I’ve been a Barcelona fan for years, and this month I was finally able to visit the stadium and see a game! I was also able to meet up with an old friend that studied abroad and played soccer at my high school in Missouri.

While in high school, we talked about meeting up one day and seeing a Barcelona game together — and the dream came true. He’s from Denmark, so it wasn’t too long of a flight for him, and a five-hour train ride for me. The tickets were $120 each, and for us, that was well worth it.

The atmosphere was incredible, and being there didn’t even feel real. We stayed afterward and went to the very top of the stadium just to see the skyline and the view. All of it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m so glad I was able to go. The next day, my train ride wasn’t until later so I stayed and returned to the Barcelona stadium for the museum tour. They had trophies, old jerseys, awards (of which a lot were won by Lionel Messi) and the history of how the club was formed.

I’ve been a fan for a long time, but learning about the progress the club has made was really interesting to me. I also got to go to the ground and see everything from the player’s point of view. They were also showing old highlights from past seasons, so I stayed a bit longer than I had planned. I also got to go to the Barcelona aquarium right next to the pier, and that was a really cool experience. I returned to Alicante pretty late, and now I’m planning when I can go back to Barcelona again!

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: ALI Abroad: University of Alicante