Dirty Dancing with Indiana June

I busted out of Prague and headed for Barcelona to meet up with my friend, Di (aka Indiana June). If you don't know who Indiana June is, that's ok, here's the scoop:

Indiana is cycling the globe and letting anyone and everyone decide where she goes and what she does, via her website - www.indianajune.com. She's using social media for all it's worth and word is spreading quickly. On the road now for three months, she has had some amazing adventures and I was lucky enough to get on board for a few days.

So, Indiana's followers voted that, while in Barcelona, she attend the Dirty Dancing Oktoberfest Part 3 Dance Party at Club Razzmatazz. Since the partying in this town doesn't even start until at least 1:00am, we knew we were in for a long night. We had a bunch of time to kill so picked up tickets to the FC Barcelona Football (soccer) game. The sport is almost a religion here so, even though I'm not a huge fan, I was keen to see a live match.

The stadium is GARGANTUAN. It holds around 100,000 people and is the biggest in Europe. Our seats were next to the ozone layer but the view was still great. If you've ever been to a hockey game in North America, you know there's more to it than just the game - music, mascots, food, drinks, instant replays, the "kiss cam"...etc. This wasn't the case at the FCB game. It was only about the game itself and that is it. 100,000 people and seven hot dog stands. I stood in line for twenty minutes while an ol' timer grilled up meat for the masses. By the time I made it to the front, the meat had run out! So hungry. 

The Home team were playing Viktoria Plzen, from the Czech Republic. Even with a couple hundred of their own die-hard fans, performing well orchestrated chants (all in a secure area) the poor Czechs didn't stand a chance. The final score was 2-0 for FCB. Although I'm told I witnessed the "goal of the season from Iniesta" I was left wanting more - more goals, more hooligans, more meat, more "kiss cam".

After the game, we were ready for Kabed (a newly coined term referring to the consumption of a delicious kebab followed by some shuteye) but it was not to be. The people had spoken so it was time to party. On the way to the club, we bumped into some student-types and joined them for few warm up drinks at a nearby American-themed bar. It was a Wednesday night but the place was jammed. Finally, at around 1:30, we rolled to RAZZMATAZZ. It would seem that every teenager in Barcelona was in attendance so Indiana and I attempted to drink ourselves young(er). As we tore up the dance floor, a man dressed as a hot dog (a cruel joke?) and a couple of German beer wenches took to the stage and put on a show. The fact that we had to be out of the hostel by 10:00am didn't seem to matter. I can't say exactly how long we stuck around or how long it took us to get home but when we awoke, we felt 60 years old. We'd both do it again in a blink of an eye... just need a few days rest first.

RAZZ-MA-TAZZ