We set off at 8:30 am for Terminal Bus Garibaldi. My intention was to convert my e-reservation voucher for the bus to Milan Bergamo airport to a “real ticket” there. The Autostradale (the bus company) website clearly stated that we have to convert the ticket at Garibaldi. To my horror, when I reached there, I was told that they no longer have a ticket booth there and I was re-directed to Milan central station. When I reached the central station, I went to one of the agents to try to convert, but I was told to go to the main ticket office. After being shuffled here and there to different people, I finally decided to just go to the bus directly to ask the driver about it. And it was there that I found that I could just board the bus with the e-mail printout. WTH. I was very sure that the website said otherwise as I verified it twice before I went to Milan. My impression of Italy has never been very good and this small incident just proved the messiness and disorganization of the Italians.
By the time we left the central station, we were already almost 2 hours behind schedule. Original plan was to cover the Milan castle and Santa Maria delle Grazie where the Last Supper painting of Leonardo da Vinci resides. In the end we only had time for Milan castle as we had to leave early for the Milan derby match which was the primary reason that brought me to Milan. The Milan castle itself was a beautiful site although I was not particularly wowed, having seen so many castles in the past few months.
By the time we left the central station, we were already almost 2 hours behind schedule. Original plan was to cover the Milan castle and Santa Maria delle Grazie where the Last Supper painting of Leonardo da Vinci resides. In the end we only had time for Milan castle as we had to leave early for the Milan derby match which was the primary reason that brought me to Milan. The Milan castle itself was a beautiful site although I was not particularly wowed, having seen so many castles in the past few months.
the Milan castle
L-R: couples lock a padlock on this bridge to "secure" their relationship; makeshift skiing ramp
Anyway, a few weeks ago Sinhui and I bought the Milan derby ticket online for 175 euros per ticket. That is slightly more than S$ 350 and we were expecting at least a second tier seating. To our disbelief, when we received our tickets yesterday, we found out that we would actually be sitting at the topmost and furthest tier and each ticket only cost 21 euros. *GASP* When we got to the San Siro, we also found out that we would actually be sitting with the Inter Milan fans as Inter was playing home that day. I was fine with sitting with Inter fans but obviously Sinhui, being a die-hard AC Milan fan, did not relent. She said that we should try our luck to go through the gate which was not ours. She decided to go to a blur-looking controller and before long, we were lucky enough to be through the gate.
souvenir shop; Sinhui with 2 Milan supporters
The next obstacle was that there was another control check to go up to the Milan sectors. At first the old man directed us to the Inter sector but after Sinhui begged with him in Italian and mentioned that we are Milan fans, he was kind enough to let us in. And we were in San Siro!! A dream came true for Sinhui and all of a sudden, the 175 euros became worth it as we were sitting in 2nd tier with the Milan fans. An important lesson we learnt today was that nobody should ever buy tickets online for two reasons: firstly, there were many people selling tickets on that day itself (black market of course, but it would definitely be cheaper than online) and secondly, it is free seating once you get into the stadium. In fact, everyone was standing throughout the match.
San Siro Milan
The atmosphere in stadium was inexplicably awesome. The tension between the two sides went all the way to the tribune as the fans could not stop jeering each other. Notably the Milan fans who only occupied the 2nd tier upwards, threw down balls of newspapers down to the 1st tier, some even spat at the Inter fans sitting in lower stands. Middle fingers flew all over the places coupled with the chants “Ole…ole…ole…ole…Inter merda” (Inter shit).
L-R: Milan fans; fans burning newspaper after the match
pre-match atmosphere (mind the flying middle fingers)
The match itself went up to my expectations. It was played at high tempo as both teams wanted to prove who is best. Inter went into the match as the table leader of Serie A while Milan went into the match as a “world champion” in Yokohama which ended just last week. Milan started off more brightly; Kaka notably proving his worth as the winner of Balloon d’Or. His ball control was really superb and he has speed; these made it really difficult for the Inter defenders to dispossess him of the ball.
Milan fans throwing newspaper balls at Inter supporters
Milan took the lead in the 16th minute when Inzaghi in my opinion dived just outside the penalty box to earn Milan a free kick. From the most ideal position, Pirlo made no mistake, curling in a stunning freekick that left the Inter keeper rooted to the ground. The Milan sectors immediately burst into thunderous celebration. However, the joy sharing went a little overboard as the guys in front of us were hugging each other violently and fell onto Sinhui (in a near daopok manner) except that a few of them landed on her knees. Sinhui thought her knees had just broken/twisted and the pain was apparent as she was crying in pain. Luckily, after a while she managed to bend her knees so we knew that it was probably the initial shock that caused the pain. Nonetheless I was really angry and disgusted by the behaviour of some of the fans.
Inter then seized control of the game and admittedly for most parts of the match, Inter was the better side as they were able to string passes well and create goalmouth chances. Inter equalized before half time and it was a goal they deserved as the build-up was really neat and quick. Dida’s position was questionable though as he conceded at near post, similar to the goal he conceded against Rooney in last season’s Champions League semifinal.
Inter then seized control of the game and admittedly for most parts of the match, Inter was the better side as they were able to string passes well and create goalmouth chances. Inter equalized before half time and it was a goal they deserved as the build-up was really neat and quick. Dida’s position was questionable though as he conceded at near post, similar to the goal he conceded against Rooney in last season’s Champions League semifinal.
neat Inter attack
In the second half, Inter was still the dominating side and they went ahead 2-1 through a Dida’s howler. Cambiasso somehow managed to get a shot between two defenders and Dida inexplicably dived too far to the left and let the ball past his legs. After this goal, Milan never looked like equalizing as they kept losing the ball in the midfield area. Apart from a stunning Kaka’s first time volley that was parried away by Inter’s keeper, Milan had to bow to the table leader at final whistle.
After the match, we wanted to shop for more souvenirs in the official store. To our aghast, the official store was really small and everyone had to queue to get in. Everyone was pushing each other, increasing the chances of human stampede to happen. There was nothing much in the store that caught our eyes except a scarf that Sinhui had purchased before the match. In fact, the fake goods outside the stadium offered much more variety. Sinhui got herself a Milan flag and 2 key chains after which we headed back to Duomo for a sumptuous dinner at Ciao Restaurant.
Today has been an unforgettable day despite the fact that Milan lost. I am really looking forward to Old Trafford. Hopefully Man United will play well (and win) and the atmosphere will be as great as that in San Siro.
After the match, we wanted to shop for more souvenirs in the official store. To our aghast, the official store was really small and everyone had to queue to get in. Everyone was pushing each other, increasing the chances of human stampede to happen. There was nothing much in the store that caught our eyes except a scarf that Sinhui had purchased before the match. In fact, the fake goods outside the stadium offered much more variety. Sinhui got herself a Milan flag and 2 key chains after which we headed back to Duomo for a sumptuous dinner at Ciao Restaurant.
Today has been an unforgettable day despite the fact that Milan lost. I am really looking forward to Old Trafford. Hopefully Man United will play well (and win) and the atmosphere will be as great as that in San Siro.
No comments:
Post a Comment