A nou experience

January 24, 2017
We were staying at the Residencia Erasmus Gracia hotel and it was an 18 minute route. 
We were walking to the metro station when our senses were diverted to that bakery shop down the street with its fresh pastries filling the air with their delicacies. We decided to grab a bite and then head to the station. 
The pastries were luscious, we loved every bit of them. 

HOW WE GOT THERE?
We walked 6 minutes to Fontana metro station L3. Hopped on the Zona Universitaria which passes every 3 minutes and it was just a 2 minute stop to Diagonal.
There we hopped on to the L5 Cornella Center which also passes by every 3 minutes. It was an 11 minute ride with 6 stops passed. Then we exited at the Collblanc stop and through the Sant Ramon. 
A 7 minute walk and bam we were there: CAMP NOU

So basically it's Line 3: Metro stop Palau Reial or Les Corts
Line 5: Metro stop Collblanc or Badal
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TICKETS: To Pre-book online or purchase there?
Well we could have booked it online it was the exact same price as from the booth there but we opted for the when we're there option and hoped that there would be no waiting line. 

We went early as the tour would take around 2 hours and to avoid any busy hours we arrived there at 10 or slightly earlier. I can't remember if there was a match that day or not but I do remember there was a conference that was gonna be held there in the afternoon. 
We bought our tickets for 25€ each and the surprise was no queue! That's was a celebration on its own!​​

THE TOUR

When we walked through the entrance there was some cash cow photos to be taken (not obligatory at all to pay for them) But if you want: Make sure to avoid camouflage colors because we did not know that then and even if we considered buying one of those photos, the colors were all mashed up so that was a no go. 

I am no football fan but I found it very interesting and WOW the amount of trophies there is GREAT DEAL. They always strive for excellence and their eye for details is quite astonishing!
I thought at first I would get bored really quickly but apparently NOT. 
We kept exploring, reading and enjoying the surroundings, it was very informative.
Yes it was slightly busy but that didn't stop us from taking it all in and embracing the experience. 
I remember there was a big interactive screen where we could play around with different sections and highlights from the club. We learned about the history (We didn't opt for any tour so we were on our own as we were very short on money at this stage but surprisingly that was not a problem) We had already read a lot all about the history, then we went to the next stage which has even more trophies from both football and other sports the club represents for example as basketball and hockey. There were also other bits and pieces, jerseys and large photos of legendary Barca teams.
​

THE STADIUM 
We saw the media room before going to the stadium but there was an event that was going to be hosted there so we weren't there for that long. 
Just a glimpse. Then we went to the field. IT WAS HUGE. How small were we! It was my first time into an actual stadium so I was pretty hyped up. It was so cool! 

The actual field were they play, OH MY GOD (Janice's voice) I was overwhelmed.
I would have loved to stay there for a bit more
but we had other plans for the day so
we had to keep going. ​
Fun fact: 

1. Believe it or not, almost 2 million tourists attend this tour in Barcelona, annually.

Did you know also?
Camp Nou means 'The New Stadium' , Well I didn't.
*Excuse the low resolution photo as my phone was doing its best at that time, elhamdulilah it was still functioning*
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​Then we went to the press room and the view was from high up and it was a panoramic view which was exceptional!

WHAT'S NEXT?

Then we kept walking trying to figure out where we were and how can we get to the souvenir shop. It took us a while. When we finally figured it out and we headed to the shop, it was packed with people! & almost everything was over priced. (I don't know what we were expecting) Anyway, we did not buy anything we just looked around but on our way out we wanted a souvenir from our experience to remember it when we're back home. 
We found this vending machine (or i don't know what is it called) which you would pay to get a coin with Camp Nou stamp and there was our perfect little souvenir! 
(I will try to find a photo of it or take a photo of it when I am near it as now I'm too lazy to get off of this laptop and photograph it) 
It was a small coin but it was so worth it, It brought me happiness more than any item of that shop could have! 
& Then we walked to the last stop which were you see the photos they took of you (where they make you an album) and if you like it you can purchase it. Ours was all ruined because of the camouflage photos but good thing it was each photo was like 25€ each and we would have taken more than 1. So good thing that happened. 
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IS IT WORTH THE VISIT & MONEY SPECIALLY IF I AM NOT A FOOTBALL FAN/ BARCELONA FAN?

HELL YEAH! It is worth the visit, the effort, the transportation and the money.
The experience is SO WORTH IT. It's very exciting, informative and surprisingly amusing! Definitely if you are going to Barcelona any time soon, make sure to fit in Europe's largest stadium in the plan because you will enjoy it, that's for sure. 

*Here's a picture of how excited I was mid tour with this snapchat filter. Also After reminscing about it I think there might have been a match that weekend or something as the filters were mentioning something between two teams, I can't remember. Anyway the museum was not that busy and we were able to enjoy our day*

Also on a side note; food was not on our minds there which was a surprise and we did not search for it however, there are areas where you could grab something to eat so don't worry!

Hope you enjoyed my first travel post about our experience in Camp Nou! Head over to my IG account @lameesshousha & let me know what you think about it or just leave a comment below.