The Camp Nou experience

When a friend found out about my plan to visit Barcelona in mid-July, she asked me to buy her a Spanish national soccer team scarf.

To my surprise, it was difficult to find the scarf in the city, which is situated in the northeast of Spain. I wondered why and finally found the answer when I got to a souvenir shop at Barceloneta beach.

“We are in the region of Catalonia. We are Catalan people. We’ve got our own language, flag and soccer team,” said the shop attendant, pointing to the striped yellow-red Catalan flag hanging on the wall.

“Sports stores here only sell souvenirs for Catalan’s soccer club, Barça,” he said, referring to Barcelona.

Indeed, the only souvenirs I saw in the city were from Barça, with its famous blue and claret colors. As in many other European cities, soccer is part of Barcelona’s heart and soul.

Every soccer fan must be familiar with Barcelona soccer club, which claimed its fourth Champions League title in May.

I headed my way over to take a closer look at the club’s history and success by visiting the one-and-only Camp Nou stadium and its newly refurbished museum.

My soccer euphoria grew stronger even before I reached the stadium, as I spotted a number of visitors, children and adult, wearing Barça jerseys.

Some booths selling Barça souvenirs were also seen around the Camp Nou. After paying an entrance fee of ¤22 (US$31), I started my Camp Nou experience, exploring both the stadium and the museum.

Visitors can see the chronological timeline of Barça in the modern museum, equipped with visual displays with captions in three languages – Catalan, Spanish and English.

The first floor tells us about the foundation of the club, which was initiated in 1899 by some foreigners and Catalans and led by Swiss-born Hans Gamper, who arrived in Barcelona at the age of 20 and was known in the city as Joan Gamper.

Check out the stories of club legends Luiz Suarez, Johan Cruyff, Andoni Zubizarreta and Hristo Stoichkov, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario and Lionel Messi. There are also images of players and historical moments, and a wide-ranging collection of memorabilia, such as Diego Maradona’s signed jersey, Thierry Henry’s boots and Messi’s Ballon d’Or awards.

A display of trophies, along with Barça jerseys and souvenirs, are arranged nicely in the area. Around 350 cups are missing from the display, though, as they were all destroyed when a bomb went off in FC Barcelona headquarters in 1938 during the dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco.

The museum does not only present the history of Barcelona soccer club, but several other Catalan teams for basketball, handball, hockey, and, of course, soceer.

One cabinet showcases Barcelona’s achievements in the 2010/2011 season, which was dubbed as the best year in the club’s history, in which they won 16 cups, including the 2010/2011 Champions League Trophy.

Ascend to the second floor to enjoy the new multimedia zone, completed in January. Take a look at the interactive Wall of History which allows visitors to touch the screens and see various information. The glass, equipped with laser technology, shows video, images and music.

Here, for instance, you can read the story about how Johan Cruyff was expelled from a game against Malaga in 1975 or ‘witness’ the day when the club won its first Champions League Cup in Wembley Stadium 1992.

Move a little then you can sit back and relax while watching some big games on giant screens.

A must-see area is of course the Camp Nou stadium itself, which has the largest capacity in the world, accommodating more than 98,000 spectators.

When I was there, the grass was removed for the preparation of beginning of the 2011/2012 season. The tribune, however, still displayed the club’s famous motto, “Més que un club” - more than a club.

Take your time to walk around the stadium, have a seat in the main stand and spend some time to feel the ambiance before climbing up to the third tier of the grandstand to the press gallery, which has wonderful view of the pitch.

You can also have an opportunity to see the press room, designed in the format of an auditorium with 135 seats. Near the press room, there is a mix zone, an area where the press can get in touch with players after matches and training sessions.

A tour around Camp Nou would not be complete without visiting its FCBotiga Megastore, the 2,000-square meter official club store where you can find merchandise ranging from jerseys and replica kits, to school exercise books, watches, books, key chains and fridge magnets.

If you are a die-hard Barça fan, have your special photo taken as a souvenir. You can either take picture with the European Cup at the museum or pose against real backgrounds. Note that they charge a few euros for each photo.

Sightseeing in San Siro

Different from Camp Nou, it’s a bit tricky to find the location of San Siro stadium in Milan -- home of two of the biggest Italian soccer clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan.

AC Milan is popularly known as rossoneri (literally , the black-and-red, the colors of the club’s home jersey) and Inter Milan is usually called nerazzuri, reflecting Inter’s black-and-blue jersey.

Instead of taking a bus, I decided to walk from the nearest metro station and it was a long way. After asking around, I managed to find the famous stadium through Viale Federico Caprilli.

Along the street, you can check out graffiti on the wall which reflects the fanaticism of the clubs’ fans.

Some back AC Milan through words saying “18 Milano Rossonera”, which refers to Milan’s achievement in claiming its 18th Italian Serie A championship title, while Inter fanatics wrote “Forza Inter”.

When I reached Ingresso 14 (gate 14), the entrance to the San Siro stadium and museum tour, there were no crowds or long lines even, though there was only one counter open. It is recommended to take the stadium and museum tour, which costs ¤12.5, instead of the museum only tour, which charges you ¤7.

Once you step into the museum, the red and blue stripes are seen under the displays of trophies, marking the main colors of the two clubs.

The museum tells us the story of AC and Inter Milan through a number of memorabilia, such as trophies, cups, banners, boots, historical jerseys of both clubs legends like Ruud Gullit, George Weah, Paolo Maldini, Javier Zanetti, Ronaldo and Luis Figo, and other art objects.

Unfortunately, all the captions are in Italian, so non-Italian speaking visitors could only guess what they are all about.

After looking into memories of the two club’s history, you can join the stadium tour to get a magnificent sight inside the San Siro stadium, which has a capacity of more than 80,000.

A guide will lead each group of visitors on a 20-minute tour in Italian and English, visiting the pitch, the stands, and the changing rooms.

“AC Milan call this stadium San Siro, mainly because it’s located in San Siro district, while Inter prefers to call this as Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, as it is named after former national team player Giuseppe Meazza,” said our tour guide, Lia.

San Siro Stadium was built in 1926 and it underwent its most recent renovation in 1990 with the addition of a third tier for the 1990 World Cup.

The blue tribune is for AC Milan supporters and, on the opposite side, a green one sits for Inter fans.

She also took us to the changing rooms of the two long-time rivals.

“We are going to enter the changing rooms of Inter Milan, so if you are AC Milan fans, you are not allowed in,” Lia said jokingly.

Inter Milan decorated their room with images of their legends, while AC Milan was bold, splashing bloody red paint along the room and put its logo in front. Direct your feet to the store to get the clubs’ official jerseys and merchandise.

Even though the museum somehow looks old, it is still worth a visit for soccer fans, especially for the clubs’ supporters.

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