Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sunday was FC Barcelona Time at Stadio Camp Nou!!! . . . among other things


Sunday, Day 3 in the magical Catalan capitol.

Let the adventure continue . . .

The Catalan Flag

WAKE UP, IT'S SUNDAY!

Our first stop, after breakfast of course, was to take the funicular up towards Montjuïc, the Mount of the Jews, that houses an impressive old fortress/castle that gives commanding views of Barcelona.

Gaudí's Sagrada Familia in the distance

We will visit it on Monday.

 Montjuïc Castle

Built during the 18th century by the central Spanish government to keep a sharp eye on always rebellious Barcelona. This sight has often been associated with fascist acts. When General Franco ran the country, this tranquil castle was the scene of several political executions.

Nice Gardens in Modern Times

It was a fortress after all

 Barcelona Panorama

Needs a haircut

 The Entrance to Montjuïc Castle

 Iconic Torre Agbar
A 142 meter Office Building

"She Stands on Guard for Thee . . ."

Stay on target . . .

 At the Miramar below Montjuïc Castle

Cog Art

The Center of my World

What is Dante doing here?

Hubba-Hubba 

The X Games were being played
this weekend

Most of the action was taking place at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic sights near Montjuïc Castle.

The walk did us a world of good.

 Hwang Young-Cho of South Korea
1992 Barcelona Olympics
Marathon Champion

You will NEVER see this sign
ANYWHERE in France

Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
(MNAC)

It was our next stop

The walk did us a world of good.

If you are a Senior Citizen, the entry is FREE! Otherwise it would have cost of two admissions would have set us back a total of 17 Euros.

First area to view was the Romanesque wing of the museum.

Lace-like

 Ouch!

The Eyes Have It!

Nice Tail

 Evil and Catalan Good

That's going to leave a mark

As will those nails

High Fiving getting boiled in oil?

Too Many Eyes

Are you staring me?

Really Hungry

St. Michael the Archangel in action

Next up for us was the Modern Art wing.

Cool Fire Place

Interesting Furniture

Doña

Pablo Picasso

Bright Colors

Alpargata vs. Swastika

Spanish Civil War Family

 Death in the Arena

 A Dandy

Exotic

 Ramon Casas' famous Tandem Bikers

Black and White

Museum Cupola

Let's switch over to the fun-filled Gothic wing of the MNAC.

Detroit Hockey Fan No Doubt

Cool King

Impaled

 St. Andrew

 Little Critter

Disturbing

Like the Curls

Strong Profile

Our MNAC visit was now complete, it was time to move on.

The walk did us a world of good.

Guarding the MNAC

Overlooking Plaça Espanya

Plaça Espanya in the background

 A Random Building

 Firemen NOT Catalan Bombers

 Time for more fuel for our bodies

 Say adios to the Sun for the day

Good place in Arenas de Barcelona
for Cafe con Leche and a Dessert

Finally, we headed back to the hotel to get into both our more rain-friendly clothes and our FC Barça gear as well.

 Barça Minions joining us in the
Mean Streets near Stadio Camp Nou

Outside Stadio Camp Nou

Basking in the FCB Glory

Real Valladolid
12th Place in La Liga
11 Wins - 10 Ties - 14 Losses
43 Team Points
at
FC Barcelona
2012-13 La Liga Champions
29 Wins - 4 Ties - 2 Losses
91 Team Points

We are in the Stadio via Acces 19

Now we need to find Porta 50. It is just about 50 meters to the left of us in this picture.

There are no escalators and our seats are in the next to the last row of the Stadio. Time to hike!

It was raining lightly, we still had a good 45 minutes before the game and the skies were ominous above the uncovered Stadio.

Only one thing to do until the start of the match.

Cuddle in the Stairwell
outside Boca 526

It worked for us and kept us dry. Laurie was quite upset to find out that they did not sell alcohol at Stadio Camp Nou.

 FCB Stretching

 Crowds Arriving

 The Jamaican Bobsled Team
was in the Stadio!

 The View from Boca 526,
Fila 30, Seient 7 and 9

Two Happy, WET, Campers

Let the 9:00 p.m. game BEGIN!!! 

GAME ON!!!

The Stadio was half empty despite the announced official La Liga Championship Cup presentation after the game. Perhaps the less than brilliant opponent for Barça and the rainy weather conspired to keep the Stadio only half full.

 Barça in Claret and Blue

 Barça Attacking the Valladolid Goal

Two-on-One

 Nice Pass!

Breakaway!

Valladolid Goalie's Nice Save

He stopped the streaking
ball with his heel . . . BRILLIANT!

 Corner Kick Header

 Half Time

Pedro scored the first goal for Barça with Valladolid inadvertently scoring on themselves to propel FCB to a commanding 2-0 lead at the break.

Spreading the Field

Barça was never seriously threatened allowing very few shots on goal.

Valladolid Getting Vertical!

One-on-One

Still Battling

Valladolid's Victor Perez
scoring on a Penalty Kick

 2-1 FCB was the Final Score

Win #30 for Barça was on the table.

 La Liga's Best in 2012-13

 Joy in Barcelona

Barça Captain Puyol
collecting the Cup

Let's Celebrate

With lots of team colored confetti!

And FCB lights too

"CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES,
COME ON!!!"

It was near Midnight but we just had to debrief/celebrate with some late night tapas and an adult beverage or two at a fine restaurant near our hotel.

The walk did us a world of good.

LIFE CONTINUES TO BE GOOD!!!

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