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WOMEN'S SOCCER BLOG
By Tim Goodenow for WVUsports.com
March 30, 2012 06:45 PM
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| Nicolette DeLaurentis and Mallory Smith inside FC Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium. |
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BARCELONA, Spain – Friday morning might have been the best day of our trip thus far. After breakfast at the hotel, we took a quick bus ride to see The Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family.
Antoni Gaudi began construction of the church in 1890 and it is still not complete. His work is admired by architects around the world as being one of the most unique and distinctive architectural styles. We have seen Gaudi's work all over the city.
The team then toured FC Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium. Perhaps most excited about seeing the stadium were coach Izzo-Brown, Frances, Bry or Jasonn – they had been waiting for this moment.
There was no guide for this tour, giving us the freedom to move throughout the stadium at our own pace. It is the largest stadium in Europe, seating 120,000 soccer-crazed fans. We were able to check out views from field level and all the way up to press row.
Like Real Madrid’s Bernebeu Stadium, they had an impressive museum to showcase its storied history. We saw trophies ranging from 1902 Barcelona Cup Champions to a recent trophy by FIFA for being named best club in the world for 2011-12.
The ladies did some damage at the gift shop before exiting the grounds. Coach Stoia might have run up the biggest bill of our group.
We left the stadium and the bus went on a short ride up to the Olympic village from the 1992 Summer Olympic games. It was neat to see where the original USA Dream Team won its gold medal.
We were dropped off for lunch at a place called Braseria. Our meal consisted of salad, a flat iron steak and a baked potato with garlic butter. And like most of our meals during the tour, it included desert.
The ladies had roughly four hours of free time to shop and walk the streets of Barcelona before preparing for their final match of the tour.
Don't forget to check out photos from women's soccer's trip to Spain at Facebook.com/wvuwomenssoccer and be sure to click the "Like" button while you are there.
Follow Nikki Izzo-Brown on Twitter: @Nikki Izzo-Brown
