[Travel] Reflections on Rome

peterward said:

I didn't go to Ajax away, just the other 3.

Best in Stadium atmosphere was Marseille, hands down the best in my lifetime, but thought the city itself was a bit of a dump.

Best overall was Athens, great weather, fantastic time in city, walking to stadium and chatting to AEK fans, though game itself was a bit meh even though we won and qualified so all good.

Rome, is tough to judge as the loss really cut and made me feel flat and miserable, but it's probably my favourite city in the world anyway, as its a stunning historical/culinary paradise that's full of soul.

What was cool, and when does this ever happen! On arrival to our group of 3 Air BnB near Vatican, the owner Roberto turned up between midnight and 1am on his vespa to do check in, cool fella, Robbie Williams ringer, you can smell a bit of booze on his breath and he mentions hes had a few Lemoncellos,...... he let's us in, shows us the apartment, we mention we're here for the game and he's says hes a mad Roma fan/STH, travels abroad too... we ask if there's any local bar still open at 1am, and first he starts to show us on maps where it is, so we ask him if he wants to join us, he duly obliges and after short walk, we spend the next hour having a few in an Irish pub, and when that closes at 2am, we walk across road to some late night sandwich place with draught beers and drink there until 3am, after beers Roberto is back on the Lemoncello, all sharing football stories and chewing fat on both clubs, he was a proper hardcore Roma fan who knew about us. As we left he insited on buying a round of Sambuccasz one of our 3 went for it (i bottled!). He invited us to meet up with him on the Thursday evening with some of his Roma mates at 5pm, but we got the busses earlier to ensure we got in.

All random and spontaneous but a fabulous couple of hours with a top fella and Roman footie nut / air bnb landlord!!

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Herr Tubthumper said:

I arrived home yesterday and been reflecting on this recent trip; I’m of the view this was my favourite out of Marseille, Ajax and Rome. Rome is an incredible and beautiful city where football seems to be a religion. Literally every single person who discovered we were from Brighton (hotel staff, taxi drivers, cafe, bar and restaurant staff) immediately mentioned the game and then declared which side of the Roma football divide they are on. One guy helping me at the airport even told me he will be at the AMEX on Thursday for his first trip to see Roma outside Italy. The city can even sustain a daily sports (football) newspaper which is further testament to their love of the beautiful game. It’s a proper football city.

I loved the bars, the cafes and the restaurants I visited, many of the buildings are just insane eg Victor Emmanuel building and there’s history on every corner. People were super friendly and helpful.

The game itself was disappointing but the stadium is historical and the atmosphere was great, especially a full house of romans singing that song at the start.

All this whilst watching the Albion!

What do others think?

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Guinness Boy said:

A bit off topic but if I had a Time Machine I’d love to jump back to that sort of time and do an away with everyone just once. No internet, just turn up on the train you’d arranged the week before, bang the tinnies in a locker, pub for opening time, game in some kind of daze not really caring about the result, tinnies out, drink on way home. Rotherham, Barnsley, Port Vale, Blackburn, all great days out in a shithole.

Not Oldham though. Oldham can f**k off,

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Brian Fantana said:

I did Marseille, Ajax and Rome. Rome was bottom of the pile for me - not just because of the result.

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Herr Tubthumper said:

Same trio as me. Why Rome at the bottom?

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Herr Tubthumper said:

I arrived home yesterday and been reflecting on this recent trip; I’m of the view this was my favourite out of Marseille, Ajax and Rome. Rome is an incredible and beautiful city where football seems to be a religion. Literally every single person who discovered we were from Brighton (hotel staff, taxi drivers, cafe, bar and restaurant staff) immediately mentioned the game and then declared which side of the Roma football divide they are on. One guy helping me at the airport even told me he will be at the AMEX on Thursday for his first trip to see Roma outside Italy. The city can even sustain a daily sports (football) newspaper which is further testament to their love of the beautiful game. It’s a proper football city.

I loved the bars, the cafes and the restaurants I visited, many of the buildings are just insane eg Victor Emmanuel building and there’s history on every corner. People were super friendly and helpful.

The game itself was disappointing but the stadium is historical and the atmosphere was great, especially a full house of romans singing that song at the start.

All this whilst watching the Albion!

What do others think?

Click to expand...

Brian Fantana said:

Partly my fault for picking a hotel in an annoyingly difficult to get to and from part of town, which just created a load of hassle. Sitting in a bar on Wednesday night, with groups of Roma fans dressed in black and holding moped helmets standing outside making gestures really make for a relaxing experience either.

After the match on Thursday, trying to find a taxi that would take me back from the centre to my hotel without charging me double/triple the rate of the night before was a massive pain too. When I finally managed it, the taxi driver was a Roma fan who couldn’t have been more of a dickhead, insisting that our place in the competition was a waste of time and Roma shouldn’t have to play teams like us.

The beauty and history of Rome goes without saying, but everything else I experienced this time can get in the bin.

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Herr Tubthumper said:

I arrived home yesterday and been reflecting on this recent trip; I’m of the view this was my favourite out of Marseille, Ajax and Rome. Rome is an incredible and beautiful city where football seems to be a religion. Literally every single person who discovered we were from Brighton (hotel staff, taxi drivers, cafe, bar and restaurant staff) immediately mentioned the game and then declared which side of the Roma football divide they are on. One guy helping me at the airport even told me he will be at the AMEX on Thursday for his first trip to see Roma outside Italy. The city can even sustain a daily sports (football) newspaper which is further testament to their love of the beautiful game. It’s a proper football city.

I loved the bars, the cafes and the restaurants I visited, many of the buildings are just insane eg Victor Emmanuel building and there’s history on every corner. People were super friendly and helpful.

The game itself was disappointing but the stadium is historical and the atmosphere was great, especially a full house of romans singing that song at the start.

All this whilst watching the Albion!

What do others think?

Click to expand...

Herr Tubthumper said:

We weighed up various post-match options but was told taxis would be very difficult. How long did it take to get a taxi? Did you flag one down or use an app or call?

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Herr Tubthumper said:

I arrived home yesterday and been reflecting on this recent trip; I’m of the view this was my favourite out of Marseille, Ajax and Rome. Rome is an incredible and beautiful city where football seems to be a religion. Literally every single person who discovered we were from Brighton (hotel staff, taxi drivers, cafe, bar and restaurant staff) immediately mentioned the game and then declared which side of the Roma football divide they are on. One guy helping me at the airport even told me he will be at the AMEX on Thursday for his first trip to see Roma outside Italy. The city can even sustain a daily sports (football) newspaper which is further testament to their love of the beautiful game. It’s a proper football city.

I loved the bars, the cafes and the restaurants I visited, many of the buildings are just insane eg Victor Emmanuel building and there’s history on every corner. People were super friendly and helpful.

The game itself was disappointing but the stadium is historical and the atmosphere was great, especially a full house of romans singing that song at the start.

All this whilst watching the Albion!

What do others think?

Click to expand...

Herr Tubthumper said:

This could be a fun idea. Maybe next season I choose an away game, look into the area’s culinary history and report back. I think I’ve gone as far as I can with the offal theme so I need something new.

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