Last summer while I was living in Barcelona, Spain I had the chance to take a day tour of one of the biggest futbol (soccer) stadiums in the world. Barcelona is home to FC Barcelona. This stadium holds over 100,000 people. I unfortunately wasn't able to go to a live game while I was living there, but I can only imagine how crazy it can get with 100,000 people inside the stadium.
The tour consists of a couple of different areas of the stadium. You first have to buy your ticket at a separate building that is located outside the stadium in the main parking lot. Last summer the ticket cost around 18 Euros (that could have changed by now). Once you pay for the ticket you enter a room that has stadium seating. A 5 minute virtual reality movie is played that simulates what it is like to be inside the stadium, and on the field during a live game.
After the video, a tour guide leaded the group through the parking lot and to the entrance of the stadium. We were taken directly onto the field. They only had a little area of the sideline that you could walk onto, but it was a really cool feeling being able to visualize what it was like looking up into the stands. On the sidelines there are these life size stand up replicas of players that you can have your picture taken with. It looks so real that it is almost scary. Of course, it is extra money to have your picture taken with a "player" of your choice. I decided to pass on that since it was about 15 Euros. (picture below is Maradona drinking Mate in his FC Barcelona jersey. Picture taken in the trophy hall)
The tour starts to move pretty fast after I was taken on to the field. I was able to walk through a huge trophy room that had all the trophy's that FC Barcelona has won, a ton of pictures of players, and a lot of information on past FC Barcelona teams. From there we were lead to the press room where all the interviews take place. All in all it was a pretty good tour. I wish I could have seen a game, but that will have to be on the next trip to Barcelona!
