Sure….. I just love getting kicked in the nads repeatedly as someone pulls all my teeth with rusty pliers and no sedation.
Well, I’m sitting in the Philadelphia airport waiting for another 90 minutes for our flight to Madrid to leave. My son’s soccer club put together a group trip to Madrid, Spain and we’ve got 64 parents and players going. While there they will get training from the coaches and staff of the Real Madrid team and play in a couple of small tournaments with teams from around the world. We’ll also be going to a couple of pro games including seeing Real Madrid at home. Should be loud and crazy. I think their stadium holds around 80,000. I’ll try to post some pics while we’re in Spain.
Thats awesome, send me some notes. My daughter is studying in Madrid this fall. She’s there mid August till just before Christmas. The wife and I are going to see her over Thanksgiving break.
First note Irish, take the night flight so you can sleep and get to Madrid in their AM hours and stay up until bedtime. You’ll feel fine the next day and pretty well adjusted to the 5 hours ahead here. Second tip, take something to make you sleepy like some Benadryl. I forgot mine and got like an hour and a half of sleep. I’m exhausted but gotta stay up. Anyway, we’re all here in the hotel lobby waiting for our rooms to open up and then lunch will be served to us.
We toured the stadium for Athletico Madrid. Really cool! Got to see the whole place, owners seats, locker room, press rooms, went down on the field. Place holds ~20K (I believe). Afterwards we went to Getafe home stadium and watched them play Sevilla. We sat down by the corner of the field just 5 or 6 rows back from the field. We had the rowdy Sevilla fans behind us in the end zone seats. They were chanting and singing the whole time. Sorry no pics. Won’t take them from my phone cause they’re too large. I’ll have to downsize them when I get home. Going to the Real Madrid facilities for training tomorrow and a game tomorrow night. Went by the stadium downtown and it is huge from the outside. Fits 80K or so.
We just did a training session at the Real Madrid facilities. That place is impressive. They have teams from 7 year olds to their pro players that train there. Sorry no pictures were allowed. I don’t know how many millions that place cost to build. Absolute state of the art facility with their own medical staff.
@IrishDawg42 Another tip for you: They have a daily siesta here from around 1 or 2PM until 5 or 6PM. Most places close for that time and open up again after. If you get hungry, it’s hard to find stores that are open. You may want to buy some snacks to keep in your hotel.
Toured the stadium this morning. They can move sections of the field around which is why a portion of the field is missing. They’re fixing the turf after last nights game. You can buy a mini replica of the stadium with a piece of game used turf in the gift shop for only 45 euros ($48US)
Here’s one of their 4 walls just filled with trophies from all the leagues and tournaments they’ve been in throughout their history.
Keep em coming!! Sounds like an incredible trip so far. Though, I think I would rather starve and skip the snacks… I’m a foodie, so I plan on getting some of that great Spanish cooking while I’m there.
@IrishDawg42 Do you or Mrs. Irish have an iPhone? I have one so I’m not sure about how androids work. Using your credit card in the apple wallet so you can tap your phone to pay is the way to go. Check and see which cards may or may not have international fees (or the lowest fees)and use that one. Almost every place here hotels, restaurants, museums, street vendors, taxis all have phone tap payment. So you don’t have to carry much cash on you or your credit card.
Had a game last night against a really tough local team who was really good. Ended in a 3-3 tie. Couldn’t get many good photos with just my phone. Here’s my son #13 on the left on a throw in.
