Mercoledi 28.01.09

Had class and then raced home to put our stuff down and eat dinner before we headed out to the AC Milan v. Genoa game! It was apparently one of the best match ups of the season and was therefore heavily attended. The atmosphere was charged in a way that I've never experienced.

We waited in line (I use the term line very loosely) for tickets probably an hour and had some difficulty when they needed to see all our passports. So we missed kickoff (I don't know what you call it in soccer) because of that and also because of how long it took us to climb the stairs to our seats. The San Siro stadium is ridiculously massive - you know how people joke about having the nosebleed seats? Well we were 5 rows from the very top and I thought I actually might get one from the altitude.

If the size of the stadium wasn't a sign of how seriously soccer (calcio) is taken here, the enthusiasm of the crowds was certainly an undeniable demonstration. Unlike in America where cheers are started by a few groups at a time, they have songs they sing in perfect unison, really a powerful thing to witness.

Now I never thought David Beckham was anything special, especially when he opens his mouth and speaks in that squeaky voice of his. That was then however, because now I think he is absolutely amazing! He made the first and only goal (the majority of my friends said they could now die happy because they witnessed Beckham score) and played with such finesse that there is no way I couldn't admire him. It doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes, as demonstrated by the picture I tagged for this blog. Nobody freak out - I didn't take this pic, I downloaded this from the internet for the benefit of the close up.