Day 1 - The Beautiful Game

Barcelona. Home to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, La Rambla and the Catalans. However, being football mad, the only thing that springs to mind when I hear the word Barcelona, is the mighty FC Barcelona. The chance to see the best team in the world had been a burning ambition of mine for some time. I purchased tickets for my dad and me via the FC Barcelona website for his Christmas, a fitting gift as he is also football daft!

We set off from Auchtermuchty by car, heading for Newcastle, on a misty Saturday morning. The drive took us about 3 hours in total, so we were there in plenty of time for our flight. Not surprisingly, there was a delay of about an hour, but I wasn't too worried as I made sure we had plenty of time to get to Barcelona for the 8pm kick-off. We eventually took off and the flight was pretty good despite a large group of women constantly blethering nonsense across the aisle from us.

After landing, passport control and a quick train ride, we were finally in Barcelona, where the weather was pleasantly warm for February. Our hotel, Medium Prisma, was perfectly situated a few hundred yards from the train station, so we found it with ease. In typical Spanish fashion, we opted for a little Siesta after we checked in, to freshen up before the game.

Kick-off soon approached and we headed off in the direction of the Nou Camp, joining up with many other fans making there way to the stadium. The further we walked the more fans we saw, and all the more blue and red scarves and flags. Upon arriving at the stadium we were surprised to find that it's quite small looking from the outside. This is merely an optical illusion though, as the stadium is built into the ground, and is there for deep rather than high. After quickly buying a couple of Barca scarves, and collecting our tickets, we went through the turnstiles.

Looking out onto the pitch from inside the Nou Camp for the first time is a special moment for any football fan, and we were absolutely thrilled. The stadium is epic and by far the best one I've ever watched a live match in. Our seats, nestled quite low down in the corner, were ideal for watching the goal mouth action. The teams were still warming up as we took our seats, but unfortunately, the Racing Santander side were in our half of the pitch. We could only just make out Messi and co, warming up at the far end.

And so the game commenced and flew by in a haze. I'd love to write a match report, but this is a travel website and not BBC Sport! All I will say is that we were treated to a footballing master class from Barcelona, with them running out as 4-0 winners. The experience was absolutely fantastic and to see players like Messi, Iniesta and Henry live is special. I'd highly recommend it to any real fan of football.

We rounded off a long day with a beer and some Spanish sausage at a nice little cafe/pub, agreeing that the people of Barcelona are lucky to have such a great team to watch on their doorstep. I have to settle for Aberdeen.......