A Most Unusual Sight

We're on the road again...after breakfast, we loaded up the bus and headed north along the east coast of Spain to Barcelona.  It's about a four hour drive and we stopped  half way along the road for a quick break at an amazing rest area with a view of the Mediterranean Sea.  You don't see that back home on the turnpike!!!  En route, we heard two presentations.  Bus presentations are a great way to learn more about student research and individual student's interests.  It's also a great way to educate the group and effectively use our time in transit.  Thursday's presentations were delivered by Lucas Hayden who spoke about the history of Spanish weaponry and metal fabrication.  Chris Bruton shared his expertise on Spanish inventors.  Lots of interesting questions were asked of the two who demonstrated great mastery of their subject areas.

Upon arriving in Barcelona, the bus dropped us off at Barcelona's famed Las Ramblas.  Imagine Boston's Quincy Market and New York Times Square for miles and miles!  It was crowded and there were lots of tourists and vendors displaying their wares.  Street performers and artists and a huge open air food market added to the experience.  Dynamic, colorful, and rich....you certainly had a sense that we were in Spain's second largest and considered to be most modern city, the wonderful BARCELONA!

We checked in to our hotel in the city district and had a great pre-game dinner.  Everyone has commented on the excellent service we have received in all of our hotels.  Right after dinner, we left for our third friendly game.  The match was held about an hour from the hotel in a sport complex.  We learned that the club is about to celebrate it's 110th anniversary.  We played Vilafranca F.C. and local media was in attendance.  The Golden Bears lost 6-0 in our best showing of the trip.

A most unusual sight?  The guys were asked to put on jerseys provided by the home team so that they would have numbers on both sides of their shirts.  To be quiet honest, our team looked great in the black and white stripped jerseys but it was quite a shock to see the guys in any other color than our whites or Golden Bear blue and gold!  After the match, we were treated to a buffet supper and a local fruit drink provided by the home team...a sort of Spanish post game tailgate party.  We had a chance to visit with the local club manager and swap pins!  Thanks, Professor Hamakawa, Director of Center for International Sport Business in the College of Business, for providing us with a handful of F.C. Golden Bear lapel pins to share.  It was a beautiful cool night and we loaded back on the bus and headed back to the hotel.