European Tour: Milan, Italy

As many people know soccer, or futbol as the Europeans call it, is a big deal in Europe. It's kind of like American football in America...but even bigger. So, we decided it would be a good experience to go and see some European futbol live.

Katie and Me at dinner

Megan and Kathryn at Dinner

We chose the A.C. Milan vs. A.C. Roma game on November 11th. We took the hour long train ride down from Riva and made our way to a Pub for some dinner and drinks before the game. It was a Pub that was dedicated to Rugby, so there were games on and people getting rowdy already when we got there. From what I remember, it was good food, good drink and great company :)

After finishing dinner, we headed towards the stadium. The long road to the stadium is filled with vendors selling shirts, scarfs, noise makers, etc. Katie got an AC Milan jersey...the rest of us attempted to stay neutral. The crowd was already forming into packs, AC Milan fans and AC Roma fans. The police were out in full force, and we were just preparing ourselves. At this point, it was kind of like attending a Virginia Tech/UVA game...intense rivalry, people yelling profanity at the other side...nothing we hadn't seen before. Half of our group had bought tickets after us, so they were in a different section. We took a group picture before we broke off from them.

Group, before the game

Standing by our seats

Us, with the usher

We broke off from Katie, Jamie and Molly and headed towards our seats. Which, might I add, were actually really good seats. We were right behind a goal, so we got to see both teams play offense and defense. The usher in our section became our fast friend. He loved that we were American. He loved that we were girls. He loved that we were American girls at an AC Milan futbol game. He kept trying to converse with us...him, in broken English, us in broken Italian. He took the picture to the left for us...and then cornered someone to take the below picture with us. He gave me his email address and asked me to send it to him. Which is just a tad creepy, and I managed to lose him email address (whoops) so that never actually happened. But at least we have the documentation of our fan :)

After our photo-shoot the game started. As I have stated in previous posts, I love soccer. I used to play it as a kid, and watching it is very exciting. So, even though the action on the field was amazing to watch, the action in the stands just boggled my mind. Their fans are crazy with a capital C. They are loud (can ALMOST compare to Lane Stadium loud), they are fanatical and knowledgeable and most importantly, they light FIRES in the stand. That's not a smoke signal you're seeing, that is the actual fire the fans lit in the stands. And no one panics, they just cheer more for the fire...it was definitely one of the most nutso sports experiences I've ever had.

Yes, that is a real fire, purposefully lit...in the stands.

AC Roma ended up winning, our "hometown" team defeated...we attempted to make our way back to the train station. I say attempted because when you got to the exit of the stadium, cops lined the road. If you were an AC Milan fan, you went right...an AC Roma fan, you went left. No mixing, AT ALL. That didn't stop people from screaming over the line of cops...profanities, something about someone's mother, you get the deal.

We ended the night with a McDonald's run, and then got back on the train where we all took an hour nap on the way back to Riva.

Definitely a sporting event I will not soon forget, I'm glad I got to experience Futbol the European way.

To be continued...Next Up: European Tour: Europe with Family - Florence