As luck would have it there was a football match on. Barcelona were playing Czech minnows Viktoria Plzeň in the Champions League. I managed to persuade Mark that a trip to Camp Nou would be worth the €50!
For me, it was. 75,000 people in the vast stadium was an astonishing spectacle. "El Cant del Barça", the club anthem, was sung before, during and after the match. The atmosphere was festive.
In the end, Barcelona won 2-0 with Iniesta and Villa scoring. Predictably, Messi starred as he danced through the opposition's defence to the delight of the crowd. Even the pocket of Plzeň fans had the time of their life, jubilant despite the defeat.
While in Barcelona it seems necessary to also have a look at La Sagrada Familia. Thinking it would be dramatically illuminated, we went after sunset. It wasn't. Nevertheless, up close you can still get a decent impression of its scale and detail. Mark thought it a monstrosity. I agree it is unpleasantly sinister, but its Art Nouveau grandeur is faintly compelling.
So, after many emails, we arranged our next farm. It's located near Tarifa, pretty much as far away in Spain as you could yet!
Before leaving Barcelona, we encountered a character working at our hostel. This tall, tanned, Spanish stoner became ridiculously excited when I mentioned we were heading for Tarifa. He was jumping around the room. As it happens, he's an avid windsurfer and recently spent four years in the town. Apparently he's known as the "Tony Montana of Tarifa". His enthusiasm was outrageous as he waxed lyrical about the town and how jealous he was of us. I'm intrigued now to see how it lives up to his portrayal of a mystical, mythical place where anything incredible is possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment