December 2013 ~ How hard can it be?

So, last weekend, just before Christmas, we decided to go to Dresden to find our Christmas spirit :) And believe me, those two days we spent in Dresden were amazing! Basically, our itinerary was very limited. We decided to mainly focus on visiting Christmas markets.

The oldest Christmas market in Dresden (and the one, we began our trip with) is Striezelmarkt located in Altmarkt (Old Market). Basically, the whole market square is filled with little stalls where you can buy all the Christmas-y things you might need (and some more!). The most popular are, obviously, food stalls. Every Christmas Market in Germany MUST include Bratwurststand and Glühweinstand (stalls with grilled sausages and mulled wine). And trust me, they are busy all the time!

Bratwurst (1/2 meter of it, to be exact!)

Hot chocolate with rum

Mulled wine

Mulled wine preparation centre

Besides food, in Dresden you can buy little wooden ornaments (characteristic for Saxony region), glass ornaments for your Christmas tree (including all the weirdest shapes and ideas, e.g. a cucumber), and classic Christmas sweets - Christstollen (German fruit cake), Pfefferkuchen (gingerbread cookies) and Pflaumentoffel (little figurines made of prunes shaped to look like little chimney sweepers).

Handmade toys

Marzipan sweets

Lamps shaped like stars - very characteristic to Dresden

Cheese and ham bread

Gingerbread sweets stall

Overall experience? Amazing!!! Striezelmarkt (or any Christmas market in Dresden we've visited) was amazing!!! Glühwein is the best thing to keep you warm during winter, and German Bratwurst is a good, hearty meal to keep you going and shopping!

Dresden fruit cake manufacture

Have you ever wanted to see FC Barcelona play live? Have you dreamt of visiting Camp Nou and singing Cant del Barça together with 90 000 other people? Well, this dream is extremely easy to achieve! All you need is... some money and some free time :)

Step 1. Choosing the event

During one season, the team plays 36 La Liga matches. Half of them are being played at Camp Nou. So you have some 18 chances to see FC Barcelona play. And that's just counting regular matches! To that, depending on how the team fares, you can add Champions League, Copa del Rey, Copa de Catalunya, friendly matches, etc.

In order to find out, which match to choose, you should visit the official website of the club and look for the matches scheduled for the season. Here's the link: http://www.fcbarcelona.com/info-tickets/next-matches-football

If you want to know the price range of the tix, just click on the link titled 'Ticket prices'. And remember, each match is categorized according to the class of the opponent from D, C, B, A, A+LFP, A+CHL to A++ (A++ being Real Madrid). The better the class, the more expensive the ticket!

Step 2. Purchase process

Buying a ticket for a match can be frustrating. The website is not perfect, the system is very slow at times, and there are many people who are just like you - in dire need of a ticket! So the best option is to wait for the beginning of the sale (usually in August), pick the match you want to see and be patient!

Basically, all you need to do is click on 'Start purchase' and the system will automatically transfer you to a website with seat selection. There, you can choose the desired sector (again, different prices depending on how 'attractive' the sector is!), seat and finally, pay for the purchase.
Warning: sometimes, it is necessary to call the customer centre, as the system does not accept all the credit cards. You can also buy tickets through www.ticketmaster.es, and collect them at any CosmoCaixa ServiCaixa ATM. Which there are hundreds of, all over the city!

Step 3. Collecting your tickets

Once you arrive in Barcelona, on the day of the match you can go to Camp Nou to collect your tickets from the ticket office. Remember to present the credit card you used to buy the tickets. And be patient, as the queues are loooong!

Tickets office opening hours (on match day):

FC Barcelona Tickets Office access gate 9: From 10.00 untill kick off

FC Barcelona Tickets Office access gate 14: From 9.30 untill 3h before kick off

FC Barcelona Tickets Office NORTH GOAL access gate 4: From 11am untill kick off

FC Barcelona Tickets Office SOUTH GOAL access gate 16: From 3 hours before kick off

You can also print your ticket at home. But it won't be as pretty as the original one you get from the ticket office! :)

Step 4. The match

This is actually the simplest step. All you need to do here is to arrive at the stadium (some 30 mins before the kick off is advisable!), go through security, find the correct entrance gate, sector and seat, and finally, ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE!!!