We’d been pretty lucky in terms of getting to play new teams in Europe this season, until the final draw of the competition.  This paired us up with Liverpool, how predictable, and the winners would go through to play Barcelona or Bayern Munich, so no new trips on the cards.  I was asked to write something about Liverpool away but as I don’t do match reports there is very little to say.  The away leg was a great night with one of the team’s best performances in the last couple of years.  But a trip to Liverpool is nothing new this being our fifth European trip in successive seasons.  You don’t want to know about the really tedious journey up the M6 and the journey back wasn’t much more exciting!  Barcelona had demolished Bayern in the Nou Camp so if we could hang on it would be another familiar trip, and we did!

Barcelona are the only team Chelsea have played in Europe more than Liverpool, the two semi final ties bringing the total to 13, 10 of those since the turn of the decade.  As soon as I was home from the 4-4 with Liverpool I was on the Internet to book my flight, not being one of those reckless fans that booked a flight after the Anfield win!  I still got a decent price, no early or late flights and from Gatwick with BA.  I dithered a bit about hotels as there is almost too much to choose from but you have to bear in mind you will be getting out of the ground late and the Metro will be close to shutting down.  My mate Andy had a business trip to Andorra that nicely tied in with the game and would be staying right next to the ground.  He offered to get his secretary to book me in there but the prices had gone up too much for my tastes.  So in the end I picked a hotel in walking distance of the main train station and near a Metro too.  Flying out on the Monday afternoon should have been relaxed but I had to make a trip to The Bridge in the morning to get FA Cup final tickets so I didn’t get a lie in.  Then there was a problem with the airplane so they had to get hold of a replacement that delayed things by nearly an hour.  It was also chucking it down with rain outside.

We got into Barcelona okay and I followed the familiar route to the train station.  This had changed a bit but I had enough change to buy my 10-trip ticket and you don’t have to change trains anymore getting into the centre.  As it was still a fine afternoon I walked from the station to my hotel and checked in with what seemed to be a novice hotel clerk.  Disappointingly I had a room with absolutely zero view despite being on the top floor!  I spent the early evening wandering round the city and deciding where to eat.  The smart restaurant I’d managed to get into once, long ago, had a large queue outside yet again so I ended up opting for a pizza place but then managed to eat too much!  I wandered around a bit more before deciding on a Metro trip back to the hotel, but I managed to pick one of those stations where it turns out you walk for ages through passageways before finding a platform, quite typical in Barcelona.

The morning was disappointingly cloudy though it was mild.  I walked through the Eixample district looking at the variety of buildings and spotted a few I hadn’t come across before and they’re not all designed by Gaudi either.  Realising how close I was I walked over to the Sagrada Familia to see what progress they’re making.  Needless to say it is still far from finished despite Gaudi being dead for over 80 years!  You do wonder after all this time how much it will end up looking like the original plans and it does look a bit odd in places where new stone is being added to old.  But they seem to have struck a balance between being a tourist attraction and a building site.  I then picked up a couple of messages, one from Andy who had arrived but had a couple of business meetings and one from Clive who was in the Ramblas.  So meetings are arranged and I’m back on the Metro though when I change it is a long walk between the lines, above ground this time, due to the engineering work they’re doing.  I meet Clive at the bottom of the Ramblas and we walk out on to the Port Vell.  Our walk is interrupted as we keep bumping into familiar faces including Kevin who has been here more than most with a couple of England trips against Andorra as well as the Chelsea ones.  He was one of the fans who’d risked his money buying a flight before the second leg!  We also speak to a father and son who’ve been going everywhere for years, they’ve already been looking at options for the final in Rome.  I find all this a bit worrying, as too much planning ahead in football is a risky business.  Our next bit of the day’s plan is scuppered as although the cable car across the harbour is running it turns out the half near us isn’t picking up passengers, more engineering work!  So instead we end up wandering back into the centre to get a late lunch, Italian yet again.  Further exploration of the city follows before we decide it is time to go for our rendezvous with Andy.

The travel card system means I can use a journey for Clive to go on the Metro too and we’re soon up at Andy’s hotel near the ground.  There are lots of Chelsea fans there freely mixing with their Catalan counterparts.  We meet more familiar faces and the mood is generally buoyant though fans are preparing for the mountainous climb to the top tier of the stadium.  The game itself is a hard fought battle highlighted by a referee who seems capable of upsetting both sets of fans and players.  We get kept in as ever and let out in time for the last Metro.  I say my goodbyes and then find I’m the only fan heading up the road to the left and a quiet station.  I get on with a few locals and wait to pull into the next station which is heaving with Chelsea fans, but I have a seat already so am okay.  Some even get on at the next stop, Les Corts, including Kevin and his friends.  It was much easier by my route.

I have a long morning to fill up before my departure and try to find something new to do.  A trip up to Tibidabo seems out as the transport only seems to run when the funfair bit is open and that never seems to be the case during the football season.  I’ve only seen it in Woody Allen’s recent film, set in Barcelona.  Instead I go to use the Teleferic up to the castle on Montjuic, which has finally completed its refurbishment.  A return on this costs more than the 10-trip ticket that covers the rest of my trip, but I suppose they need to pay back what it cost to rebuild.  It is very modern and runs on a continuous basis where you get on a moving cable car.  The cars do rock quite a bit and have an unsettling judder as they go through the station half way up at slow speed.  It is a blazing sunny day and I spend a fair bit of time up at the castle admiring the view and generally relaxing.  When I get back down I go towards the east of the centre but find you can’t get an airport train direct from there now, luckily I was checking ahead.  Tired of walking now I take a break in the park next to the zoo and just sit and relax for a bit.  Then I check out the restaurant in the El Corte Ingles department store, which I’d picked up on from a weekend newspaper supplement.  It is surprisingly quiet and you can opt between self-service and a posher waiter service area.  You also get a really good rooftop view over the city centre and up to the various hills around the city.  Then its back to the airport and what turns out to be the final trip back to England of the season.