despite being cold and drenched.  

The party after the match

We followed the joyful crowd onto the subway and back to our hotel, changed into some dry PJs and crashed into bed feeling a bit like real Barcelonans.

Very cool!