Sunday, August 10, 2014

Catalonia at its best!

On Saturday morning we visited the famous Sagrada Familia Basilica.  This was a much anticipated visit as students had studied about this famous building as part of the online course, pre-travel.  There is really no way to describe this master work by Spain's most famous architect, Antonio Gaudi.  His work represents modernism in Spain and is very symbolic of the Catalonian spirit.  The work incorporates nature and color and light in most unusual ways but to amazing effect. Ask one of the students if you are interested to hear more but you can't find a straight line in Gaudi's work.

After our visit to the Sagrada Familia, we spent some free time doing last minute shopping in Barcelona.  We grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the hotel where some of the players took the opportunity for a short siesta before our fourth friendly game against F.C. Gava.  The game was held at a local sport center about 30 minutes from our hotel.  Imagine our surprise to see a baseball field located directly next to the soccer pitch.  This is the first baseball field that we have seen. The field was turf and the water canons were in full operation. The Golden Bears came out strong against this seasoned F.C. Gava team.  Many of the things that were discussed in the training session the previous night were points of emphasis of the players, according to Coach Sullivan. The Spanish style of play was in full evidence and it was another tough evening for the Golden Bears. In keeping with the Catalonian reputation, the club members were friendly and welcoming.  There was a good local crowd in attendance and clearly we saw the importance of futbol to the local community as fans of all ages sat under the trees.

After the game we enjoyed a typical Catalan meal at a local restaurant. We were served twelve tapas.  Tapas are roughly equivalent to appetizers such as cheese, potatos and meats. The team enjoyed sampling the wide variety of offerings. One of the highlights of the evening was the celebration of Dalton's birthday. The restaurant piped in a version of  Happy Birthday and we all sang along.  Our tour coordinator, Sylvia,  arranged a special cake for Dalton. Dalton will always remember his 19th birthday playing soccer in Spain. Tired and full, we returned to the hotel after midnight.





1 comment:

  1. AGREED! Catalonia is best place for visiting in Spain. I went there last year and fallen in love with this place. Thanks!
    trips to rome italy

    ReplyDelete