Thursday, April 12, 2012

          As I had promised, here is my post about one of Spain's most popular sports!  Before coming to Spain, I knew that soccer, or should we say fútbol, would be seen as an incredibly popular sport.  I also knew that within Spain, Real Madrid CF as well as FC Barcelona would both be seen as the two most popular and successful teams.  Knowing these two things however, I most certainly didn't know that during my stay I would be given the opportunity to attend a Real Madrid CF fútbol game.
         It all started out about a month into my stay when a group of students had brought up the idea to several faculty members at La Fundación Ortega y Gasset.  Students had expressed that planning a large group trip to a game would not only be a great cultural learning experience but also an incredibly fun activity.  They also knew that La Fundación Ortega y Gasset's faculty would be able to coordinate a bus to and from the game making it a lot easier for all students in terms of transportation.
        Because there was such popularity for the event from all students, La Fundación Ortega y Gasset's faculty made it official and before we all knew it, we were on a bus off to Madrid!
        Before we arrived at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid CF's official stadium, I knew it was going to be big but boy was I shocked when I finally saw just how big it was!  Here's a picture of its inside from where my seat was.  Even though it was a bit of a rainy day, I can assure you just about every seat was full!


         Because the stadium is so large and because the audience often becomes very emotionally involved in games, safety is definitely a concern.  Before entering the stadium, any object that was seen as being "throwable" was forced to be disposed of.  Since we had all been packed a bag lunch by either our host families or by the cooking staff at La Fundación Ortega y Gasset, many of us had to throw our oranges, Fanta cans and bottle caps away.
        Since we had been told that a lot of the stadium's food would be very expensive we were initially a little disappointed with our thrown out lunches but we made due, and quickly made our way to our seats.  Here's a photo of me with other students from my study abroad program right before the game started.


         Before gameplay started,  Real Madrid CF, as well as the opposing team, Llevante of the Spanish city Valencia, each played their team songs.  Because I was so impressed by the high-level of excitement and enthusiasm from both players and spectators throughout the game's entirety, I did my best to capture as much of the action as possible.  Here's a look into this fabulous fútbol game!






         Real Madrid CF being the dominating team they are, beat Llevante in a royally played game! When the game was officially over and we had all left the stadium, I noticed several kiosks selling Real Madrid CF merchandise.  After seeing noticing this, I knew I couldn't possibly go back to Toledo without doing some shopping first! Take a look at what I bought!


      Well this is all for now, I hope you have enjoyed my sixth post! My next post will remain in the autonomous community of Madrid having a special focus on the Spanish Monastery El Escorial.

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