Friday, July 8: Bikes, Camp Nou and Barcelona city

When we woke up on our first day in Barcelona, we had a big agenda for the day. First order of business was to pick up our rental bikes that Daryl had reserved for 3 days! We took a metro to the nearest stop and promptly walked the wrong way after we got up to the street. This would become a common theme throughout the next couple of days. We spent a lot of time consulting maps and GPS. Barcelona is a very difficult and confusing city to navigate!

We found the place, and picked up the bikes. They were nice city bikes, with a choice of a basket on the front. I was the only one who chose this option and I am so glad I did. It held my purse or backpack, water bottle, and occasionally even groceries! It also gave me easy access to my camera, so I was able to take some bike photos!

After picking up the bikes, we planned to go take a tour of Camp Nou, the FC Barcelona soccer stadium. Charlotte had said before we bought the tickets that she has no interest in that and would spend the morning at the beach instead. So, since we were all so new at navigating the bikes and the city, we decided to accompany her down to the beach. It was not far, and was a fun ride,

After we left Charlotte at the beach, we had to find a tourist office, where we had to pick up our pre-booked vouchers for Camp Nou. We wound up going through some major pedestrian areas on streets without bake paths. It was so crowded we were better off pushing the bikes. We wondered why Barcelona had a reputation of being so bike friendly when it was so difficult to get around.

After a while we figured out that we had to pick to right roads, because many did have really awesome bike paths, often wide bike lanes. We did have to stop at many red lights through the city, so it was often really slow traveling! We were thankful to see all of the beautiful architecture and to be able to take photos along the way. So much more scenic than an underground metro ride!! Daryl also took a lot of photos on his phone! We eventually picked up the tickets and made it to the stadium. Along the way, we stopped for lunch.

Camp Nou was Ben's dream come true! He loved seeing the trophies, photos and other memorabilia in the museum.

  He was awestruck to be in the incredibly huge stadium, which seats almost 100,000 fans!

The self guided tour allowed us to walk all over the stadium, including down on the sidelines of the pitch where the subs sit. We got to walk into the tunnel where the players come out of before the game. We got to see the chapel, the press room, the visiting teams locker room, the box seats, and every angle of the stadium seats.

 There is even a restaurant where we could have eaten with a view of the pitch and a snack shop with Barca chips!

After the whole grand tour, then you leave through the gift shop, which is 3 stories high! Ben spent an hour looking for the perfect souvenirs there. Fortunately he did not want to buy the jerseys that cost 150 Euros or the 1 inch square piece of grass off the pitch in a tiny plastic cube for 20 Euro. He bought a really cool snap-back cap and a scarf to hang on his wall to add to the FC Barcelona themed decor of his room.
We had made out to message with Charlotte at 3, which worked out perfectly. She was on her way home from the beach and we agreed to meet back at the apartment to spend the evening together.

After cleaning up and eating supper, we ventured back out on the bikes (yes, in dresses and Charlotte in her wedge heels!) to check out the night life along the famous street La Rambla, full of souvenir shops, vendors, and restaurants.

Ben holding one of the heavy duty bike locks

 We parked the bikes and had fun walking up and down the beautiful alley. The old Gothic section of Barcelona is so beautiful. All the narrow little cobblestone streets with beautiful iron balconies.

We walked into the Placa Real, which was really festive at night with all the palm trees, lights, and beautiful arched columns. Then we decided to stop for a break of Sangria and Fanta for the kids, which in Spain comes in orange or lemon flavor.