Well. That was not what I expected. First, I met with a group to get tapas and drinks before the game. We went to a place David knew about that was one drink and a tapa for 2 euros. It turns out that every Wednesday, everything is one euro. So I got myself two sandwiches to start. I got a smoked salmon and a calamari sandwich. They were so delicious! Well worth the euro. Then in order to buy just a drink, it's two euros, not one. So I split a deal with Alicia so I could get another sandwich and she could get another Sangria. This time I got a number 95, which Alicia recommended. It was a chicken and bacon sandwich, with melted cheese, onion, and a barbecue sauce. It was really good. Then a bit later on, three of them wanted to get drinks, but they didn't want the sandwich, so I said I'd eat it, and boom, I got a free sandwich. It was a number 95 again. They were mini sandwiches too, it probably would have taken Jason and Ryan about ten each to fill them up.
(I always forget to take a photo before eating!)
Then we said goodbye to Kristen and Brendan, who both went home, not to the game. I got face painted at the bar, it was a stick paint that had two red stripes and a yellow in between for the Spanish flag. I'll post a photo of that too. The metro to get to the game was pretty busy too, crowded. It was fun though, everyone kept shouting things about España and how we're gonna win. Very spirited. When we got off the metro station (which was way far away!), there were more people everywhere. It was so crazy! Most people were in jerseys, but a lot of the girls were just in black or white tank tops. So I didn't stand out too badly. People were wearing the Spanish flag as capes, waving blow up sticks, wearing crazy hats, it was pretty fun.
(Leah and I with face paint! I limited mine to my face haha)
It turns out that when David said "watch the game", he meant on a monitor outside the stadium. It would have been fine too, except there were literally people everywhere. We were all shoulder to shoulder, nose to ponytail. When you add the heat with that, it's an awful combination, because it becomes sweaty shoulder to shoulder. My own sweat I can deal with, but other people's... not so much. Plus a lot of people in Madrid smoke, so add that into a third of the crowd. It was a fun experience, but it also had it's downsides. It was really hard to see the monitor too. People don't go there to watch the game, they go for the experience of crazy cheering fans and being social. Since I'm not really a soccer fan anyway, it was perfect for me. I will admit, I left early though. I couldn't handle people touching me, and I was SO thirsty! I didn't bring water with me because there's guards checking bags at the entrance to the monitor area. But I was fine with that, by leaving early I was able to avoid a crazy, packed metro ride.
It took me about forty five minutes to get home, since the stadium is at the top of Madrid, and I live at the bottom. My line was pretty empty though (and air conditioned!), so I didn't mind. The first thing I did when I got back to the apartment was to drink two bottles of water. Then I was able to shower, since Pilar is awake in the living room, watching the game with Monica and Maria Teresa. It felt so good to get clean! Then I drank more water when I got out. I wanted to write this now too, while it's fresh in my mind. I'm glad I went. It was a good experience, and I got to pretend to be a crazy soccer fan haha.
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