"Barca! Barca! Barca!"

On Saturday we headed up to the mountain Montjuic. We took the metro and then a tram to get there and then a gondola to get all the way to the top, where the castle was. We didn't go inside the castle because it didn't seem like much, but we wandered around the top taking photos of the city and the harbor. It was neat how the mountain looked down on the whole city. Barcelona looked so much bigger from up there than I thought it was. We also got to see the Olympic stadium! That was really cool. The sidewalk leading up to it have gold circles on it with the footprint and names of all the athletes that won gold medals.

Despite rain and drizzle we walked around Montjuic for a good while checking out all of the parks that dot it -- there's dozens. They were really, really pretty and we both wished it was sunny and that we had books with us to just sit by the fountains and flowers and read. We saw another cathedral that is a museum, but didn't go in. Like everything else in Barcelona, it was under construction. The huge fountain in Montjuic was also not on. It was a cool looking place but those small things detracted from the beauty I'm sure it is.

That night we went to an FC Barcelona game. Futbol is very, very popular and competitive in Europe so it was fun to go to a game! I've never been to a professional soccer game, even in America. Barcelona is really good and their footwork was very fancy. There was a pretty good turnout for the game, considering it wasn't a very big game and it was a rainy day. But the rain cleared away by game time and it wasn't too cold, either. There were lots of little kids sitting around us and they really got into it. Jumping and screaming when a goal was made and cheering on their favorite players. I got an FC Barcelona scarf from a vendor on the street and Andy got a jersey. Even though our seats were near the top of the bleachers we still had a great view of the game. Sporting events are so similar, yet so different. They're very universal, something that unites everyone I think. They did the wave, screamed, cursed (in Spanish of course), clapped for injured players and chanted their teams name ("Barca! Barca! Barca!"). It was a lot of fun and kind of relaxing after all the walking and site seeing. And they won, too!!!