Si, Si, Si ... Nos vamos a Paris!

That's what the people of Barcelona were chanting all night last night.

"Yes, Yes, Yes ... We're going to Paris!"

FC Barcelona managed to hold AC Milan to a 0-0 tie, so FCB moves on the Champions League Final against Arsenal May 17 in Paris. I know a 0-0 tie sounds like a bore, but it was actually quite a thriller. Rather than sit back and defend, FCB stuck to its strength and attacked all night long. Milan even had a goal called back because of a foul that not too many folks on the Italian side really thought was a foul. We watched the game with Nacho at our new locals-only football bar. Serious fun.

Well, maybe I shouldn't say the bar was serious fun, cause the real action was out on the streets after the game. La Rambla and Plaza Catalunya were jammed packed with fans dancing and singing. That's right around the corner from our place, so Kate and I ventured out right into the thick of it. I have never been in a more festive atmosphere.

Check out the photos...

















It was quite a wild time, but unfortunately it turned a bit frightening at the end. The police, who Kate and I strolled by on our way to the festivities as they hung out not looking too bothered by the revelry, decided to put an end to things after about two hours. And when the time came to break up the crowd, boy did they mean business! They rolled up in their vans, jumped out, and proceeded to start beating the crap out of people.

Kate and I quickly realized that they were beating on people indiscriminately. Old ... young ... reveler ... passer-by. They just didn't care.

We tore off running and I must say that I have NEVER seen my wife run that fast. Ever. We managed to make our way back to our apartment, but not before I came within about a foot of catching the business end of a cop's baton. At the very last instant, I saw him take a swing at me out of the corner of my eye as we were sprinting down La Rambla at top speed. I flinched a bit and heard him hit something behind me. Not sure what he did hit, but it wasn't me.

It was all so tremendously stupid. Having witnessed the riot last month when the kids were actually smashing storefronts and tearing up the city, I have to say last night was incredibly harmless. I don't know what the cops were thinking. Aside from jay-walking, climbing some streetlights and lighting a flare or two, the people were just dancing and singing.

I'll never forget the jubulant feel of the crowd last night. I'll always remember the joy of the night. I'm just surprised and a bit saddened that such a happy place could turn into such a chaotic horror in just a matter of seconds.

It's on!

Well, tonight is gonna be huge! FC Barcelona plays AC Milan here in Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final match-up. FCB scored an amazing goal to take somewhat of a surprise 1-0 victory last week in Italy, so they are in the driver's seat now. The task is simple ... win or tie and they head to Paris next month to take on Arsenal in the final.

Before I write too much more about tonight, I should probably back up a bit and explain how FCB got this far since I left off last time with them set to play Benfica here in the second-leg of the quarter-final. As I wrote before, Semana de Pasion here in Barca consisted of El Clasico against Real Madrid sandwiched between the quarter-final matches against Benfica. The fist Benfica match ended 0-0, so the return leg here was for all the marbles.

Fresh off my El Clasico night, I had to decide if I was gonna try to go to the Benfica game here, or watch the game in the pub. For the following two reasons, I decided to go the pub route for the Benfica game:

1. The night before the game, AC Milan completed a miracle comeback against Lyon in the other quarter-final. So I knew an FCB victory over Benfica meant a showdown with Milan and a ticket to an FCB-Milan game might rival FCB-Chelsea in terms of cost. (From what I have seen around town about the going prices, I was just about right... $300-$400 euros for a decent seat. Remember ... those prices are in euros.)

2. Just before the Benfica game, one of our local friends, Nacho (Yes, his name is Nacho) told us about this awesome locals-only bar where I could go watch the game. He promised the place was as authentic as they come, so much so that when a group of developers tried to buy it a few months back and turn it into condos, the whole neighborhood protested and quashed the deal. This may seem a random story, but as friends like Patrick Sweeney and Travis Barsotti will attest, my stand-by pub for watching soccer here in Barrio Gothico has always been Molli's Fair City, an Irish pub. It's a grand enough place and I know all the friendly servers, but it's far from the authentic Spanish experience. I've always wanted to find a place to watch football where I could get some local flavor, so Nacho's intel was too good to pass up.

So Kate and I went to the neighborhood Spanish bar and had a wonderful time. FCB beat Benfica 1-0 and marched on to Milan.

Last week's Milan game was awesome. Milan's stadium, the San Siro, is a ... ummm ... difficult place for opposing teams to play. The game started with FCB fighting for their lives. I think Milan hit the post twice in about the first five minutes. However, once FCB calmed down and got settled in, they started to get some chances of their own. FCB played well in the first half, but I'm not sure I've seen Ronaldinho play a worse 45 minutes of soccer. He couldn't even trap the ball without turning it over.

But....

When the second half started, ol' #10 was from another planet. There is a Nike commercial running right now that splices footage of Ronaldinho as a young boy with footage of him now. Those in the U.S. might recall Nike doing a similar commercial with Tiger Woods a couple years ago. Anyway, one of the scenes from Ronaldinho's boyhood days is of him flipping the ball over an opponent's head, running around him, and flipping it over the next opponent's head. It's understandable in the commercial because he and his opponents are about 10-years-old. Last week he did the same thing to two Milan players. These guys are millionaires and he made them look silly.

Ronaldinho basically decided at half-time last week to come out and put on one of the most freakishly amazing halves of football I have ever seen. And of course it culminated with him toying with about three Milan defenders, drawing all the attention to himself, then lofting a perfect pass to teammate Giuly, who slammed home an incredible finish to give FCB a 1-0 lead.

Ronaldinho almost brought the San Siro to its knees moments later when again, facing three defenders, he sliced a not-so-hard-but-perfectly-placed shot to the far post. It beat the keeper, hit the INSIDE of the post, then rolled harmlessly across the front of the goal before the keeper recovered and smothered it. Another inch to the inside, and FCB win 2-0.

So tonight could be intense. The Milan fans have been out in full force most of the day and there is certainly an increased energy when you walk out on La Rambla. Everyone knows the stakes of tonight's game and everyone knows anything can happen. Milan are definitely a good enough team to rally from the 1-0 deficit and beat FCB. I really don't want to even make a prediction as to who will win, but I am certainly hoping FCB will send the Milan boys home unhappy and advance to the final in Paris.

As for me, it looks like Kate and I are headed to our new locals-only pub. They went out of their way to take us in and show us we are part of their community now. On a night with some much at stake for FCB fans, if I can't be in the Camp Nou, there's no place I'd rather be than with them.

El Clasico

Well I know its been a coulpe of weeks now, but I figured I'd hit all you soccer fans out there with a quick update on El Clasico and how things are shaping up for Barcelona in the Champions League.

When I last wrote, I was planning to try my luck at scalping a ticket to El Clasico, the big rivalry game between FC Bacelona and Real Madrid. While there was no repeat of the our extreme good fortune from the Chelsea match, I did manage to score a ticket. I even spent way less than I thought I would have to because the guy selling the carnat was a retiree named Juan who wanted to go into the stadium right when it opened -- two hours before kickoff -- rather than remain outside soaking up the atmosphere. His wife had an upset stomach and was unable to make the game, so he was just looking to off-load the ticket and get inside. As it turns out, I was really a stroke of good fortune for me. I had already spent a good hour or two reveling outside, so making my way to the seats early was no bother at all.

Juan said he liked to go to the seats early for El Clasico because he had bad knees and didn't like fighting the rush of the crowd right before kickoff. Plus, he said El Clasico was such a special atmosphere that he liked to be one of the first people in the stadium, then watch it slowly fill up with 100,000 people during the build-up to kickoff.

As a total tangent, my college buddies Brett Johnson and Alex Benson might recognize this theory as something Linfield Athletic Director Ad Rutschmann suggested we do when we went to see the Oregon Ducks play in the 1994 Rose Bowl against Penn State. The much ridiculed "Ad Rutschmann Theory" focused on watching the Rose Bowl fill up with all the beautiful colors and the pageantry... blah, blah, blah. We were 19 years old with nothing but tailgate partying under the beautiful SoCal sun on our minds. Needless to say we made our way to our seats moments before kickoff. Which was unfortuantely just in time to watch Ki-Jana Carter go 80 yards for a touchdown on Penn State's first play from scrimmage, but I digress.

Anyway, my experience with Juan at the Camp Nou was actually quite spectacular. Depsite his earlier pleas about his bad knees, he seemed to take great pride in showing me around the entire stadium. I told him I had been there before, but that didn't stop him. He insisted on showing me little nooks and crannies of the grounds that I would have never discovered on my own.

As kickoff approached, the Ad Rutschmann Theory actually proved true for El Clasico. What a sight! To top it off, everyone was given color coordinated flags on their seats to hold up when they played the FC Barcelona/Catalunya anthem before kickoff. I had not a clue what most of the words were, but they showed them on the scoreboard as the music played, so I Hooked-On-Phonicked my way through the singing.

When the game got under way, the bad blood between the two teams was apparent immediately. Quite early, Roberto Carlos, one of my favorite players for Real Madrid managed to get sent-off for arguing a tackle in the box that gave FC Barcelona a 1-0 lead on a Ronaldinho penalty kick.

Barcelona proceeded to hammer Real Madrid for the rest of the game, but couldn't quite put them away. Sure enough, Real Madrid made them pay when Ronaldo equalized with a breakaway goal against the run of play that he finished with the cheekiest of chip shots over the FC Barcelona goalkeeper.

All in all, the night was a magical event that was only diluted by the 1-1 result. I tried to explain to Juan the American sports saying about how a tie is like kissing your sister. By the horrified look on his 70-year-old face, I am pretty sure that one got lost in translation.

Our Sardinia Story

Hello Everyone, Kate here!




This is MY FIRST BLOG EVER. Please bear with me, as I may get a bit off topic at times, that's just how I tend to write. We'll see if blogging is the same for me as writing. You know, one time, back in 2002, Sean and I went to a blog party in D.C. I remember our friend Kate Krauss had not yet heard of the term, "blog," and I made a very clunky attempt at explaining to her the root words, web-log, web'log, b'log = blog. Okay. Enough about blogging, 2002, and Kate Krauss - who now, by the way is totally savvy and hip to blogging.

Sean and I went to Sardinia! Do you know where Sardinia is? A) It's in Sardo, the land of sardines. B) It's an island off the coast of Greece. C) It's an island off the coast of Italy. D) It's the island south of Corsica.

(Answer: C AND D)

Yup, we went to Sardinia, and we loved it. Our plane departed from Girona (the tiny airport north of Barcelona) on Thursday, April 6 at 8:00 pm. We arrived to the city of Alghero in the blackest of night. Our only light was the control tower above the tarmac and the glittering stars in the night sky. (If you're into stargazing, go to Sardinia. It's the best spot in the Med to look at planetoids and nebulae from the Mediterranean sea - sans city lights.)

In the dark, on the bus ride to our B&B in Alghero, we met Irene (a.k.a La Espanola.) Her name is pronounced Elena, by the way. She was traveling by herself for Semana Santa - the Catholic-based "spring break" of Spain. Irene is a flamenco guitar and dance teacher in Barcelona. She had no place booked to stay in Sardinia, so after we'd engaged in frienly chit chat, she decided to latch onto us rather than scan the streets alone for a place to stay. We were in it for the long haul with her, we knew, until she found a safe place to sleep. Thankfully, when we brought her to our B&B, our kindly host Mario helped her find a place - since his was fully booked. (Later he said that if nothing anywhere else had been available, he would have offered his sofa to La Espanola) out of custom (and a healthy pinch of Italian chivalry.)

Now that we were relieved of La Espanola's plight, we slept peacefully and awoke to a the gift of morning in Sardinia!

Did you ever wonder if time is variable? I suppose the more accurate question is, whether progress is variable, in which case, the answer is yes of course. But if progress is any measurement of time, then Sardinia could be a case study of how time has slowed, stopped for a coffee, opened a newspaper and talked to a neighbor before continuing its course through a day. Sardinia introduced herself to us with two elderly gentlemen speaking more loudly with their hands than their voices.



We passed them, smiling to ourselves, and continued along. Sardinia is the only other place in the world where Catalan is spoken other than in Catalunya, Spain. This is because in the 1300s, the Spanish conquered Sardinia and so went the language lessons.
(For more history, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinia)

But, it's not to say just because the Sardinian people speak Catalan, we could understand them with our Spanish-trained ears. No, Catalan is a language unto its own. A mixture of French, Spanish and something quite special.

On our walk, we discovered a little harbor, a decrepid hospital with weeds growing from its red tiled roof and a scooter shop! We went inside, and came out with two helmuts and two 100cc scooters!






So, we went off, like a bull with gas, up and through the hairpin turns of the greater metropolitan-area of Alghero which consisted of sheep, horses and an abundance of cypress trees. (I did take a near digger, for the record, but thanks to my big left foot, I stayed upright by planting it pat on the ground when I thought I was about to go over!) Well, we saw gorgeous coral coves, lush valleys and water so blue you couldn't tell where it ended and the sky began. Then, we cruised out to the coolest spot: a sea cave called Neptune's Grotto! It's an ancient "cathedral" that naturally formed in the side of a rocky cliff about a billion gazillion years ago. It's truly spectacular, and well-worth the 650 stairs down to it - and 650 back up!


So we did the tourist thing on Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday we lounged. There's a saying in Spanish that fits perfectly here: "Que bonito es no hacer nada, y luego descansar" -- How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward.

And, that's exactly what we did. We hit the beach and laid out for 2 whole days. For meals we ate nothing but pizza, spaghetti and gelato. (ooops, but once we ate at McDonald's - only to save money, not because we like the fries or anything.)

We did happen to bump into La Espanola again, which was quite delightful. She showed us a live music venue and we drank beer with her, listening to an Italian cover band sing Stevie Wonder songs. Very superstitious, indeed.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed my first blog. If the length of it is any indication, then so have I!

To view all of our photos, click here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2107446197


We miss all of you at home, and look forward to hearing your news and life details! Don't be strangers............xoxoxo..............Kate

Semana de pasion

Remarkably, Kate is now off to London. She took off Friday morning for a girls' weekend with Sharrolyn they had planned long before the forecast told of Hurricane Barsotti. After much hemming and hawing most of Thursday, and learning they would lose much of the money they spent on airfare and hotels, they decided to go ahead with their plan... even if they are still a bit tired from last week.

As for me, I am hanging here in Barca this weekend. I was planning to hop a train to San Sebastian for a little beach break, but the weather is actually nicer here than it is there. More importantly, I just couldn't justify leaving smack dab in the middle of "Semana de pasion." What is "Semana de pasion" you ask? Well, ask yourself if I am truly capable of going more than a few posts without talking about soccer and you will have most of your answer.

"Semana de pasion" is what one of the local papers has dubbed this week for F.C. Barcelona soccer fans. Not only does FCB have its two Champions League quarter-final matches within a span of eight days, but sandwiched between those two colossal games against Benfica, is "El Clasico" – Barca's league match against hated rivals Real Madrid tonight here in Barca. FCB and Real Madrid are the two most storied teams in Spanish soccer. So whenever they play each other, it is called "El Clasico." Like college football's Stanford-Cal "Big Game" or Alabama-Auburn's "Iron Bowl," it's never just a game when these two teams play.

As I was trying to decide yesterday I should stay in Barca or head to San Sebastian, one simple fact kept rising to the surface. I can go to San Sebastian anytime as the sand isn't going anywhere. But actually being in Barca for "El Clasico" can only happen once a year.

That being said, this year's "El Clasico" has a bizarre twist. It is, by far, the least important of all three games. FCB has such a commanding lead in the Spanish La Liga standings, that a loss tonight only delays the crown they will undoubtedly soon wear. But the Benfica Champions League games are something entirely different. Winning the Champions League is the big enchilada... or perhaps I should say the big tapa. Barca tied Benfica Tuesday in Portugal in the first leg of the match-up (The teams play two games for this round of the Champions League, one at each team's home stadium. The total score on aggregate decides the winner). That means the second leg Wednesday at Camp Nou, FCB’s home stadium here in Barca, is for all the marbles.

Now I don't have a ticket for tonight's "El Clasico" or Wednesday's pivotal Benfica match, but I will be at the gates outside Camp Nou for both of them, hoping for the best. I mean, after our luck at the Chelsea-Barcelona match... how can I not?

Barcelona a go-go

Now that we have survived Hurricane Barsotti, I suppose its time to update y'all on what we've been up to lately. For those of you that don't know the Barsotti's, Travis and Lisa are some of our close friends from Portland. A few weeks ago they surprised us with the news that they were coming to visit. Realizing they might never get a chance to see Barcalona whilst knowing a couple of "locals," Travis and Lisa rather spontaneously collected all the spare change buried in their couches, pawned Lisa's beloved karaoke machine, and then traded in their beautiful one-year-old baby girl for a couple of plane tickets (I guess those bankrupt airlines will take any ol' form of payment these days... ).

Anyway, they have now come and gone and I'm not too sure Barcelona will ever be the same again. They rolled in last Thursday and were immediately joined by our other friends from Geneva (Sharrolyn and Loic). Kate, Lisa and Sharrolyn are all girlfriends from college, so needless to say they were excited to be spending time together here in Barca. We showed them all the wonderful sites, sampled the finest of tapas and sangrias, and even found time for an overnight trip to Girona. Kate and I have now been to Girona twice -- the first time for her birthday -- and it is fast becoming our favorite little getaway spot. We are even on a first name basis with a local or two up there.

To make things even more pleasant, the Barsotti's even brought the beach weather with them. How they did that from snowy Portland, I have no idea? Nevertheless, we managed to enjoy a day or two down on the sand. That's right folks, break out the sun tan lotion, because Tan Camp season has begun here in Barca!

Ultimately, it was a very special week. Not just for the memories we all made, but because some life-long friends are now personally familiar with the people and places about which Kate and I will likely be telling stories for the rest of our lives.

I hope you enjoy the pics....



The six of us in front of La Sagrada Familia.


A view of the harbor and waterfront along Barcelona's Barrio Gothic, our neighborhood.


Kate and I with Lisa and Travis at Gaudi's famous Parc Guell.


Lisa and Travis hanging with the photogenic lizard at Parc Guell.


Kate and I at Parc Guell.


Lisa and Kate among the palm trees at Parc Guell.


The three legendary statues of sculpted muscle in Barcelona's Parc de la Cuitadella...


... and the three Booty statues in Parc de la Cuitadella.