It's been awhile since our last update, but we've been having such a good time and it slipped our minds.

On Friday morning, we boarded a plane from Madrid to Barcelona. Once we landed, we headed to the epicenter of the city, and explored Las Ramblas. There we ate lunch and got to shop around a bit, where a lot of us jumped at the opportunity to buy some F.C. Barcelona gear.

Later on, we got checked into our hotel, had some down time, ate dinner, and headed down the street to see the beach just after sunset. We were like little kids running around, splashing in the waves, and throwing sand at each other. It was fun to have some time to relax and have fun with one another.

Saturday, we went on a tour of Barcelona. We saw a little more of the city, and we also got to explore Park Guell, which was designed by Gaudi in the early 1900's. After, we got to tour La Sagrada Familia, which is one of the most stunning works of architecture any of us have ever seen, or probably will ever see in our lifetime. Pictures do not come close to doing the beauty of this work any justice.

Sunday we had the entire morning and afternoon to ourselves. Most of us elected to spend that time at the beach where we played volleyball, relaxed in the sun, or rented a kayak or paddle board and went out to the water.

That night was one of the highlights of the trip. We had the opportunity to attend the last match of F.C. Barcelona's season, where they had a chance to capture the La Liga title. We couldn't believe we got to be in the same place as players like Messi, Iniesta, Neymar, and Pique. The game was exciting; Barca made a comeback from being 2-0 down to win the game 4-2.

Soccer here is just isn't a sport, it's a lifestyle, and that was evident throughout this whole experience. Being able to see that game was an incredible experience, and I think it made us fall in love with the game a little more.

Monday we got to tour Camp Nou, the stadium. We got to see a lot, and even go field level which was pretty cool. We came back to the hotel and ate lunch, then we headed off to training where we played a small sided scrimmage to get our legs loose and ready for game day. After, we had downtime at the hotel, ate dinner, and went to Las Ramblas again.

This trip has been a once in a lifetime experience for us, and we are making the most out of every second of it.

Goodnight from Barcelona,

NAU Women's Soccer