I accomplished both.
This town was bursting at the seams this weekend as the Primavera music festival was going on along with >45k out of town soccer fans in town to support Athletic Bilbao as they took on FC Barcelona.
I started the weekend by going for a run just after getting into town...what better way to get my bearings than by going running (and getting lost and accidentally running 8 miles instead of my planned 5). I ran along the beach where I saw a guy in a hospital gown with an IV hooked up smoking a cigarette while staring out at the sea. Brilliant.
Saturday I walked to La Sagrada Familia and around the central town before getting on the most amazing and fun subway ride of my life. The train was PACKED with soccer fans of both teams singing and chanting back and forth. It was all in good spirits as both regions share a common bond of wanting independence from Spain. Eventually the group around me noticed there was an infant in a stroller that was startled by all the yelling and she was crying. The supporters got everyone to quiet down...and then they began whisper singing to continue to celebrate...but not scare the little girl. The whole car was whisper singing!
I managed to get a ticket to the game just outside the gates. I sat in the Barcelona supporters section and it was an incredible experience. The whole stadium shook when either team's supporters started jumping. It's pretty amazing when people jumping up and down 100 yards from you can shake an entire stadium.
Yesterday I walked up to the olympic stadium (now used for concerts) and a few vistas overlooking the city before an epic 7 stop progressive eating/drinking marathon. One plate and one drink at each stop all over downtown.
Pics later when I have better Internet access and I'm not using a suddenly buggy app.
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