A Few of My Favorite Things

Now that we've been back a while, I can admit to being completely nostalgic for a few things from our previous life, right? Here goes, in no particular order:

Carrer de Lleo, Our Street

I always loved walking home, seeing all the same people going about the same business on our block. It's just not the same kind of community in a car-culture. I wonder if the neighbors miss me as much as I miss them?

Never Knowing What You're Going to Get

When we first arrived in Spain, I was longing for familiar foods like burritos, but I quickly became a fan of trying dishes I previously never considered food items, such as Rabo de Toro (Bull's Tail):

Weekdays Between 6pm and 9pm

This is when the neighbors come out on the plazas to have a beer or a chat or a kiddie game of street ball. The whole world slows down, lets the day go and actually enjoys time outside with friends. It's a beautiful thing.

Totally Un-P.C. and Sometimes Just Wrong

I once wrote about how the Spanish can seem offensive when viewed through an uber-politically correct American lens, but sometimes their awkward humor is just down right funny. I loved seeing odd uses of the American language, such as the following name for a clothing store. Do you think Granny realizes what she's posing under?

Celebrating Barsa

Clearly, if you read this blog, you know we are devout Barsa fans. Watching every game at BJ's 100 Club with all of these crazy fans was definitely the highlight of every week. We still stream the games live from our laptops, but jumping up and down by one's lonesome just ain't the same.

Sunday Paella

Is there anything on earth more tasty-looking? I don't think so.

For my birthday is this weekend and I'm making myself a big pot of paella to help cure my Spanish-homesickness. The Sunday Paella tradition lives on...!!!

 Note: This list does NOT include any of our dear friends we miss terribly. Come visit!

Barsa Fever: Update

Maybe you don't have Barsa fever exactly...

but we know you've been waiting anxiously for our impartial update on what happened during those thrilling 18 days of four consecutive FC Barcelona (yay!) vs. Real Madrid (boo!) games, so here you go:

First up, La Liga, the first division league in Spain:

...long story, short, we (Barsa) are the Champions! 

The game vs. Madrid was an 1-1 empate (a tie), but the La Liga goes by points, and Barsa earned one more point than Madrid which prompted the Catalans to rage all, night, long:

The fight for Spain's Copa del Rey was a different story (who cares about that league anyway!) It was more of a brawl than a match with Madrid's players trying harder to injure our guys than pass the ball. Here we are at the end of 90 minutes of very tense, very rough play. Score: 0-0:

But in overtime, Madrid's Christiano Ronaldo slipped one past for a 0-1 loss:

BUT, there was a sliver lining to it all: 

Madrid's Sergio Ramos actually dropped the trophy from atop the party bus (agast!) and THEN the party bus smashed the Copa to smithereens (jajaja!) Watch here to see the sweet, sweet revenge:

Finally, the most important games of all - the Champion's League duals...

During the first match, on Madrid's turf no less,

Messi scored twice, Madrid's aggressive defender, Pepe, was finally red-carded for his outrageous fouls and Madrid's mercurial coach, Jose Mourinho was ejected from the game for mocking the ref:

It was magical. All of Madrid's pathetic antics finally caught up to them and the win sealed the deal for Barsa moving on to the Final Championship against Manchester United on May 28th. 

This is definitely one game not to miss.

Catch the fever! Go Barsa!

Un Empate (1-1) en Madrid

In a dramatic and emotional game last night, Barca tied Madrid 1-1 and put the Liga Championship more or less in their back-pocket. I was hoping for a win, but Barca fought on Madrid's turf and had a massive, screaming crowd of Madrillenos to work against. At one point, fans threw trash directly at Messi who was prepping for a throw.

The two goals were scored as free kicks by Messi and later by Madrid's Christiano. The reminder of the game was rough and dirty, especially by the white shirts. 

Our guys maintained possession for 80% of the game but were falling over left and right. For Madrid to hang with Barca, they resorted to pulling, jabbing, tripping, tackling and whatever other foul tactics they maneuver. Only one red card was called on Madrid's Raul Albiol for wrestling David Villa to the ground. 

Meanwhile, the Catalans in our bar were yelling "Franquistas" at the referees who seemed oblivious to Madrid's ugly play. Back in the days of Franco, the dictator payed refs to rig games in favor of Madrid and many believe the refs still get paid.

But in the end, a tie means Barca will most likely earn the Liga Championship. Madrid failed at their obvious attempts to injure our players, and we still have three more opportunities to give the smack-down to Madrid.

Go Barca.

!!!!!!!!!!BARSA, BARSA, Baaaaaaaaaar-SA!!!!!!!!!!

We're about to go futbol crazy here in Barcelona. 

For the first time in history, FC Barcelona will meet Real Madrid in four matches in l8 days. The rivalry between the two teams is beyond fierce. It's political, it's nationalistic and it's personal. 

Real Madrid, represents the seat of the national government. They have lots of money are aren't afraid to spend it on the best (translation = most expensive) players in world, such as Christiano Ronaldo. Booooooooo!

FC Barca on the other hand, represents the heart of Catalonia and is a full expression of the region's pride and desire for independence. This year's team is full of all-stars (including Lionel Messi, the best living player and not just in my opinion), many of which are from Catalonia and have chosen to stay at play football with Barca, even though they could earn more money elsewhere.

Though newcomers to the city, we've been captured by the enthusiasm for Barca and hardly ever miss a game. We have a private table reserved down the street at BJ's 100 Frankfurt Club, which blares victory tunes when Barca scores and an evil "hahahahaha" sound effect (from Michael Jackson's Thriller) when the other team screws up. 

The two teams are playing four times because they compete in three different leagues. Both are at the top of the pack at the end of the season and are now duking it out for the titles.

First up:

Saturday, April 16, 10PM 

La Liga Championship Title

Barca already spanked Madrid when they met last November with an embarrassing 5-0 victory. We're still celebrating that win as it ensures that Barca will still earn the Liga title even if they lose this game. 

Here are our friends at the Liga game in November (before the smoking ban). Can you guess who is from Madrid?

Then comes:

Wednesday, April 20, 9:30PM at Camp Nou, Barcelona

Copa del Rey Final

Who cares about this match, but it's always fun to kick the ass of your arch-nemsis, which is what we expect Barca to do.

Finally, in the tournament to determine the best football team in all of Europe.....

Wednesday, April 27, 10:45 Madrid

 Champions Semifinal

Tuesday, May 3, 10:45 Camp Nou, Barcelona 

Champions League Final

Catch a game if you can! We promise you won't regret it.

!GO BARCA!

Mes-si, Mes-si, Me-si!

Last week we had the chance to go to a game at Camp Nou, the famous home of FC Barcelona, arguably the best soccer team in the world today. In 2009, FC Barca became the first club in Spain to win all six major football competitions, including La Liga, Copa del Ray, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. Their players also featured prominently on Spain's national team that brought home the FIFA World Cup from South Africa in 2010!

The 100,000-seat Camp Nou make it the largest stadium Europe. Games are regularly sold out, but was only about half-full last Wednesday at 10PM start time. Barca was playing a match in the Spanish Copa del Rey against AD Ceuta, one of the weaker teams in the league. (For you geography buffs, Ceuta is an autonomous Spanish city located on the northern tip of Africa on the Straight of Gibraltar.) But, the fairly low attendance meant we were able to score some great seats without breaking the bank!

Barcelona was the heavy favorite, so the first half featured players from their second team squad. They did not disappoint and put up 2 quick goals within the first 10 minutes of the game. It was amazing how hard they played and you could really tell they were gunning for a spot on the first team!

At half-time, our guys were up 2-1. Barca was dominating, but they had yet to score the decisive third goal to put Ceuta away.

About 15 minutes into the second half, an audible murmur spread through crowd. Was it true? YES! Messi was warming up! Lionel Messi is Barcelona's star striker, who has already scored over 50 goals in the 2010 season. As he emerged onto the field, the entire stadium went bananas,
chanting "Mes-si, Mes-si, Mes-si!"

Stepping onto the pitch, he was so non-nonchalant, like he was out for an evening stroll.  He seemed completely unaware that he had captured the attention of every fan in the stadium.
The crowd unanimously "aahed" or "oohed" when ever he touched the ball,
as if he were the only person on the field. 

Finally, he was positioned perfectly in front of the goal when he received the ball. Time slowed as he gracefully weaved in and out of opponents before gently tapping the ball towards the left pocket.
There was no doubt in anyone's mind of the impending goal.  

Again, the fans went mad: "Mes-si, Mes-si, Mes-si!"

It was just amazing how his presence changed the game, opening up opportunities for other players. With another quick goal assist from Messi, Barcelona went on to blow out AD Ceuta 5-1.

It's hard not to become a FC Barca fan living here and we're already gearing up for the biggest game of the season against Real Madrid on November 29. Real Madrid is easy club hate, and like the LA Lakers, they're rich, cocky, and filled with great talent. But the rivalry goes much beyond that and touches on deep political rifts in the county.

Barcelona fans truly consider games against Real Madrid as representative of their larger struggle for Catalan independence from Spain, and a victory against Madrid is a valued opportunity to express their unwillingness to relent to the capital city!

We'll be finding a spot in a packed bar on Nov 29 (as we couldn't afford the 600 Euro, or $1000, minimum ticket price) and will let you know how it goes!