Almost a month ago I went to a Real Madrid football game. (That's pronounced Re-Al, Al like the name, not just real Madrid.) They played a team called Real Sociedad, from northern Spain. After successfully navigating the bus and metro to a section of Madrid I had never been to before, alone, I met up with my friend and we were able to look around for a bit before the game started. There were many souvenir stands and a lot of people milling around. There were even policemen on horses. The stadium is big, but it blends in perfectly with the city. It barely looks out of place.
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
My friend and I had bought the cheapest tickets that we could buy, which happened to be the nosebleed seats way up in the highest section. But it gave us a sweet view of the whole stadium. We were there early enough to watch them practicing before the game. When the game did start, Real Madrid killed Real Sociedad. Four goals in the first half. Christiano Ronaldo had three of those, I believe. By the end of the game they had won by a score of 5-1. During the halftime my friend and I went to search for food and that was when we realized a big difference between American sports and Spanish sports. Or at least football. (But it is basically the only sport here, so....). Anyways, the thing was that the stadium, like in the area people normally buy their food and go in shops and whatnot, was empty. There was one discreet snack counter but other than that, nothing. It was quite an odd sight. I suppose Spanish people really do go to where they're going for what they're going there for, and nothing else.
The other difference we noticed was the lack of sounds. Yes, the crowd cheered for Real Madrid and all, but in American sports, between the plays we have music or announcements and during halftime we have entertainments and the crowd has chants that we yell (like "LA, YOU SUCK!"). They didn't have it at the game and it was weird.
Other than that I was really glad I got to go. The stadium is amazing and the game was great. It is another life experience that I get to check off my list.
¡Hasta luego!
Adios,
Sam
CR7
my other fave - Gareth Bale
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