"Barça = football"

Basilica de la Sagrada Família

Barcelona (week 25)

Even in the last week of December, Barcelona is full of tourists.  We had planned for a morning outing to the Gaudí-designed basilica Sagrada Família, but the lineup was around the block by the time we got there just after 10 am.  So we just took in the exterior with a stroll around the church, which was very impressive in and of itself.  The cranes attest to the fact that even though construction started in 1882, the building is unfinished.  We then carried on to Camp Nou, the home field of FC Barcelona.  The club bills itself as the most successful in professional sports; even if Montréal Canadiens fans disagree, it's hard to argue when you walk through the trophy room and see their hardware.  The club is not just the soccer team - there is also professional basketball, handball, roller hockey (on old-style roller skates with field hockey sticks) and futsal (an indoor soccer variant).  They also run amateur teams in volleyball, ice hockey, wheelchair basketball, and various women's sports.

We took the stadium tour, which is quite comprehensive.  It starts in the Barça museum full of the aforementioned trophies and other memorabilia from shoes to videos of famous goals.  It continues into the stadium itself, visiting a locker room, press room (for press conferences), press booth (where the play-by-play announcers sit), etc.  You get to walk down the same tunnel as the players, past the very Catholic addition of a chapel on the way, and onto the sidelines (but not, naturally, onto the pitch itself).  It's also a good workout - at one point you have to hike all the way up from the pitch level to the press booth, which hangs from the roof.  Naturally you end up in the FCBotiga (botiga = boutique), a 3-level shop with probably the same area as a small Walmart.  For all its size, though, the selection is pretty limited, consisting of modern jerseys (three styles plus two goalie styles), soccer balls, jackets and other clothes, and various knickknacks like fridge magnets and water bottles.  It's not nearly as extensive as the gold standard of team stores - the Bruins shop in the TD Garden - because it has no historical items and no game-worn or signed memorabilia.

from left to right: the field-side bench, the chapel in the player's tunnel, the press booth above the stadium