FC Barcelona - Córdoba

mackem lass

New member
Hello!

We're Sunderland supporters but since being a young boy, my eldest son has had a soft spot for Barcelona. He'd absolutely love to do the Nou Camp tour and take in a match. He's 18 this year and doesn't want a party, so I thought I'd make his dreams come true instead!

Had a bit of a search and it looks like we can get flights on a Friday morning to Monday afternoon. Is this match likely to change to a Monday night fixture? I'm guessing if it's like Premier League football, these things can be moved any time to suit the television broadcasters?

Will it be possible to get four tickets sitting together? Ideally I like the look of the two lower tiers behind the goals, but not so keen on the really high ones.

Anything else I need to know?

Thanks very much for any help offered xx
 

Galning

Moderator
Hey!

Monday night games are very unlikely but there's still a small chance of course. I'm 99% sure it won't be played on a Monday night though.
Yes it's possible to get four tickets together but it might be a bit tricky to find 4 next to each other online. It's a lot easier if you go to the ticket offices. Although I think it's not impossible to find 4 seats together online since it's Cordoba.
 

mackem lass

New member
Just an update. I managed to find four seats together in the Gol Nord 3 section so I bought those. I've got flights arriving on the Friday lunchtime and returning Monday lunchtime, so we'll be ok as long as it's not a Monday night match. I've booked an apartment in a street right next to the Nou Camp as I thought that would be easier to get back to if it's a very late kick off.

Plans will depend on what time the match is played, but I think we'll probably do the stadium tour and museum on Friday afternoon to get us in the mood! Rest of the time will be exploring the city and visiting places like Sagrada Familia and the magic fountain.

Really looking forward to it now and can't wait to surprise my son with his birthday present as he's go no idea I've booked all this!
 

Bucky

Penya Member
Awesome, all the best & have a safe trip. We're off in Feb and my wife's friends keep warning her about pick pockets, so just a heads up, keep your wits about you and a hand on your bag. If you need to check a map, phone etc lean against a wall first, don't let anyone touch you. The usual. People can give you a better idea from here I'm sure but it's when you head in tourist places, like Las Ramblas, bus station & metro.

Having done research I've heard good things (including from friends) about Cafe de L'Opera on Las Ramblas and to order "churros & chocolate".

Tons of great places in Barcelona and you've named two great one's there. Also check out Park Guell if you get a chance or want to obviously lol
 

mackem lass

New member
Thanks for the tips especially the pick pockets one. I've already got a little bag that straps round my waist for running. I thought I'd use the bumbag with my coat fastened over the top, rather than take a handbag.

Churros and chocolate sound great :)

Hope you have a good trip too.
 

pacp_96

Chief Of Footballing Matters
Was in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago. Pickpockets are just looking for easy targets. Just so long as you have an eye on your stuff and pay attention to your surroundings you'll be fine. We obviously looked like stereotyped tourists since people knew we were English before even talking to them but we had no problems.

Also if you can take a taxi from the airport. We got lost on our first day trying to get to the hotel by metro with loads of bags. Will never do that again. :lol:
 

mackem lass

New member
Thanks for the help.

I was looking at public transport from the airport. I'm going to buy the Hola BCN travel card which I understand can be used on the train from the airport. Looking at the maps, I can get the train to Sants Estacio and then change onto L5 Metro to Collblanc and the apartment is a couple of minutes walk away from there. It seems easy enough I think.
 

Bucky

Penya Member
You're welcome & thanks.

Just a thought too, I got so many tabs open on my internet browser (planning ahead) but here's a few I can share and hopefully it will be useful for everyone else too:

Barcelona safety tips - Avoiding pickpockets in Barcelona

Barcelona Pickpockets - Real Life Stories And Tips on How to Beat Them

Top 3 places to see in Barcelona (that are free or in budget, Museu Picasso - on first Sunday of every month visitors are allowed to visit the museum for free.)

Thanks for that as well pacp_96, I was wondering about travel from airport and the best way, probably will do taxi. Just hope it's not too expensive and must brush up on some Spanish & Catalan lol
 

pacp_96

Chief Of Footballing Matters
Seriously though don't over worry about pickpockets. I did before we went and was terrified but when you get there you realise that all you need to do is remain alert, have all your stuff in sight and realise that most are just generally nice and helpful people. On the Sunday, when we were coming back from Barca v Elche, it was around midnight and we were lost (really really lost lol). Then some guy just came up to us with his dog and we were scared shitless. All he was trying to do is help us with directions. He realised we didn't speak Spanish so called over a policecar that was going past to help us. Obviously wouldn't recommend getting yourself into this situation but all the people we met were really nice and helpful.
 

mackem lass

New member
They're good links to read Iron Man. Thanks for sharing them.

I'd learn a few useful phrases in Spanish - greetings, buying things in shops, etc. We went on holiday to a small Spanish town near Marbella last month and although my Spanish wasn't brilliant, the locals seemed pleased that I'd made an effort.
 

Bucky

Penya Member
Oh yeah no doubt, common sense & being aware of your surroundings. My wife's friends keep warning her about it as if to put her off but I told her, it's pretty much the same no matter where you go, tourists are easy targets.

When we've been abroad before they usually give you a fair warning on the bus to the hotel. Went to Corfu and had the warning there but that was fine. Obviously Corfu town isn't nearly as busy as Barcelona mind but as long as you're alert then you'll be fine.

Haha yeah that is quite a tricky situation to be in but luckily he meant no harm =)

If you've ever heard of Star City or "Stab City" as it's otherwise known as, I used to work in the security team there years ago, oh the fun we had with shop lifters, punk thieves and general idiots in the car park.

*You're welcome, yeah heard that "trying/making an effort", especially with key phrases get's you small rewards (less price up on things you maybe buying) or at least recognition, it's appreciative and a sign of respect. Same when tourists come here (not often) and don't speak English very well, always nice that they try and are grateful if you can help them.
 
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pacp_96

Chief Of Footballing Matters
We had a crazy Spanish/Catalan metro worker that we couldn't understand explain to us that we needed to keep our bags close to us on the metro.
 

mackem lass

New member
We've been so I just thought I would update this!

My son was absolutely over the moon on his birthday. First he unwrapped a Barcelona scarf and wondered why I'd bought that, then he noticed a sheet with the weekend itinerary on and nearly fell off the sofa! He couldn't stop grinning for days!

Got a flight out on the Friday morning. I'd bought Hola BCN cards in advance (order these at least a month before you go from the TMB website as they take longer than it says to arrive!) which covered the train journey from the airport into the city centre, then we transferred onto a Metro along to Collblanc. The apartment was just round the corner from the Metro, and on the same street as Camp Nou.

We stayed at the Madanis Apartments and it was perfect! Spotlessly clean and plenty of room. It had a living/dining room, fully equipped kitchen including washing machine, bathroom, three bedrooms and a small balcony with table and chairs. Would have been easy to fully cater main meals if we'd wanted to but we just had breakfast and made sandwiches there.

We did the stadium tour on Friday afternoon and found it really good. You can wander around at your own pace and spend as long as you want in each section. The amount of trophies is astonishing and I enjoyed learning about the history of the club. Thought the photographs they took were expensive though. On the evening we went to see the Magic Fountain which was playing a varied mix of music and we enjoyed that.

Saturday morning was a visit to Sagrada Familia. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty inside. Even if you are not religious it's worth a visit as the architecture is amazing. We had the audio tour which was informative and climbed the nativity tower. There was a small Christmas market over the road, so we had a browse and discovered the Caga Tio. My children really found it amusing to hear that it shits small presents so we had to buy one to bring home!

The match was played on Saturday afternoon and it was a brilliant experience. It was warm and sunny and I found it odd being at the match in December and sitting in my shirt sleeves! Barca won 5-0 and Messi scored twice at our end. My son really wanted to see a Messi goal, so he was really pleased to see two!

After the match we ate at the Cafe de Galiza which is next door to the apartments. We ordered eight hot tapas, four drinks and four desserts and it only came to around £45 which I thought was good value for money. The tapas portions were a decent size and the food was absolutely beautiful. They don't speak a lot of English but we managed to get by with a mixture of their broken English and my attempts at Spanish!

On Sunday we visited the Aquarium and enjoyed that. It was a nice sunny day so we had a lovely walk around the harbour area admiring the boats and then had a stroll up Las Ramblas. Sunderland were playing local rivals Newcastle that day, so we visited Flaherty's Irish bar just off Las Ramblas to watch our match. It was a passionate battle but we won 1-0 thanks to a late goal. That made the weekend even better!

After the match, we had a general wander around the Gothic streets, admired the Cathedral from outside and had a look at the Christmas market. We enjoyed looking at the things that are different to the UK, especially the big and elaborate Nativity scenes and had a giggle at El Caganer! We wandered back to Las Ramblas for churros and chocolate, and then walked back up in the dark admiring all the Christmas lights and the lights at Placa de Catalunya.

Overall it was a brilliant weekend and none of us wanted to go home. Barcelona is a lovely city and the locals are friendly. I never felt unsafe while walking or using the Metro and I didn't see any pickpockets. It's definitely a city I'd like to visit again sometime. Tip: if you can buy admission tickets in advance, it's worth doing so. It's slightly cheaper and we were able to jump queues at the places we visited as just had to scan the tickets I'd printed at home to get in.

Meanwhile our Caga Tio is now part of our Christmas decorations and he's had a lovely time over the festive period randomly shitting small chocolates, much to the amazement of my youngest!
 

DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
Nice. Great to see you had a great time. Looks like your son had a trip he'll remember the rest of his life :D
 

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