Again a lot has happened since my last post and even more worrisome I seem to be running out of ways to explain how amazing of a time I am having here! Big news of the week is that I saw a Italian Calcio (soccer) match and a international rugby match. Both of which are events that totally surpassed any sporting event I have seen in the U.S. (except maybe when I got to see Doug Flutie play!).
So first things first. The soccer match. Roma versus Brescia in a Serie A (Italy's soccer league) tie. Brescia was supposed to be terrible and we were all looking forward to a huge blowout. A ton of JFRC students went to this game so we all met up in the lobby and braved the 2 kilometer walk to Stadio Olimpico. After showing our ticket, passport, and being frisked we entered the stadium. It was pretty freaking huge. We had all purchased tickets to sit in Curva Sud. The 'south curve' where all the loyal, rowdy Roma fans cheered their team on. It was in a word surreal. The energy in the stadium was intense especially for such a low priority match. Unfortunately the match ended in a 1-1 tie as Roma underperformed and Brescia outplayed themselves, but all the same the match was great fun and I can't wait to see more.
Now the Rugby match. Oh my gosh. what an amazing day! I woke up in the morning at 11 rearing and ready to go. Maybe had a beer or two, grabbed some food at Loyola, threw on my irish rugby jersey and headed down to piazza del popolo where a GIGANTIC Irish fest was in full swing. We met up with a friendly Irishman named Simon who was a friend of one of my rugby teammates grabbed another brew and walked down to Stadio Flaminio. They had a red carpet walkway all set up from the piazza to the stadium and rugby songs were sang along with the irish national anthem which i can now sing proudly (thanks to simon!). We arrived at the stadium just as the Italian national anthem finished off and it was time for kick-off. The match was incredibly close as a not-so-talented Italian side held there own against a much stronger Irish squad. In the 65th minute (out of 80 for you non-ruggers) Irish legend Ronan O'Gara steps onto the pitch. Ireland was down 11-10 at that point. A nerve-racking 12 minutes past and in the 77th minute like it was planned from the beginning of the day the ball is passed back to Ronan O'Gara who drop-kicks with ease sending the ball through the uprights for a game winning 3 points. (A drop-goal is when a rugby player receives the ball in the middle of play drops it to the ground and kicks it as the ball is bouncing up, not the easiest thing to do mind you!) SO as you can imagine the irish went nuts and we all played some rugby outside the stadium and made our way to our favorite irish pub 'Scholars.' If you have ever heard the stereotype that Irish people are friendly it is way beyond true! I had the greatest time at the bar with all of them just bumping into each other and having a great conversation about rugby, football, america, and ireland. And when they found out i was going to Ireland they gave me some great advice of places to visit and things to do. SO when i got home that night i was telling all my friends that it was the best day of my life, which might not be exactly true, but it is certainly up there for incredible days!
The pictures below are of my dorm room for my poor mother who has been wondering what my room looks like and also included is a picture of me at the game and of Rome from the top of st. Peters Basilica, which i actually forgot to mention. My friends and I went to the vatican and hiked up all 700 -something steps to get to the top of St. Peters. The most incredible views of Rome up there.
Mike
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