Hi guys,

I will be in Spain from Dec 3-11, and will try to blog about the experience as much as possible. I am here with a group of coaches from Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club (THUSC) on a coaches education trip.  We will see one Champions League match, one Europa Cup match, and one La Liga match.   We will spend one day in Valencia, sandwiched between multi-day stays in Barcelona.  We will also tour Camp Nou and watch some Barca youth team matches.

We started out leaving Portland yesterday (Tuesday at 6:55am PDX time) and arrived in Barcelona yesterday (Wednesday at 9:15am Barca time). We’re staying in a small hotel in downtown and spent most of the day walking around like tourists looking at our map and taking photos of the cool buildings. We also partook of the great tradition of the siesta, napping from 2 until about 5 or 6pm. Then out for food and drinks.

Today we will tour the Sacrada Familia Chapel during the day, then attending the Champions League match between Barcelona and Benfica (of Portugal). We are all super-psyched to get to witness first-hand the best soccer team ever play in such a high-level match.   KICKOFF IS AT 11:45am PST for those of you back home!

Full report and more photos later…  Send me an email if you have any questions (brian@baxtersports.com)