Camp Nou

Just one day of home and classes and a new weekend starts. Vikash, Rohit and I visit Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona. Camp Nou translates as new camp, and is a popular name initially used to distinguish it from the old stadium. The guided tour through the stadium is neatly done. Half an hour is spent going up level by level and another hour soaking in the museum – a football fan’s paradise. The store houses original merchandise and I leave with a promise to come back.

1400 hrs

Barcelona’s glorious Mediterranean weather becomes rainy and Bangaloreish as we exit Camp Nou. I go through the Eurail timetable and decide that Lisbon is my next stop.

1610 hrs

The train to Madrid is full. Another scan through the timetable and Paris gets lucky. An SMS to Shuchi and a phone call with Loki later, I am headed to Paris. The direct overnight train is expensive and as I later learn, a blunder. For company, I have a German resident who is a Sikh from Punjab, a Parisian who is an African from Guinea and an Amsterdam resident who is a Pakistani from Lahore whereabouts. The African proves he is Muslim to the Pakistani by reciting from the Quran. The Pakistani is chatty and treats me to a post dinner repast of home-made samosa and rasgolla.