Barcelona

Big day: managed to secure my ticket for el clásico. For those not in the know: that´s the football match - yup, that´s soccer you yanks - between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, arch rivals in the Spanish Primera Division since times immortal. And that´s something special. It´s the game of the season for most people here in the Catalan capital, as defeating Madrid is nearly as important as winning the league or the European cup. It´s an act of Catalan defiance that has a lot to do with the past, when the province of Catalunya didn´t have an easy time of it during Franco´s Madrid-based dictatorship.

That may be a thing of the past now, but these sentiments still run deep apparently. So it´s gonna be a full house (98.000 spectators) in Camp Nou this Sunday, and an atmosphere that´s somehow very different from an ordinary game. Electricity in the air and all that jazz, you dig? Even without our young star player Messi (injured alas) I´m confident we´ll get a nice premature Xmas present from coach Rijkaard and the squad. Here´s hoping...

Bonnie Prince Billy - Barcelona MP3