Monday, June 01, 2009
Back from Rome ...
We had a unique perspective on the Champions League Final.
United fans from birth, Ben and I have been Barca season ticket holders at the Camp Nou for two seasons and thus able to witness the full glory of this season of incredible football. We have big hearts, big enough to encompass a passion for two teams of this stature. And then this happened.
Having got our tickets from another Barca member, we sat in the Olympic stadium behind the goal with thousands of other Barca fans, possibly the only two in the entire area who supported United.
We’d agreed appropriate secret signals and gestures to make if United scored and how to react. It was all theoretical. They didn’t score, and after the first flurries of the opening 10 minutes never appeared likely to. United didn’t turn up and for the first time I can remember I felt embarrassed for them.
I’ve seen them well beaten before and seen them play badly on far too many occasions. But I can’t remember having seen them get it wrong so badly, to play so at odds with how they needed to play. Four days on it remains a mystery. Did they underestimate Barca? Did they think their counter attacking power could overwhelm a team lacking three mainstays of defence and with two other key players just back from injury? I’ve no idea. Time to move on...
But if we were going to see United lose, sitting where we were was the best place to be. I’d have hated to be enveloped by the gloom at the United end. To witness the utter delirium of the Barca fans up close and personal was a truly wonderful experience, even for Ben whose bravery despite being broken hearted was incredibly moving. His neighbour gave him a big hug at the end along with a lapel badge from the Mataro Barca supporters club.
The Barca fans applauded every United player as they received their loser’s medals with the exception of Ronaldo, who got widely whistled for being the sullen, whinging genius that he is.
Returning to Barcelona took us back to a city submerged in utter happiness in a way that cannot really happen in most of Europe’s big cities where two or three big teams occupy the hearts of their citizens.
Take what promotion to the Premier League has done for small towns like Hull and Burnley and multiply that by a million to reflect the scale of the achievement and the population and you have a glimpse of how Barcelona and indeed Catalonia (for this is a national team in effect) celebrated the Champions League and the treble.
A million people were on the streets of Barcelona for the open top bus parade with every man, woman, child, baby, dog and shop front dressed in azulgrana. Almost every village in the region had a big screen in the main square for the locals to watch together.
Joy unbounded and indeed joy unprecedented. One is so used in life to people saying ‘you should have been here years ago’ or ‘if you think this is good you should have been here when ... ‘. Well Barca have never won the treble before; to be in the city on its finest day was indeed a privilege.
On related points:
* Sarah now knows the first two and last two lines of the Barca hymn. And she has transferred her designated Dream Man from George Clooney to Barca manager Pep Guardiola.
* Print may be dying but the Barcelona papers have pulled out all the stops for the events of the past few days with El Periodico de Catalunya providing wonderful examples of the power of newspapers to delight on special occasions.
It provided special wraparounds on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, styling itself as El Periodico de Roma, with the first two covers being in a class of their own. Wednesday’s paper recreated Michaelangelo’s The Creation of Adam with Guardiola as Adam while Thursday showed him aloft in the air, pointing to the sky, elevated by the hands of his adoring players. Pure genius.
The Glory Game
Danny Blanchflower as quoted by Paul Hayward in The Observer in his piece 'Barcelona's sense of style restores glory to Blanchflower's game'
More to follow on the final but that more or less sums up Barca
Monday, May 25, 2009
Eric has it right
From Eric Cantona in El Pais English edition
Watching Barça is a real pleasure for any soccer supporter,” said Cantona. “As you can imagine, this game is a dream for me. It’s the final everyone dreamed of, the perfect game. Barça is the only team that reminds me a little of Cruyff’s Ajax. Total football.”
Friday, March 06, 2009
JDF Jones
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Eating out in Barcelona
Friday, January 30, 2009
It sooooooo quiet ….
We have driven down the main thoroughfare of Avenida Diagonal at 8pm on the last two consecutive evenings. This is rush hour time in Barcelona and normally one of fearful traffic jams– people work late here; yet on both nights, we have sailed down a clear road in minutes.
The economic activity of the city and the region is slowing down rapidly. The car industry is coming to a halt; tourism is down and with it takings in bars and restaurants; construction is finished.
Another major leg of the economy – fairs, conventions and congresses – are also in big trouble. Bread & Butter, the fashion tradeshow is returning to Berlin while the Barcelona car salon has been axed – it’s very much a second tier event, the type that get the chop in a climate like this.
It’s not all gloom. We celebrated Rebecca’s 16th last night in the bar of the Omm Hotel and at El Japones restaurant. Both were humming.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The wind in Barcelona
Ben's latest talent ...
Worth asking Ben for a riff next time you see him. sadly, I don't think we can count on this as a career prospect. While the incumbent may indeed retire at some point, the job is an unpaid one.
Idiot wind
One feature is a Friday update on the weekend weather. Last Friday's called for some cloudy and mixed weather.
what we got on Saturday were hurricane force winds nearing 140kph which did huge damage to the city and region as a whole. Ben and I left the flat at 10am, saw a tree careering down the road and turned back. Huge pine trees were felled in our local park and on the main roads. Many of the suburbs in the hills still have no electricity.
Most tragically, four young baseball players, aged 9-12, were killed when the sports hall they were sheltering in collapsed and buried them. The photos of the boys, so smart in their outfits and caps, are too awful to look at in the papers.
But what on earth were they doing even going out to play on that morning? The winds had been wll signalled, having battered the Basque country on Friday and tracked down from there.
Why didn't the Generalitat cancel all sports as the Basque government had done?
Monday, December 22, 2008
Christmas updates
I know since my first post three years ago about the Caganer Christmas tradition in Catalonia that you are on the edge of your seat every year to know who we have chosen. I can put you out of your misery.
We have broken with the tradition of Barca players to go with the US President elect - and there he is the picture, dumping with Eto'o, Puyol and, er, Messi.
The other tradition here of an annual pre-Christmas lunch with my friends Orland, Pepon, Ramon et al was also purused this year with a very fine boavante y arroz fest at Ca La Nuri which is right on the Barceloneta beach.
Que bueno, as they say here, as we drank our post-prandial gin & tonics on the terrace as a chilly winter sun set over the port.
Finally why is it so cold in Madrid right now? because they are -12 ....
Monday, December 15, 2008
High times
‘I’m still on a high’ said Ben as we walked back from the party last night.
That was some high, almost 24 hours after the end of el clasico, the thrilling encounter between Barca and Real Madrid, that we were privileged to attend.
I can’t remember a football game I have seen with so much atmosphere, tension and excitement and the wonderful denouement of course of the Barca victory with two late goals. .
Virtually full, the
Now, Barca, playing some of the finest football of any club team in Europe, were 9 points ahead of
The fierce rain only added to the charged atmosphere. We got soaked as we got off the bus, soaked as we ate our sandwiches outside the Rala 2 bar and soaked as we walked down to the ground. Unlike the 70,000 or so fans exposed in the open seats, we were at least under cover for the duration of the match.
What followed was 93 minutes of hyper charged football as Barca totally dominated possession but came up against a Real so obdurate, so determined and at times so dirty that it looked like they would steal a point. No pasaran, the rallying cry of the Republican La Pasionara in the Civil War, had been adopted as the unifying force of
Next to us, a Catalan descended into the depths of despair, fearing that not only would Barca fail to score, but that Real would break away and steal an improbable victory, which they threatened to do more than once.
Finally, scrappily, Eto’o forced the ball over the line from a corner with seven minutes left and the whole stadium went berserk. Ben hugged the Catalan and high fived the Austrian sitting on my right.
Eight minutes later Barca broke away again and, as Messi lobbed Casillas, Cannavaro ended up injuring himself on the post as he desperately tried, but failed, to keep the ball out. The symbolism of one of the world’s great defenders lying on the ground in agony in the pouring rain as 96,000 fans went beyond ecstasy was almost tragic.
Beyond the stadium, Sarah had switched on belatedly at home to watch the extraordinary finale. Bex had watched in a packed bar in Sitges. Around the city, and all of
We walked home amid a cacophony of beeping motorbikes and got soaked yet again. High? We didn’t even notice the rain …
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Hello to economic reality and go home please
Hence on the front page of a local free paper the other day was a story about how Spanish people are now accepting all the crap jobs they previously left to the Columbians, Peruvians and so on, such as cleaning, nannying, portering, washing up and so on.
And inside? An advert from the Spanish government explaining the new voluntary repatriation scheme for unemployed legal residents from outside the EU. You get your dole money paid (40% on leaving and the rest when you get back) and the right to come back three years hence.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
We have a winter
After two very mild ones, it's damn chilly and there's been lots of snow in the Pyrenees where the ski stations have opened two weeks early.
The chestnut and sweet potato sellers, who did no businesses last winter, are having a great time of it. And the Christmas lights, always an understated delight, have been switched on.
Nobody's got any money but .... it sure looks nice
UPDATE: hue hail storm
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Goodnight Vienna
All I know about Vienna and I heave learned from The Third Man, very definitely one of the greatest films ever.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Samuel Eto'o and Nina Simone
Both are/were stunning performers when they are in the groove yet extraordinarily moody and subject to hissy fits of sneering sullenness when not. Both lit up my weekend.
On Friday we went to see 'Nina Simone: the sorceress', a lovingly made, if slightly confused homage to the great diva, featuring her live performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1976. And you got the whole nine yards - the grimacing, the cackling, the staring - all conspiring to scare the audience out of its wits. And of course the virtuoso performance ....
... which leads to 24 hours later at the Camp Nou where Mr E played a key role in opening up yet another lame opposing defence with a stunning display of attacking football. Samuel scored a hat trick within the first 25 minutes, all classic 'No 9' poachers' goals.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The good, the bad ...
It was a gorgeous evening, both bars were crowded, and the streets were buzzing, although tourists were thin on the ground. It really is a great part of town. It felt very good to be there.
Today has been less good. what i thought was a minor filling job on a tooth turned out to be one that needs an expensive treatment; I then came home and steeled myself to deliver some bad news to a business associate.
Having done that, i heard that a friend needed more major surgery for the second time this year. That's quite enough bad news for one day ...
Saturday, October 11, 2008
10 days that shook the world
It's pretty dire and yes there could be worse to come if the powers that be cant think of a way to fix the system this weekend.
Time to hang on to your friends and have fun. and eat well.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
They don't make football derbies like that anymore ...
- 19 local players in the squads
- 2 local managers
- a dodgy sending off
- home team takes the lead after opposing goalie is fouled
- away team equalises after lucky rebound from defender
- away fans lob fireworks on home supporters
- away team attacks non stop but repelled by woodwork and stout defending
- pompous ref stops game for 10 minutes
- away team wins game with last kick of the match in the 104th minute - a highly dubious penalty
- police, football authorities, home team, away team all blame each other for allowing violence to happen
- away team captain says they're not real fans ... deplorable ... shocking, having gone to celebrate with them when winning goal goes in
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
the blog is back
As per usual it has rained during the Merce, which is good for the Catalan mushroom industry. And between the showers we managed to take in the fireworks, the fantastic light show on the front of the Ajuntamente building, a brilliant concert by Barcelona based latin salsa group La Sucursal SA and the annual Catalan wine and cava show at the port.
And Barca are back; after a few nervy displays they looked wonderful as they demolished Gijon 6-1 on Sunday. Make no move until you have seen the fourth goal from the genius Iniesta or read Sid Lowe´s jolly tale of how the Gijon crowd are so happy to be back in Primera they sang ever louder as more Barca goals went in.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Catalonia is not Spain (Well, maybe a little right now …)
It’s been great fun watching
Great fun because they have played some exquisite football; last night’s demolition of
You don’t need a Spanis civil war history lesson here to know that for a chunky minority of
On top of the 10% or so who would like complete independence, many more here feel Catalonia should get considerably more autonomy, and keep a higher percentage of its economic revenues, from the central government. Culturally, many Catalans feel as close to
So when the tournament opened, just 45% of Catalans watched the opening game on TV versus around 55% nationally and 65% in the
Even the dramatic quarter final penalty shootout over
As one Catalan friend put it ‘What really pisses us off is all the ra-ra Spanish stuff that goes with it all.’ He means the Spanish fans dressed as matadors in
But there is a slight thawing going on. There was a widespread tooting of horns after the games last night; it was hardly akin to when Barca win a title, but it made a decent noise. And I suspect there will be more if they win on Sunday.
And, heck, why not?
And, really, would you go the whole hog and back
Sunday, June 08, 2008
How cheap are a pair of trousers?
Sunday, June 01, 2008
When chefs fall out
The dispute between Santi Santamaria and Ferran Adria et al over the alleged ‘poisoning of diners’ is both hilarious and pathetic.
Nobody has summed it up better than Aidan Brooks, trainee chef at Commerc 24.
No need to summarise his piece. just read it here.
The fourth wet weekend in succession
My friend who runs the biggest cinema chain in
Enough already. Bring on flaming June …
Three things I did this weekend which I didn’t expect to do and enjoyed
- Dance on the stage at ommsession at 3am. Life in the old dog etc
- Go to see (male) beach volleyball. Weirdly in a city with so much beach, it was half way up the Montjuic mountain
- Watch ‘21’ the brilliant film based on the true story about six mathematicians who take on the Vegas casinos and almost win.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Rangers fans in Manchester; no surprise
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Is this the best menu del dia in the world?
The local Time Out’s latest issue (the cover price is back to €1 which sounds like it is not doing too well) has a cover story on the city’s best menu del dias – the three course fixed lunch menus that you can find all over the city for €10-20.
There were three main courses, each with a choice; artichoke salad or marinated salmon, a poached egg in broth or chicken ravioli, then braised lamb or cod. All exquisitely prepared, presented and served, as were the desserts and petit fours, particularly the skewered ball of vanilla ice cream covered in white chocolate.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
An extraordinary day
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Still a great place for food
It seems we hadnt been out to eat in a while but then came a mighty rush this week, all proving that, despite the trailer trash levels that the pound now stands at against the euro, you can eat amazingly well here for very little money.
- Thursday night: Cuines de Santa Caterina. An old favourite but still packing them into the huge canteen style tables for great market-style fusion cooking ranging from Gorgonzola risotto to tuna and avocado tartare via thai chicken curry. Ten of us ate here for under £200
- Friday night: El Japones de Tragaluz. Same owners as the above; a very stylish Japanese. We'd been told to avoid the sushi but the hot dishes and desserts were all more than up to par. Japanese pizza and mandarin sorbet are not to be missed. Four of us for £55.
- Today. Went with a huge group to the Castell de Rocamora in Montferri, about an hour south of Barcelona for a calcotada - a feast of eating calcots, the wierd and wonderful leek/onion crosses that are just ending their season.