Aventura 13: Camp Nou

"Experience Camp Nou." That's the slogan for the museum tour, the words that you follow around the stadium.  And man is it an experience.  Not only do they have an incredible amount of information on the history with photos and quotes and old artifacts, like these boots and old pela - can you imagine playing with these?

Not only do they have all the trophies they have won (or reproductions of them) from the first trophy ever, la Copa Macaya, a piece of modernist art really (left) or the Champions League Cup (right, with a pretty happy person in front of it):

              

But after all these "things" that are in every museum, we followed those magic words "Experience Camp Nou" and we went into the stadium, up into the second tier of seats.  

We walked by the snack stands and down to the visiting teams locker room! Which had a huge jacuzzi in the middle, lucky ducks.... We followed the path to the cheering of a crowd into the tunnel - the same tunnel that both teams go through before the step onto the field:

And then, we walked up those stairs and found ourselves right in between the two teams' benches.  We were so close to touching the grass, to playing on the beautiful green right in front of us - except for the barriers and guard standing in our way.  But we were right there.  Right where the players are, surrounded by the endless rows of red and blue.

We walked down the sidelines up to other seats, maybe 20 rows up from the field, and we just sat, for an hour, drawing and taking in the stadium.

We finished up the tour walking up an endless flight of stairs to the press boxes, then down to the back end of the museum where we put on headphones to listen to the song of Barca.  And that was the tour.  That was the experience.  

I think what heightened this experience, though, was all the history I read in the information before.  I have this new(ish)found appreciation for this team.  Did you know this team, the Barca team right now, is thought to be the best footy team in history, and it all started from one guy writing to the local newspaper, asking if a group of guys wanted to start up a team?  Translation of the article to the left: "Our friend and companion Mr. Kans Kamper, a member of the Football Section of the Society of Sports and an old Swedish champ, wants to organize a few games in Barcelona.  Whoever feels to be a fan of this sport should get in contact with him, as they can meet every Tuesday or Friday at night from 9 until 11."

Or did you know that this team is such a part of the Catalan spirit and culture, that during the franquismo, many ways this time is how ciudadanos could legally support their culture?  During el franquismo, this club never lost its democratic spirit - as the fans, the players, the coaches, the president, the staff all were an important part of the club.  In the Posguerra, when many españoles left for México to find safety, this team too went on a tour in México.  When they returned, all the players who had participated in this tour were suspended for two years.  During this time in Spain, "los partidos de Barca en Les Corts eran un oasis de libertad en unos años de miedo, miseria y represión" - the Barca games in Les Corts stadium became an oasis of liberty during they years of fear, misery, and repression.  It became an identity.  And when immigrants would come to Barcelona, one of the easiest ways to integrate themselves and to become a part of Cataluña, was if they started following and supporting Barca.  This team is such a part of the local identity that for the 50th, 75th, or 100th anniversary of the club, famous artists such as Tápies or Joan Miró created artwork commemorating Barca and Cataluña.

The president of the Barca, D. Narciso de Carreras, said these famous words about the club in the years after the war: "El Barcelona es algo más que un club de fútbol, el Barcelona es más que un lugar de esparcimiento donde los domingos vamos a ver jugar al equipo; más que todas las cosas, es un espíritu que llevamos muy arraigado dentro, son unos colors que estimamos por encima de todo....Barcelona is something more than a football club, Barcelona is more than a space where we go on Sundays to watch the team play; more than everything, it's a spirit that we carry inside us, they are colors that inspire and awe us on top of everything..."

And that line, "más de un club" or, in Catalan, "mes de un club" has become the great phrase of this Barcelona club. And they really are more than just a football team.  And this tour, this tour was really more than just a museum tour.

Whoever is around on Wednesday, Barca is playing against Real Madrid, their biggest rivals.  Whoever wants to see this incredible team play with its incredible fan support and community, look for the game at 4pm ET.  You won't want to miss it.