Sunday, September 1, 2013

Milan, Italy...European soccer and more!

Our ship got back into Rome at some outrageous hour in the morning.  We found the rental car location, hopped in our Ford Fiesta, and headed back into the city. {Who in the world would even let us (stupid Americans) rent a car there?  We couldn't even read the street signs! I don't know who's crazier, them...or us?!} By the way, try not to be jealous of our sweet car.  We go all the way to Italy and they give us a Ford?  For the love...


We had tickets to Sunday morning mass back at the Vatican, so we headed to the city to get our spiritual lift for the day.  Turns out there are always massive amounts of people when the Pope is around (weird, I know) and it was almost impossible to see/hear anything/even get into St. Peter's Basilica.  In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea.  It sounded like a good idea initially though.  Either way, we got to see the Pope bless the crowd, and that was pretty cool...even if we were pretty far away.

Yeah...there were crazy amounts of people there.  This was the only time over the course of our trip where I was uncomfortably warm.  The sun was beating right down on us and there were people EVERYWHERE. As soon as we walked out of Vatican City it was cooler.  The breeze could finally reach us!  

 Panoramic view of mass at the Vatican.

 Getting our Catholicism on...

These are the fountains I was referring to in my Rome post.  They were everywhere, and they were awesome!  The water was delicious, it was one of the nicest parts of Rome.  Free, clean, delicious, and unlimited water.  We loved it.

 The drive from Rome to Milan.  YUCK.  It's litereally the only part I would change about our trip.  It was terrible.  It was only supposed to take around 5 hours, it ended up taking over 8 hours.  There was terrible traffic, our crappy car didn't have cruise control, we were fighting most of the trip...not the best.  European drivers are CRAZY.  We talked to our tour guide in Rome, and he said they don't really have traffic laws, they're more like suggestions.  What?! They're insane.  It turned out all the bad rumors we heard about driving in Europe were true, bummer.

When we were booking the trip, renting a car seemed like the best option.  We had tons of luggage with us, we were going from Rome, to Milan, to Venice...and we thought it would have just been easier.  We thought wrong.  Next time, we will take the train...lesson learned.

 The ONLY good part about the drive were the views...they were amazing.  We drove through Florence and the Tuscany area, and it was absolutely beautiful.  I wished that we had more time.  It would have been fun to stop along the way and check out some of the country!  Milan is mostly northwest of Rome, so there was a lot of country to see.

 AC Milan vs Catania
Sean was really excited for the soccer game, it was the reason for our trip to Milan.  We didn't get to see a lot of the city, by the time we got there it was dark, but it looked pretty sweet.

We ended up being a little late from our crazy road excursion, but we made it!  Just to give you a little history on why Sean wanted to see them in particular...

They are the most successful club in world football in terms of international trophies.  Milan has won a record of three Intercontinental Cups and once its successor, the FIFA World Cup. Milan also won the European Cup on seven occasions.  They also won the UEFA Super Cup a record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice. Milan won every major competition in which it has competed, with the exception of the Europa League (in this competition they have lost two semifinals in 1972 and in 2002). Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A behind Juventus (29 titles), along with local rivals Inter. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, as well as a record six  Supercoppa Italiana triumphs.

Not too shabby....
 The crowds were insane in Milan.  We even got to see a crazy fight. European "football" was basically everything we thought it would be and more. 

 Out of all the amazing things we saw over the course of our trip, Sean still says one of his favorite parts was the soccer game...really?  We saw some of the wonders of the world, and a sporting event measured up to them?!  I guess I shouldn't be that surprised...he did say he was having major ESPN withdrawals on our trip.  No TV, smart phone, or internet...rough life.

 The section we were sitting in wasn't too rowdy...I think it was the family section (luckily).


 Sean actually captured the winning goal on camera. 
 I'm not really sure why I started dancing at the end...

 Sean was only down to take pictures after the game...for fear of the crazy AC Milan fans.  We wouldn't want to block their view of the game!  

I'm glad we finally made it to the soccer game, there was a couple of times I think Sean and I both thought that it wasn't going to happen.  It turned out to be quite the fiasco, but it was worth it in the end!  If any of our readers ever go to Europe...don't rent a car!  Whatever the hassle, take the train!  Lesson learned, rant over.

Thanks for the good time Milan!  Hopefully we'll see you again one day!



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