Life in Barcelona

The city of Barcelona has a very long football tradition! This shouldn’t surprise anybody, as of one of the best teams in the World represents my city: F.C. BARCELONA, known throughout the World as “BARÇA”!!

Football is the national sport in Spain and, obviously, it is very easy for anyone who is staying in Barcelona and who loves football as much I do, to practice his/her favourite sport!

This blog is directed at all those who are staying in Barcelona for a long time and who are interested in playing football! For example, there are some clubs that organize different types of championships. I usually play in a team of 10 friends from the University in the club Catalonia Sports, and this is my 7th straight season playing there! During all these years, as all the teams, we had some good and not so good years! We happened to win the league one season and in the following season we finished 8th, out of 10 teams at the standings! (more…)

Tags: Football+in+Barcelona, Sports+in+Barcelona, Football+championships+in+Barcelona

I think I just participated in the biggest running competition ever in my whole life! And it happened to be here in Barcelona!

This famous competition was called Cursa Bomberos (firemen’s race) and was last weekend, covering a circuit of 10 km in the city centre. If you ask me, the best part with joining a running race is not the actual RUNNING, no. The TRUE joy of this whole self-suffering activity is right in the beginning, when you can feel the adrenaline rising in the blood of every participant with the increase of the music right before the start gun goes off. I felt like a tiny little ant drowning in the colourful flood of 13,000 orange-dressed, number-tagged people, standing at the start, waiting for the countdown. (more…)

Tags: running+barcelona, cursa+bombers+barcelona, sport+barcelona, Barcelona+events

I was looking forward to seeing the biggest match of the year for months now! Barça – Real Madrid WHOW! Every year I have followed the battle of the year closely in the Netherlands but this time I was incredibly privileged to be in Barcelona when the match was played. I was planning to see the match in one of the numerous international Bars in the city centre of Barcelona since a friend I got to meet here in Barcelona told me that it was impossible to get tickets (if you don’t have a season card). He has lived here all his life and he couldn’t manage to get tickets for a single match.

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Tags: Barça+Madrid,, FC+Barcelona+v.s+Real+Madrid,, Leonel+Messi,, Barça+football,, The+Camp+Nou

…But, it definitely was not a one sided game! After the first game in Camp Nou, who would imagine that Barça would be so close to eliminate Liverpool at the mythical Anfield Road. That is the final impression I got yesterday when, around 22h30, the referee decided to “pitar” the end of the match. I’m sure that all Barça supporters have today the same feeling as me…

Gudjohnsen scored with 15 minutes still remaining…and I was sure that Ronaldinho and co. would appear in the last minutes to demonstrate that they are the best players in the World. However, if I analyze the whole match, I have to recognize that Barça didn’t deserve to go through to the next round and even to win yesterday. Actually, the red devils played better during the most part of the match, above all in the first half when Riise and Gerrard were incredible. Barça didn’t have too many opportunities to score and we were lucky to profit from one of them…so, we started dreaming of getting some kind of miracle, but Liverpool managed the situation very well.  (more…)

Tags: Barça, Liverpool+against+Barça, Football+in+Barcelona, Champions+League

Living in Barcelona has many advantages, one of them being the proximity to the gorgeous Mediterranean sea! And in my opinion one of the best ways to enjoy Barcelona and to really ‘see’ the city, is from the sea!

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Tags: Barcelona+coastline, Barcelona+cruises, boat+trips+Barcelona, jazz+cruise, sailing+Barcelona

As Bob Marley sang in one of his songs… “the sun is shining and the weather is sweet”, but not all days in Barcelona are good days. Actually, today is one of the saddest ones I remember.

As I’m sure you know, Barça lost yesterday the most important game of the season up until now. I cannot say that Barça didn’t play well, but our players were supposed to be more intelligent and show their experience playing in these sorts of games. However, what I saw yesterday is a naïve team that couldn’t manage a positive result of 1-0, at home, in Camp Nou. I cannot understand how Barça could let Liverpool score 2 goals…the defence yesterday was horrible and forwards such as Ronaldinho or Saviola hadn’t had a good day. And where was Eto’o?? Eto’o was in the stand, not in the starting team or even on the bench.

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Tags: Barça, Barça+against+Liverpool, Football+in+Barcelona, Champions+League

Yes!! We are the winners, we are the winners! Last Sunday saw the first title of the year, “La Copa del Rey”…go to the basketball team of Barça! I know that basketball is not as important as football here in Barcelona…but Barça supporters also follow how well the basketball team is doing.

Do you know what the best thing about that win is??? Barça defeated its archrival Real Madrid with a result of 69-53…16 points difference against the actual leader of the Spanish Basketball League, we thrashed them!! And believe me, beating Real Madrid in any sport is very, very important! Actually, all the managers, players and the press considered Real Madrid as the favourite to win this cup. However, Barça is always there trying to win, even when nobody believed they could do it. You can never underestimate Barça’s potential in any sport!! In basketball, we haven’t only won a lot of national and international titles, but also, lots of the best European players have played defending the ‘Azulgrana’, such as Sarunas Jasikevicius, Dejan Bodiroga, Juan Carlos Navarro and, obviously, the best Spanish player ever…Pau Gasol, who is an all-star in the NBA! (more…)

Tags: Barça, basketball+in+Barcelona, Copa+del+Rey, Barça+champions,

Would you like to feel the warm breeze on your cheeks while enjoying a great sunny view of the Mediterranean Sea shore? If so, I actually have a great suggestion for you! At least if you are willing to kill two birds with one stone and do some exercise at the same time!

The only thing you need is a pair of rollerblades (and maybe some protection if you feel like Bambi on ice)! The kilometre long coast line of Barcelona is perfect to go skating along - I often spend my Sunday afternoons rollerblading and it is a really good way to unwind after a busy week, and when you are tired you can always make a stop and throw yourself on the sandy beach for a while! During the weekends you can find a lot of people who have the same idea!

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Tags: skating+barcelona, rollerblades+barcelona, skating+city, blading+barcelona, skating+association

That’s the question I have been asking myself after the last defeat against Espanyol! The derby against Espanyol is the second most important game after the match against Real Madrid, and cannot be lost on any account! The score? Espanyol 3 – Barça 1!!!!!!

I can’t remember the last time Barça lost against Espanyol. But you know…I’m not worried that my favourite team lost last Saturday, in football these things can happen, we can’t win ALL the games of the championship. But I am worried about the attitude of the players on the pitch. I don’t really want to say this, but when I see Ronaldinho, Xavi, Gudjohnsen and others just strolling up and down the field, it reminds me of the Real Madrid players…players who don’t care about their team, the supporters, the institution and who only care about their own advertising contracts and going out until late at night! Well, don’t misinterpret what I’m saying…I’m not comparing Ronaldinho, Deco or Eto’o with Ronaldo, Beckham or Roberto Carlos…(the Barça players are far superior in my opinion!! And much more professional!) (more…)

Tags: Barça, Football+in+Barcelona, Barça+against+Espanyol, Football+in+Catalunya, Copa+del+Rey, La+Liga+Española

Hi everybody!!

As you should already know, Barcelona and Catalunya do not only offer nightlife or the beach.  I think that all the people who live in Catalunya are very lucky because they can enjoy a great time going to the beach…and also practicing some SKIING!!! Actually, the Pyrenees are located just 2 hours from Barcelona and even less from Girona or Lleida.

I know that this year we’re not being very lucky with the weather to practice skiing, as there hasn’t been much snow! but most of the ski resorts are already open! So, if you are planning to do something different during the weekend, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy some amazing days in one of the numerous ski resorts Catalunya offers you.

However, I want to tell you about one ski resort in particular. If you are interested in going skiing during the weekend or even only for one day, the best option is to go to Port Del Comte, no doubt! (more…)

Tags: Port+Del+Comte, skiing+in+Barcelona, skiing+in+Catalunya, ski+resorts+in+Catalunya, skiing+in+Lleida