Camp Nou

If you really love football you have to visit Camp Nou: the Barcelona Football Club Stadium, and one of the biggest football stadiums in the world. In the last years there has been much controversy around it because there were some executives from the club who wanted to redesign it.

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The stadium of FC Barcelona is definitely among the most visited sights of the city. It is not only about football, but it is about history, it is about legends. If you go there, you have the opportunity to attend the "tour". It takes around 2-3 hours depending on how big football or FCB fan you are. And you can find reduction for the ticket if you are a student. I have to tell that I was surprised about how many things you can present in a stadium or how you can convert a stadium into a museum, but in Camp Nou they surely did a pretty nice job.

Directly after entrance you can start to follow the entire history of the club from the very beginning. For example, there I learned that:

• This famous Spanish football club was founded by a Swiss;
• the club didn't play in Camp Nou in the early years but in another field near the city;
• the club had a difficult period during Franco regime;
• the glorious period of FCB didn't start in the last years but in last 3 decades at least.

Of course it was nice to remember some players, of which I had heard only the names when I was a child and i was surprised that they had played for Barcelona like Maradona, Stoichkov, Romario, Ronaldo, etc. There are pictures, texts, cups and other relics presented for every period of the club. The most interesting and best part for me personally was the part where they were mentioning the Hungarian players.

You can also see the cups of the club in Spanish, European or World competitions and you will realize that they have a lot...

After the "museum" part you can go inside the stadium itself. You can walk on the same way as players walk when they are going out for the matches from the changing rooms. Along this path you can see in the screens on the walls the most important moments of the club, goals of decisive matches but also videos of other sports like basketball or handball where FC Barcelona is competitive. I found it interesting that near the entrance to the field there is a small church where practicing players can pray before the match. Obviously you cannot enter the pitch freely, but you can go down to the level of it, just like you can also visit several sectors, including the press sector. You can sit to journalist places which for me had the best seats in the stadium and you can also listen to several comments of played matches at many languages, even in the most unknown and strange ones. If you really want to feel a journalist you can go and sit to the conference hall where coaches and players give interview after matches and where press conferences are held.

It is really a nice experience and an unforgettable adventure. You don't have to be a football fan to enjoy the visit and feel that it was worth every penny. Don't forget in the end of the tour to pay a visit to the souvenir shop. Most probably you will find something suitable for you; it is not necessary for all to buy the jersey with Messi's or Neymar's name stamped on it. However, if you totally hate football, don't force yourself to keep your boyfriend or husband company, better spend those 2-3 hours on the beach.

If you are a football fan, then you have probably heard of the famous footbal stadium in Barcelona, called Camp Nou. Well, even I have heard about it, but I cannot really consider myself a foorball fan. After all, for me, it is completely enough to know who won the match and who lost it. After all, I have only watched a few in my life. Mainly because the team that I am cheering for, was always losing, and I was nervous and I eventually gave up on watching football matches.

But my dad loves football. Of course he does, I mean, he is a man and men do love football. So, before I went to Barcelona, he told me that he is going to be very disappointed if I will not visit this stadium and take some pictures of this place for him. So, as you can see, I had no choice. And, on a boring Sunday morning, I decided to check this wonder of Barcelona out. And I am quite ashamed for saying that, but Camp Nou really impressed me. Both with its size and the amount of visitors. Well, and the price to see the museum, too.

So, when reading this entry, keep in mind that it is not written from a football fan's point of view, but you will read about an experience of a girl, who knows nothing about football, and yet she still decided to go and see Camp Nou. But let me start at the beginning…

Where can you find Camp Nou?

I am sure that every single person, that lives in Barcelona, knows, where the famous stadium Camp Nou is situated. And since it is quite far away from my flat, I was afraid that I will get lost, but after all, I was not very worried, because, as I said, people must definitely know, where it is!

So, after exiting the metro on the Palau Reial station (which is situated on the green line – L3), I started to think which exit should I take. Before I left home, all I checked on the map, was the metro station, where I have to exit. So, I have just randomly chosen an exit, and as soon as I got out, I saw a couple of signs right in front of me, telling me that the Camp Nou is situated on my left side.

And I thought that this was pretty easy. So far. So I followed the direction, and soon, I have noticed a large crowd of people, which made me think that I am at the right place. And I was so happy! So, as you can see, it is really easy to get to Camp Nou – you do not have to turn anywhere, just follow the sign at the metro exit and walk straight. Eventually, you will see a crowd of people, so you can just go with them.

A walk through the 'camp'

As you have probably guessed, I did not pay to enter the museum or anything else, because basically, I just wanted to see how this thing looks like from close up. And I can tell you that it is massive! No, massive is not even the appropriate word here. I dare you, see this stadium with your own eyes, and try to describe it with one single word. Impossible. And, the fact that I do not like football, absolutely does not mean that I did not like Camp Nou.

In fact, after seeing it from so close, my curiosity got bigger and bigger, and at this point, I am even considering paying for the museum, just so I can see what is so interesting about it! Well, it costs over twenty Euros, and you get a guided tour for that price. Well, it is quite expensive, if you ask me, but, after all, I will be able to say that I visited the Camp Nou.

But let me start at the beginning. This is a huge complex, and it does not consist just of the stadium itself. The first thing I saw when I got closer, was the entrance gate with signs, telling you where you have to go to reach different points inside the complex. And as you can imagine, I was quite confused, since I imagined that this is just a stadium, nothing else. But it turned out that I was wrong.

So, when I saw that the complex is divided into the museum, the stadium itself, the conference room, different stores and other parts, I started thinking, where should I go. Of course, I had no intention on paying for anything, so I have just decided to go inside and see, where it is possible to go for free. And honestly, I was pretty surprised, since you can see really a lot, even without paying a single Euro.

So, the first thing that I saw, was the huge queue of people, waiting to enter the museum. Maybe the queue was so long because it was Sunday. I sincerely hope that it is true, because, in case I will go and see the museum, I will definitely choose a weekday, and not a weekend. The second thing that grabbed my attention, was the amount of security guards and people in tuxedos. There must have been some meetinng there or something. Or maybe there was a football match and I did not even know. Oh, well. As I said, my knowledge about football is pretty limited for now.

Then, when I stopped admiring the length of the queue, I forced my eyes to look around. And I was surprised again. The whole left side of the complex consists of different stores. And they are, of course, selling everything, related to footbal and Football Club Barcelona. Obviously. And since all those items are (at least they say that they are) original, they are expensive. Maybe I will buy one for my father, but I really have to consider whether it is worth buying an original or not. After all, you can find exactly same items in stores all around Barcelona, and they cost maybe ten percent of the total price at Camp Nou.

Another surprising thing was the sign, that indicated the directions to an ice skating ring. Well, this place definitely hides a lot of surprises!

Then I have figured out that it is possible to get all the way to the stadium. And I can proudly say that I have even touched it! (I sound like a hardcore fan now. ) From so close up, it seemed really giant. And keep in mind that this is only a small part of it. I only wish that there was a panoramic elevator anywhere close, so I could see this stadium from up there. I am sure that it would leave me with my mouth open.

Also I can only imagine, what a lifetime experience it must be to watch a football match at Camp Nou. I think that I already sound like a football fan, don't I? Also, think about it – how do you think the football players feel when they enter the stadium just before the match starts and see this crowd of people, cheering them? Well, I would become a footbal player just to be able to feel that!

As I have mentioned above, there are a lot of security guards all around the area. Well, this somehow seems obvious, but it still made me feel quite uncomfortable. After all, I was feeling like something bad is going to happen and they know it. But luckily, nothing happened, I was just paranoid. As usual.

And when I went all the way to the stadium, I have noticed two of the guards, looking at me. And I figured out that I probably seem pretty suspicious, so I decided that I will leave. And I got so confused that I could not find the way out at first, and almost ended up waiting in the queue for the museum.

Luckily, there was a map right in front of me, which was quite confusing, but it still helped me to orientate a bit. But at the end, I was able to spot the exit in the distance, and I was quite relieved.

And when I was sitting on the metro, waiting to arrive home, I thought whether it is possible to walk all around the Camp Nou stadium. After all, I think that this would be a great way to get the feeling of the actual size of this creation.

Conclusion

As I said, I am not a football fan at all. But when I went to see the stadium Camp Nou, this topic immediately became much more interesting. After all, when you see such a massive creation, you would like to find out as much about it as you can. And this is exactly I will do with Camp Nou. And I am not lying when I say that I will visit it again before I leave Barcelona!

Camp Nou

Though the original name of this stadium is Estadi del FC Barcelona, it is commonly known as the 'Camp Nou' (the ‘new ground’), which is located opposed to the club’s old home at Les Corts. This stadium covers the area of 55000 square metres with maximum height of 48 meters.

This place was constructed in 1955 and 1957 by using concrete and iron. Barcelona's new stadium has replaced with an increased capacity of accommodation with the old ground of Les Corts. Francesc Mitjans Miró and Josep Soteras Mauri, with the collaboration of Lorenzo García Barbón designed the stadium. Due to the huge capacity, it turned in to biggest stadium in Europe.

This stadium consists with several items such as presidential box, the press rooms, medicine centre, several television studios, Changing room, the VIPs lounge, the FC Barcelona club museum etc.

To visit the museum travellers should buy a ticket. My advice is to go early since you should wait in the queue to enter to the museum. I spent more than one hour to enter to this place but it was worth to wait since we could have ride inside the stadium.

Furthermore, you can buy lot more souvenirs such as foot balls, t-shirts and lot more other things from the souvenir shops located inside the stadium area as well from the outside souvenir shops. But, I must say that the cost of the souvenirs of the souvenirs shops, which are located inside stadium is far more expensive than the in the outside souvenir shops.

If you are football lover then you must visit this place.

(I have abstracted some data from the toure guide leaflets given by the stadium while I we were visiting the place)