Football (the Good Kind)

My spontaneity only continued today. Asia and I (after a tasty homemade breakfast of eggs and potatoes) jumped on the bus to the football stadium here in Bologna. We had read in the paper that Bologna was playing Genoa. Now, for all my Ohio relatives, let me be clear: this was real, original football, the kind that we Americans like to call soccer.

All Italian cities have professional football/soccer teams just like we have baseball, basketball, and football teams in the states. Bologna's team is in Series B, which is sort of the second strata of talent.

The match was so, so wonderful. Cloudless, cerulean blue skies, 80 degress, no drinking age (ie cold beer in hand), watching really excellent soccer. The fans are so into it, it's unreal. I have some pictures I can show eventually, but the whole stadium was filled with rossoblu (red and blue) flags, scarves, and shirts. Even the littlest kids were standing in their seats screaming.

Bologna was playing Genoa, so there was one little sliver of a Genoa fan base in the stadium and their main cheer went, "Bolognese, pezzi di merde!" I'll allow you to translate yourselves, but can you just imagine going to a game in the states and screaming such things in an audible, organized fashion? It was hilarious.

And all the little Bolognese kids just kept screaming back "Vaffanculo" (again, look it up on your own time... it's pretty slimy cussing) and giving them the middle fingers while their parents joined in and chuckled.

Also, at one point, the Bolognese team got a free shot on goal and scored! It was so exciting. In general, watching soccer at that level is just so incredible. It really takes an entirely different strata of athlete to be able to play like they do for 80 minutes.

All in all, a gorgeous way to spend my Sunday afternoon here in Bologna!