Italy was amazing...no one that's been there has ever said a bad word about it and has always been the place I've wanted to go to the most, and it did not disappoint in any way. The next few postings will recap what we saw and did, so bear with me as I need to document it for future generations.
Our flight routed us to Rome via Amsterdam, and before we ever made it to our destination, I was already glad that I speak English. We flew KLM and their announcements were in both English and Dutch, and the AMS airport was a behemoth that would have been hard to navigate if I only spoke Czech, Mandarin, etc. Everywhere we went in Italy, nearly everyone we encountered spoke decent English which helped make everything so much easier. Being the reigning superpower definitely has its advantages.
We arrived a bit after noon on Saturday and took a stroll around the hotel, which was in the Quirinal neighborhood and popped into the first cafe we saw for a bite to eat...we had panini sandwiches that were just perfect. Turns out that these little snack stands are everywhere and you can grab a salami and provolone, prosciutto and mozzarella, caprese, or chicken Milanese sandwich when the need strikes and we ate a bunch of them over the next two weeks.
After a quicky nap, it was time to head over to Stadio Olympico for a Serie A match-up between Milan AC and AS Roma. Checked the standings pre-game and they were sitting in 6th and 7th place respectively only 2 points apart, so the game was significant. The stadium itself was nice, built in 1927 with major improvements in the 50's in anticipation of hosting the Olympics in 1960, and enhanced again prior to the 1990 World Cup to a current capacity of 73,000, which there was on this night.
If you don't like smokers, then Italy might not be the place for you, and I'd definitely stay away from the soccer games as it is still acceptable to smoke inside the stadiums. Add the smoke from the enormous firecrackers being set off throughout the game and it was pretty damn smokey.
And loud...I'd equate it to the noise level at a Seahawk game (the loudest in the NFL), but have to give the nod to the Italian fans for communal chants and songs. Everyone seemed to know what to sing and when...we didn't understand them, but we got the gist. Our seats were behind one of the goals and we were two sections away from the corner of the stadium reserved for the AC Milan fans. It was obvious the were the opposing team fans not only from their apparel, but from the fact they were cordoned off from the rest of the stadium by a plexiglass fence on both sides along with a a row of security people lining that fence on either side (you can sorta see it in this pic).
Many of the Roma fans songs were directed at the Milan supporters. Again, I didn't understand the words they were saying, but at certain points in the songs, in unison the Roma fans would grab their hips and start thrusting them at the Milan crowd. I heard them say "vaffanculo puttana" quite a bit as well, and a quick check of the Urban Dictionary confirmed my guess as to what that met. Whenever the Milan fans would try to counter with some songs of their own, they were meant with flying objects of any kind. Bottles and cans, M-80 firecrackers, and several plastic baggies full of urine. Side note...a bag of urine has the same exploding radius as a hand grenade. Good times. Roma scored three first half goals on the side off the field where we were sitting, which was pretty cool. They had a song singing the praise of the player who scored after each and we were expert and singing along with the happy home fans. Some dude with a video camera locked me arm in arm and filmed us singing Lamela Lamela Lamela. Here is a link to the highlights. Since we were a bit beat from the trip, and with Carolyn in tow, we decided to beat the crowd out with a few minutes left in the game, but it was a great experience to see what soccer in Europe was all about.
All right...am still a bit out of it and will try to be more lucid and succinct once my clock matches the one on the wall.
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