Sunday Lunch in Palau Blaugrana

Is there anything one could desire more than a delicious, warm lunch in a sunny December Sunday? I am rather tempted to say no, but after enjoying a lunch-time match in Palau Blaugrana, appreciating the show offered by one of the best basketball teams in Europe, well...I would at least give it a chance.

Attending a match of FC Barcelona basketball team was actually one of the top wishes I had singled out for my Comenius period. After enjoying the experience, I can say it was really worth it. Obviously, I am sure that visiting the Camp Nou, or even better attending a football match there must be absolutely great. Anyway, I hope that in the lines which follow you will find some pretty good reason to opt for the orange ball rather than for the black-and-white one.

I found Palau Blaugrana a really nice arena, with good facilities and a kind and well-organized staff. It is located right next to the Camp Nou, within walking distance from Barcelona Sants station (it took me a 25-minutes walk to get there). Tickets are available at an acceptable price (I paid 25 euros and could find an excellent seat, quite near to the playing field, but you can find either more expensive or cheaper ones). Moreover, having bought it online, I could avoid any possible queues at the box office (in fact, they were quite short), going straight to my seat. As the audience in basketball matches is generally quite polite, I had to get through a quick check in, in which I was just asked to remove the top of my water bottle.

As for the game, it was really amazing. After enjoying the sight of the players warming up for at least one hour, all the fans in the arena tuned in to the match singing loudly the notes of the FC Barcelona anthem. The opponent was the ambitious Cai Zaragoza, which hoped to play a dirty trick on the blaugrana team, coming from two straight losses in the Spanish League. In fact, little could they do to face the class and concentration of the home team, who was in control most of the game and finally crushed the opponents with the final score of 73-50.

Halfway through the final quarter, a special moment contributed to make the match a memorable one, when Barcelona leader Juan Carlos Navarro, undoubtedly one of the greatest European players of all times, hit his 1000th three-points shot in the Spanish League. While the referees stopped the game for a few instants, the whole audience greeted him with a standing ovation, and even the opponents congratulated to Navarro, who was also briefly hugged by his daughters, sitting next to the field.

By the way, having attended the match did not prevent me from enjoying a delicious hamburger in a cosy pub near the stadium. Sometimes we may say it is possible to have the best of two worlds!