Big football night - F.C. Barcelona vs Manchester United

Barcelona will meet Manchester United at the Camp Nou on April 23rd. This should be a great night of football at the highest level with both teams looking for a place in the Champions League final so strong emotions are guaranteed.

For those Manchester United fans coming to Barcelona from the UK or anywhere in Europe, here are some tips:

April 23rd coincides with the feast of Sant Jordi so you will be able to enjoy a great atmosphere all over Barcelona but specially around Las Ramblas area. Of course, city center will be packed, you should be extra careful with your handbags and wallet, so be extra careful with pickpockets.

As normally happens in this situations, airlines will bring up prices so you may consider for an alternative route to get to Barcelona (e.g. via Ireland or another country) if you don't have your flights booked already. Click here for a list of cities in the UK flying directly into Barcelona airport.

How to get to the Camp Nou? The easiest way is to take the underground (Metro). There are three metro stations very close to the Nou Camp: Collblanc (L5 - blue), Badal (L5 - blue) and Maria Cristina (L3 - green). Click here for a small map showing their location with regards to the Nou Camp. If your acommodation is in city center, the easiest is probably is to go Maria Cristina as you can take the metro at the following stations (Catalunya, Liceu or Drassanes, all at the L3 green line) as it is just few stations away.

For those of you travelling without a ticket, be aware that it may be almost impossible to obtain one as very small amount of tickets will be put on sale. You may try the box office (access 14) at the Nou Camp on April 23rd.

If you are unable to get a ticket and want to watch the match in an English speaking environment, you can go to an Irish Pub. There are few in the city centre area.

Finally, here are some useful links:

- Consulates in Barcelona
- Places to visit in Barcelona
- Restaurant in City center
- Bars
- Transport in Barcelona
- Useful information

Currency exchange - How and Where

Barcelona is unfortunately well known for its pickpocketing problem, therefore instead of carrying large amount of cash, I would recommend using ATMs (automated teller machine) as it is the easiest way to get cash. However, before you start your travel, you should contact your bank in order to find out what charges they will apply. Rembember that in order to use your credit card abroad, you will need a valid PIN number. Also, if you have several credit cards, use the one that offers you the best deal (the one that applies the smallest charge).

However, if you have to exchange money (e.g. US Dollars or British pounds to Euros), I would strongly recommend that you use a regular bank (La Caixa, Caixa Catalunya, Caixa Penedes, ...) rather than exchange kiosks as the exchange ratio is more favorable in a regular bank. Moreover, financial institutions post their exchange rates outside so you will be able to compare their ratio to the ratios applied by the exchange kioks. Use only exchange kiosks as a last resort as they will rip you off.

When changing your money, ensure that you get loose change as it will be very useful if for example you have to use public transportation. As a safety measure, keep always the change in a different location than large notes.

Bank opening hours in Spain are Monday to Friday from 9am to 2pm.

For those of you using American Express, there is an AM office in the city centre (Paseo de Gracia 101. Phone: 93 217 0070) that opens from Monday to Friday (9:30 to 18h) and on Saturday from 10-12.

Upcoming Running Competitions

A number of running competitions are organized on a regular basis in Barcelona and its surrounding areas.

You don't have to be superman to be able to complete them, just go at your own pace without worrying about anyone else and enjoy the feeling of crossing the finish line.

We all know how difficult it is to get the motivation to do some sport after a long day at work or at college. However, it is easier if you have a target. So why don't you register for one of the following running competitions listed below.

For those of you who like running why don't you register to any of the races taking part outside Barcelona. This will alow you to discover know a different area, less touristic, and to get in contact with the locals.

10/02/2008 - Half Marathon of Barcelona
29/02/2008 - Cursa Solidària - Barrio de Navas (BCN)

02/03/2008 - Marathon of Barcelona 2008
16/03/2008 - Cursa Popular de Muntanya de Vilanova i la Geltrú
29/03/2008 - VIII CROS DE MUNTANYA CAN CARALLEU - 9,5km
30/03/2008 - Half Marathon: Calçotada a Valls

06/04/2008 - Cursa dels Bombers - (BCN) 10km
13/04/2008 - 10 Km de Girona
27/04/2008 - Cursa 150 aniversari de los Bomberos de Vic 16km

11/05/2008 - Half Marathon in Girona
11/05/2008 - Cursa Popular in Girona
25/05/2008 - Cursa Policia de Catalunya - 10 km
31/05/2008 - 10 km de Granollers

01/06/2008 - Cursa de Pineda de Mar - 10km

Remember, success never comes easy, you have to work hard to achieve your target.

Flights from UK to Barcelona airport

Looking for flights from the UK to Barcelona could be a little bit tedious as it is difficult to find a list of all the different airlines flying to one specific location. Therefore we have done some research and have included some details (city, airport and airline) so you don't have to keep checking different websites to find out whether or not there is a direct flight from your city in the UK to Barcelona.

The following table provides all the airlines flying from the UK to Barcelona airport (El Prat) (January 2008):

Flights from UK to Barcelona airport

AIRPORT	CITY	AIRLINE
Belfast	Belfast	AER LINGUS
Belfast	Belfast	EASYJET AIRLINE CO. LTD.
Belfast	Belfast	CHANNEL EXPRES
Birmingham International	Birmingham	BRITISH MIDLAND REGIONAL
Bristol	Bristol	EASYJET AIRLINE CO. LTD.
Edinburg	Edinburg	GLOBESPAN AIRWAYS LTD.
Edinburg	Edinburg	IBERIA
Glasgow	Glasgow	GLOBESPAN AIRWAYS LTD.
Leeds/Bradford	Leeds	CHANNEL EXPRESS
Liverpool	Liverpool	EASYJETAIRLINE CO. LTD.
London Heathrow	London	IBERIA
London/Heathrow	London	BRITISH AIRWAYS
London/Gatwick	London	EASYJET AIRLINE CO. LTD.
London/Gatwick	London	BRITISH AIRWAYS
London/Luton	London	EASYJET AIRLINE CO. LTD.
London/Stansted	London	EASYJET AIRLINE CO. LTD.
Manchester	Manchester	MONARCH AIRLINES
Newcastle	Newcastle	EASYJET AIRLINE CO. LTD.
Nottingham/East Midlands	Nottingham	EASYJET AIRLINE CO. LTD.

* We will be creating other tables with similar details for other countries.

Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí (1852 - 1926) was born in Reus, although completed his studies and the majority of his work in Barcelona.


Although Gaudí was born in Reus, he moved to Barcelona in 1868 were he completed his architecture studies in 1877 and developed his career. Gaudí is considered a genius today, however did not escape critism. One of his masterpieces, the Casa Milà was hugely critisized at the time.

Eusebi Güell, future Count of Güell, was a huge influence on Gaudí's work as he financed some of the most important of Gaudí's works (Palau Güell, Colonia Güell, Parc Güell, ...).

Major works in Barcelona are:

Sagrada Familia

Casa Mila (La Pedrera)

Casa Batlló

Casa Vicenc

Casa Calvet

Parc Güell

Palau Güell

Colonia Güell

Gaudí died in 1926 ran over by a tram. His body was buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia.