Up early again and down to breakfast by 8am, the kids had to be dressed and ready for the bus at 8:45. Players and coaches headed off to a training session with a La Liga clinician. Some parents joined the group at that session, while other parents and guests profited from a little down time to explore a little in Barcelona.
After a good work out, it was back to the hotel for a quick shower and lunch. After sandwiches, chips, and fruit on the hotel patio, it was a rush into the bus for a tour of downtown Barcelona. After a short bus tour of down-town, we stopped at the central plaza downtown and picked up a local tour guide before heading out to the edge of town to visit the world famous Guell Park. On the trip, our guide gave us the background and history of Guell Park, but nothing can prepare you for the first view. All were amazed by the work of the world famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. What a vision he had! Inspired by the English and Parisian garden-city movements, the park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of the wealthy Count Eseubi Guell, after whom the park was named. He hired the avant-garde architecte, Gaudi, to collaborate in his vision. They imagined an organized grouping of high-quality homes, decked out with all the latest technological advancements to ensure maximum comfort, finished off with an artistic touch and set in a garden-park setting to maximize exposure to the health benefits of fresh air, lacking in Barcelona with the Industrial Revolution in Full Swing. Unfortunately, Barcelona lacked the vision of Gaudi and Guell, and the housing development was entirely unsuccessful. It has since been converted to a public garden/park owned by the city of Barcelona and open to the public. However, the infrastructure imagined and installed by Gaudi for his "city" is still a primary feature of the park. When visiting, it is hard to imagine why it would have not been a successful venture; the place is phenomenally beautiful, and fantastic (in the truest sense of the word fantasy!) The kids were simply amazed by the intricate ceramic mozaics, and found the scope of the infrastructure staggering!
[more about Guell Park here: http://www.parkguell.es/en/portada ]
After Guell Park, we headed back to downtown Barcelona, where we parked the bus and headed on foot straight for La Sagrada Familia, which is probably the most iconic site in Barcelona. Named in the local Catalan language, "The Holy Family" is one of Europe's rare Modernist Basicila's. It can only be built using donations from the Faithful, and - as such - has been in construction for over 100 years. When complete, it will hold over 13,000 people. It is a massive structure, and we had to get some distance from it to even contemplate its scope. As we posed for group pictures, we encountered a group of French high school students. While posing for photos, the groups briefly interacted, which was kind of fun. Of course, focus on La Sagrada Familia was briefly lost, especially on the part of the older boys. After all, who is Gaudi to compete with pretty teenaged French girls? With chants of "Vive la France" and "USA, USA" echoing throughout the park, we continued on our way around the pond and completed our tour of the façade of La Sagrada Familia. We had almost completed the round, when...once again, focus shattered. There it was, in scarlet and blue and as big as life - the Mecca to soccer players of all ages: a giant CFB store. The Sagrada Familia was again forgotten, as the players saw the store. As one of the 12s said: "It sucked me in!!" haha. It was time to get back to the bus and head out for tonight's game, though, so we hustled them out of the store and back to the bus, throwing a few parting glances over our shoulders at La Sagrada Familia... that will just have to be for another time!
[ For more about La Sagrada Familia, please see here: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/docs_serveis/informacio.php ]
Tonight's games were against CF Lloreda, a very well respected local club. Their senior teams are in the 2nd division in Spain. The games were very fast and tough games with a lot of very physical play. It was a great experience for the kids to compete at that speed. The fields were beautiful and there were lots of rowdy fans in attendance. After the games, players and guests ate hamburgers in the clubhouse. We learned that fries in Europe are not considered a finger food, and a number of players gamely tried to eat them out of a large paper cone with a pointy stick for stabbing.
After loading the bus, we headed back to the hotel, where we had arranged for a cake to celebrate Bobby's birthday today! We gathered in the lobby and sang "Happy Birthday" as the maître d' carried the cake in. It was a very special cake, for Bobby's FIFTIETH!! birthday, and it was beautiful! We all sang arousing chorus of "Happy Birthday," and everyone gobbled down the cake to rave reviews; Spanish cake, they all agreed, is DELICIOSO!!!!
Stay tuned here to keep up with the fun we are having in Spain!
Thank SO much, Carrie, for this blog & pictures!! It makes me feel a little bit included!! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree....THANK YOU! This is so amazing!
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