THE LOST HOUR

The final full day of the tour saw a very tired group of pupils and staff embark on a last walk around Lorett de Mar






Followed by an afternoon tour of Espanyol's newish ground, although on route most of the party 'lost an hour'















This was then followed by the last fixtures of the tour
The U12/13 team were visibly shattered and lost 8:0 as a lot of exercise and late nights caught up with them, although keeper Alex Brimage was excellent and was voted man of the match and promptly 'threw the lips' on some local dignitary!







The U14/15 team then took part in the 'match of the tour' in losing 3:2. The result was very harsh on the boys as they more than matched the locals but lost out to a dubious penalty decision in the last minutes.






Tomorrow is a bit more shopping and then the flight home
The flight number is EZY7208 due in at 22:30, please don't be late as all the party are very tired and are very keen to get home ASAP now that all the football is finished.
Many thanks for all the nice comments about the BLOG
Mr G Thorp. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I don't like spell checkers!!!!!!!?

FRISBEE NOT FREEBIE !!!!!!!!!!!


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Culture and Espanyol

A late breakfast with no run was Mr Jamieson's concession to the late night the night before. Another morning of indoor swimming pool was followed by the cultural part of the tour with a visit to Parc Guell and the La Sagrada Familia, both of which were very busy.










This shot of culture was followed by a training session with two coaches from Espanyol at another local pitch, which all the boys seemed to enjoy despite the hard work and language problems.






Unfortunately we do have an injury to report, fortunately it is to Mr Jamison who has 'done' his shoulder while trying to get on my ultimate freebie team for my proposed trip of 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!


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APRIL FOOLS AND MESSI, MESSI, MESSI

The day started with the staff April fooling the pupils ( a day early, we know ) into believing that I had lost the tickets. We were that good that Mr Young even forgot what we were doing and really thought they were lost !!!!!!! I apologise to all those parents that received angry/upset phone calls and texts but all saw the funny side - eventually. Even Mr Young who was presented with the tour dummy for a while.

We spent the afternoon touring Barcelona starting at the Olympic stadium then via cable car into the marina and ending up on las ramblas.



In the evening we arrived back at the camp nou for the match (10:00 ko). While we were waiting I discovered a talent for the paparazzi by getting a good shot of MESSI as he arrived at the ground



Once in the ground we had to stop Joel from intimidating the locals



The seats were great as was the football in a sold out camp nou






And best of all we found a way to silence Mr Jamieson


Oh the beer is non alcoholic for those that are worried !!!!!!!!!
We arrived back at the hotel at 2am so today everyone is a little tired but this afternoon it's off to train with the coaches from Espanyol and hopefully an early night.
A few very tired boys, a few blisters and scratches but basically everyone having a great time


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Camp nou

Morning spent mainly in indoor pool
Then it was to the Camp nou where we just missed the players leaving an early afternoon training session







After a lot of retail therapy in the club shop it was straight off to the evening fixtures
The bus dropped off the 2 teams at the wrong venues but as they were only 10 minutes apart it was not a problem although when the u13's opposition came out we still thought we were at the wrong venue.



The final score was 12-0 but as the referee didn't know the offside rule ( as Mr Thorp pointed out to him several times ) and the Spanish manager showed no interest in making a fair game of it by keeping Usain Bolt on for most of the match this was not a surprise. The little fellas never gave up or lost their tempers and take a lot of credit from this match.



The u15's played on cat litter in front of a crowd of about 100 against 2 teams!!!! One in the first half and one in the second . Obviously this made it very hard and they to were defeated, 3-0. But again came away with heads held high.



Tomorrow we are off to Barcelona to do some shopping on the ramblas in the afternoon and then back to the camp nou for the kick off at 9pm - so another late one.
Still all well and no injuries although nearly all are very stiff and a bit sore- and the kids are ok as well !!!!!!!!!



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Lazy day!!!!!!

Pre-breakfast run



Boys remained euphoric even after walking to the wrong pitch for a training session - might have had something to do with the Norwegian u19 women's football team that were training there !!!!!!!!



Joe had stressful morning as he was attacked by a tree, a bollard and finally a bin all of which he managed to bump into



Mr Young's idea of fun is an ice bath to aid muscle recovery


Beach in afternoon followed by an early night as many (the staff) are starting to feel the pace
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First matches

Afternoon by the pool



Evening matches
Little fellas won 2:1, McDougal and Cliff





Big boys drew 2-2 under the floodlights







No injuries - all tucked up in bed now

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