This last Sunday, our goalie Cano invited me over to his house to have lunch with his family and then to go with him and his friends to a soccer game. I didn’t know what I was excited for more, the food or going to my first European soccer match. Both lived up to their hype and I’m still undecided on what was the highlight of the day.
Cano picked me up on this ugly rainy morning and laughed when I asked if I should bring my umbrella. He said where we are going to be sitting in the stadium u don’t use an umbrella no matter what the weather is like. You have to stand there and show your team support by weathering it out. “If they are playing in the rain, we must stand there in the rain”, he told me. It kind of got me pumped up.
He first took me back to his place where I met his parents, brother and his two grandmothers. A very nice family but no one spoke a word of English besides Cano and his younger brother. We wasted no time and sat down at the table right away to feast. Cano told me that his mom was worried that there wouldn’t be enough food so she ended up cooking way too much. Perfect!
Cano’s mother prepared two main dishes and both were amazing. The first was a bacon wrapped rabbit, yup rabbit. First time for me and I’m sorry to all of you cotton tail lovers I don’t see it being my last. Sooo good. On the side we had a large serving of polenta, which is reminds me of a mix of something between mashed potatoes and cornbread if that makes any sense. Anyways when you put a little of the sauce from the meat on top it def rivals your side dish from last Thursday. After eating Peter we had some of the softest and delicious steak with more polenta and sauce. After a few rounds of each I was beyond stuffed, but of course I found myself some room for desert, homemade apple pie!
When the meal was finished we had our coffee “correzione”. Which means you add alcohol to it, usually the Italian liquor grappa( which I still think tastes like straight petrol). A little booze in my coffee, you think I complained? Hey even his grandmas were putting a little sauce in, I had to try.
After the goodbye “Ciaos”, Cano and I headed over to his friends house that lived only a block from the stadium. There we had another coffee “correzione”, a couple more shots of the petrol and grabbed a beer for the walk. Hey it was raining and freezing, you better believe I was going to make sure I was warm on the inside, especially since they didn’t serve any more “beverages” once you entered the grounds. Upon entering the stadium you have to show your ticket and show your Identification to make sure the names match. When you purchase your ticket, they actually scan all your information into a database so that they can make sure you are liable for anything stupid you do at the game. I quickly realized this was probably a good idea.
The “football” not soccer match as I’m constantly reminded, was between Atalanta of Bergamo and AC Roma of Rome. This is the best league in Italy and had some of the top players in the world playing…too bad the only two player names I recognized (Totti and Rise) were on the other team. The tensions between the teams are so high that the police didn’t even let the Roma fans enter the stadium on fear of massive fights.
Cano and all his friends always sit in a section called Curva Nord which is the area where all of the “ultras” (hardcore fans or hooligans) gather. Singing, lighting fireworks and flares, and fighting. Every fan has some type of team gear so Cano took me to go buy a team scarf so that I could now represent my new club and hopefully not get pneumonia.
There are no seat numbers only sections and when you are in Curva Nord you stand the whole match. The game started and so did the “ultras”. With the rain pouring down they only sang louder. 30,000 drunken fanatics singing in unison about the other team’s wives and mothers, it brought tears to my eyes. This is how professional sports is supposed to be. Not in some press box with mini weenies, but out in the rain taking pulls of hidden flasks. This was my type of party.
Atalanta went up early but gave up the lead at the beginning of the second half. Despite a well played and exciting final 15 mins, Bergamo lost the match 2-1. As bad as it is to say, I didn’t really care who won the match, I just loved being there, taking in everything, trying to sing along and jumping up and down the whole time. I plan on returning every home game.
-Bus #10
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