meeting up point - barca away

russgoonergibson · Post by **russgoonergibson** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:19 pm

Port Olimpic on match day. Get there sun morn with 10 other lads buzzing.

safcftm · Post by **safcftm** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:25 pm

Finally got my accommodation sorted, and will hope to be a lucky charm as I was on my only other trip to watch Arsenal in Europe away at Roma where, as can be seen on this video i took post match http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9-2aEh2S_A I managed to get around their no drinking rule, and got quite into the spirit of proceedings, ending up fairly chuffed when the pricks got knocked out

(to be fair, they had been wankers from the minute we got there, so it was very pleasing to see them slumping out of the stadium

)

Henry Norris 1913 · Post by **Henry Norris 1913** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:36 pm

safcftm wrote:Finally got my accommodation sorted, and will hope to be a lucky charm as I was on my only other trip to watch Arsenal in Europe away at Roma where, as can be seen on this video i took post match http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9-2aEh2S_A I managed to get around their no drinking rule, and got quite into the spirit of proceedings, ending up fairly chuffed when the pricks got knocked out (to be fair, they had been wankers from the minute we got there, so it was very pleasing to see them slumping out of the stadium )

you really need to travel with arsenal more often

safcftm · Post by **safcftm** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:45 am

mind, I can't tell a lie, much though I enjoyed going to watch the Arsenal in Europe I did also once randomly find myself attending a Tottenham european match. Took a video of that one as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WBPesUPp-4
PSV away in the UEFA Cup

xDAVEYx · Post by **xDAVEYx** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:36 am

Henry Norris 1913 wrote:
safcftm wrote:Finally got my accommodation sorted, and will hope to be a lucky charm as I was on my only other trip to watch Arsenal in Europe away at Roma where, as can be seen on this video i took post match http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9-2aEh2S_A I managed to get around their no drinking rule, and got quite into the spirit of proceedings, ending up fairly chuffed when the pricks got knocked out (to be fair, they had been wankers from the minute we got there, so it was very pleasing to see them slumping out of the stadium )
you really need to travel with arsenal more often

does he fuck, we lost 1-0 on the night

mike · Post by **mike** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:04 am

Mate you really are an enigma! Spending all that money to follow another club throughout Europe seems fucking mental to me.....Regardless of how good the craic is! Fair play though! For those that went last year, where the Arsenal gather near to the beach.....Pretty easy to find? What's the nearest metro station?

safcftm · Post by **safcftm** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:55 am

mike wrote:Mate you really are an enigma! Spending all that money to follow another club throughout Europe seems fucking mental to me.....Regardless of how good the craic is! Fair play though! For those that went last year, where the Arsenal gather near to the beach.....Pretty easy to find? What's the nearest metro station?

I suppose it is a bit like. Thing is my mate lives up in Scotland and doesn't know any other Gooners (certainly not ones that are actually prepared to travel to matches). We tend to enjoy getting away for a few nights on the piss somewhere away from the girlfriends, but often struggle to think of anywhere to go. Since we're both well into our football it just makes sense to look at the fixtures and plan to see a match while we're at it. Obviously he wants to see Arsenal, so a trip to Rome and a trip to Barcelona sounded good- decent cities to visit and a match to watch while we're there. For the Spurs game we fancied Amsterdam (for obvious reasons) and notced Spurs were in Eindhoven so again it just made sense to go up there, go in the PSV end and laugh at them.

As is obvious from my posts I'm very into football culture (I'm not into football violence at all, but I do like an edgy, loud atmosphere where people are getting pissed up, standing all game, chanting, setting off smoke bombs and generally just being a bit wild- travelling to Rome with the gooners was the kind of trip that really appeals to me, more so than Barca if I'm honest although Barca will still be good for a party) and love away games- I can generally enjoy going anywhere if there is going to be drink and atmosphere, much better than just going on holiday and sitting on a beach! Having a mate whos a gooner helps since Sunderland tend to get on with Arsenal fans and they're a canny bunch- I was in Rome in my Sunderland jacket and there wasnt a bit of bother or anything, just a bit of bewilderment and some good banter, always makes a great trip when going to watch a side with a good support for a bit of a dance around, singing about the wanky tottenham hotspur going to visit the pope and not being so emotionally involved in the match that a defeat ruins the whole trip!

Always worth combining a holiday with a match. I don't always just go to big games either, tbh I hate the Champions League and much prefer lower levels of the game. We went to Prague a few years back and I didnt want to watch Sparta/ Slavia and so we found a local part time team called Dragoun Brevnov from the Gambrinus League 2 or similar (3rd tier of Czech football). They were away to Hradec Kralove B team while we were there so we jumped on a train and travelled a couple hundred miles to watch them. Got pissed all the way there, found the ground, got told it was free entry, we were the only 2 in the away end (literally, other than the brevnov players family members of whom there werent many), beer was 25p a pint and it was fucking mint. Brevnov play in red and white stripes, Kralove in black and white, so i was in me element swigging lager singing "red and white army", "fuck right off you black and white bastards", "gambrinus league you're having a laugh" etc. By the end of the game we were utterly wrecked and walked level with the goals on our way towards the exit. The game had been shit, 0-0, last minute, suddenly the Brevnov striker is through on goal, keeper comes out and he slides it past him. Cue me jumping up and down, giving the fingers to the Kralove fans, running up the terracing and throwing me lager all over the place for a good couple of minutes. I finally finished dancing and turned back to see my mate with his head in his hands... the shot had gone wide

I left quite quickly at the final whistle, thoroughly embarrassed but I fucking loved every second of it despite the drab match. Fucking love watching matches when on holiday.

Anyway, this long post successfully wasted a decent bit of my working day

Bring on the Barca

Batflyer · Post by **Batflyer** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:01 pm

mike wrote:For those that went last year, where the Arsenal gather near to the beach.....Pretty easy to find? What's the nearest metro station?

Ciutadella Vila Olimpica on the yellow line, according to the leaflet I received with the tickets.

russgoonergibson · Post by **russgoonergibson** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:07 pm

Anyone else staying at hotel Icaria down port Olimpic

Gooner Whitey · Post by **Gooner Whitey** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:35 pm

russgoonergibson wrote:Anyone else staying at hotel Icaria down port Olimpic

No but staying at IBIS just up the road, few hundred metres away

russgoonergibson · Post by **russgoonergibson** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:42 pm

Quality mate when u fly out , coming down for the Sunderland game the fly over sun morn ,

mike · Post by **mike** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:51 pm

Fucking bang on this now! Can't wait! Fly out Monday evening back Thursday evening.......For anyone that cares!