One of the last things we did together with Ruth during her visit was to go to the US versus Spain Olympic basketball game at the big Palau Sant Jordi on top of Montjueic.  This is the basketball venue for the Barcelona team and it’s quite large and there didn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house (we were in the very last row and saw the court just fine).   It was a bit of a rush I must say to see Kobe and the gang on our now “home turf”!  Admittedly, I was torn about which team to root for, mainly because we were surrounded mostly by avid Spanish b-ball fans and I don’t really like being the odd man out.   During the first half of the game it actually was looking a bit dicey as the US team was not shooting or defending very well…Eitan, however, was totally sure that “we will wipe the floor with them” and fortunately didn’t say that too loudly.  He was right.  The all-stars did come back strong in the second half and I have to say the Spanish fans were polite at the loss.  I think they were pretty excited to see the American hotshots, too.

Half-time entertainment included a team of castellers – the human tower builders – THAT was very, very cool to see.  They form a huge foundation of human support at the bottom, perhaps a hundred or more people.  Then with great precision they build a tower of people who stand on each other’s shoulders form a literal tower – and at the very top is a very young, helmeted child.  The level of trust and strength needed to support this structure is amazing – and I have to believe that the mother of that crowning child has to breathe a sigh of relief once he or she has scrambled down to safety.  I’d read about these teams in so many guidebooks – it was fun to see them in action

Look closely and you will see the orange helmeted little person way at the top!