1st of March, according to me

I woke up by the alarm at 7.45 AM, surprisingly "pigg" (meaning not tired at all). Tina wasn´t at all awake so I let her sleep a little bit longer while I checked how my friend Patrik was doing in Vasaloppet (http://www.vasaloppet.se/, it started almost three hours ago). He was doing well, he had gone really fast the first leg to Maangsbodarna actually! He continued in the same great pace and crossed the finish line later that day. A fantastic achievement, congratulations Patrik!!!

When I checked back on Tina, she was barely awake ... The night before, we enjoyed a great steak in rustic neighbourhood of Palermo. After the late dinner, we were really tired after all the walking during the day (and we´re still not adjusted to these late dinners, quite tiring in themselves ...). Therefore, we decided to take the metro (or "Subte", as it´s called here) back to our hostel in San Telmo. To our surprise, the metro stopped running at 10 PM. Since walking back was out of the question, we catched a taxi and (after some late night (web-)surfing) tucked in at around 1 o'clock.

The reason why we had to get up early today was that we needed to get in line to get tickets to the big soccer game taking place this evening. Boca Juniors played "en casa" (home) against Huracan. Apparently, Boca had started the "liga" rather poor and really needed a win tonight. We had asked around quite a lot for how to get tickets to the game, and we had also spent hours on the Internet trying to find out how to get tickets (on your own vs from agency), which sections to prefer ("platea", i.e. seated), what to bring (barely anything), and how to get to the stadium (walking was said to be too dangerous (the Boca neighbourhood is generally not safe, not even for locals), so bus or taxi was suggested). After all research, we now knew our options pretty well. Buying a ticket from an agency was too expensive (50-60 Euro), and buying a ticket on the black market felt risky (we had no way of telling if it was a false one). So, we decided to go the stadium on the match day and try to buy a ticket in the official way, from the club itself. Locals had told us that the ticket offices opened at 10 AM, but there would be a huge "cola" (queue) by then and that it might be sold out if you arrive too late. Hence, we tried to get up early and catch a taxi to the stadium asap.

When we arrived at the stadium at 9.15 AM, it was indeed a long queue, but it could have been longer ... We got in line and soon realized that we´re up for a challenge, for two reasons. Firstly, the ticket offices didn´t open until 12 AM (since it was an evening game (starts 7.30 PM), normally they open at 10 AM ...). Secondly, with a clear blue sky, the sun was burning at over 30 degrees C. After some consideration, we decided to stay in the queue after all. We argueed that if we didn´t, we might not get a ticket. And all the locals stayed as well, only some tourists left the queue. (To our regret, in turned out that we probably could have gotten a ticket later after all). We we're well equipped with plenty of water, sun-block ... and a card deck! =) We played a couple of rounds of "Vänd-aatta"! (I won 4-2 =) Around 11 AM, the sun was really starting to get to us and Tina could barely stand it ... Finally, at 12.10 AM, the offices open and at 12.15 AM we had two tickets in our hands. It was stand tickets right in the middle of the local fan section, but we got them!!! And they were quite cheap as well; I paid 7 Euro and Tina 6. The next actions were not hard to decide on, we marched right down to the resto/pub street and enjoyed a cold Quilmes (the "national" beer). Boy, did it taste good!!! =)

We spent the remaining afternoon on the San Telmo Sunday market. We had heard and read a lot of positive things about it, but in my mind it is just another atiques market. It started to rain heavily, and we rapidly find our way into market-hall, situated right next to the market place. More antiques on sale but also fresh fruits, cheeses and cured meats. We found a small cafè making their own pirogs (filled with chicken or corn) and also a delicious-looking apple cake. It was!!! =)

After a quick shower at the hostel, we jumped on the local bus taking us out to "La Bombonera" (Boca stadium). People seemed to arrive from everywhere, all dressed in blue and yellow, the colors of Boca Juniors. We bought a nice fan hat (which would shown to come in handy) and munched on a delicious "churri" (hot dog) before getting in line to get into the stadium. We we're a bit worried that we wouldn't be situated next to each other during the game, since we had tickets for different sections, but that was no problem at all! When we got our first view of the pitch, we also realized that our section was almost full already, even though we arrived more than an hour before the game started. We pushed our way down the crowd and finally found a pretty good spot with a surprisingly good view of the pitch (taking aside the huge fan flag right in front of us). The fans soon started to sing and we joined in (as good as we could, we picked up the lyrics rather fast, actually) ... The athmosphere was great! Half an hour before the game, it started to rain ... Where we stand, there was no roof ... At first, it only drizzled but soon it was pouring down! It was still warm enough in the air, so that was no problem (at first). The rain didn´t interrupt the fans though, the kept singing (if not even harder/higher) as if nothing has happened. Then the game started ... We barely noticed it, we (and all the fans around us) where to busy singing, jumping, waving their flags and smiling!!! The athmosphere was different than the one in Brasil, it felt more genuine, more positive and more alive. The fact that we were actually standing right in the middle of the hardcore fans this time can have something to do with it ... =)

The game then ... Both teams started positive with lots of attacks from both sides ... The control of the ball was better compared to the Brasilian game and it was a delight to finally see Riquelme (Boca superstar) in action. He really is a genius on the pitch. He's always one step ahead of the other players (even his team mates, which often lead to a lot of "missed" passes from his side) and he always know what to do when he gets the ball (it feels like he has decided what do do before he even gets the ball). And he so strong with the ball as well, he didn't loose the ball once even though he was "attacked" brutually several times. In my opinion, there's no one else in the world with such a control on the pitch! That's his ofensive skills, on the defensive side there's plenty to improve (he barely ran in the defense). Dispite that, it was a amazing experience (for me, a soccer junky) to see him play!

The first half ended within any goals made, and Boca could not be pleased with their performance. Huracan have had some great chances to score, and lead on "points". To our great surprise, the fans went completely quiet in the break, they looked almost tired and you wondered if they would cheer/sing at all in the second half. But as soon as the (Boca) players entered the pitch again, the songs started again, now harder/stronger than ever! What perhaps amazes me most about the whole Argentinian fan experience is the multitude of songs sang. Not once did they sang a song twice. Sure, they sang the chorus like 100 times but once the song was "over", they always started on a completely new song! We must a sang at least 25 different songs during the game! Impressive!

Boca started the second half strong and had several good chances to score but no luck yet. We were afraid of a 0-0 game but then, in about the 70 minute (we could't see the score board from our position), Boca scored and the stadium "lifted". We were all jumping up and down and screaming out loud! But then, rather quickly, the "score" cheering ended and the fans continued with their songs again. Apparently, some of the fans weren't that interested in the game. They were there for the fans experience only, it seemed! Odd ... But lovely! But I must say that I liked brasilian way of celebrating a goal better, it was wilder and pure happiness!

The rain had poured down on us continuously during the game and we were now soaking wet and started to get pretty cold. Like 10 minutes before the game ended we decided to leave. Unfortunately, the security would not let us (and many other fans) leave the stadium. They blocked us just before the stairs. At first, we couldn´t understand why, but than it came to us; we were standing on the hardcode fan section and in order to avoid fights etc. they wanted to let the visitor fans out first (in Europe, they let the home team fans out first). At least now we weren't standing in the rain ... But the majority of the fans were and once the game was over (it ended 3-1 for Boca, we missed three goals standing in the stairs ... =(), they started pushing really hard to get out (presumably to get out of the cold and still pouring rain, and not to fight) and after 10 more minutes the security could stand the (physical?) pressure of the crowd and they let us out. We stopped for another great "churri" outside the stadium and then followed the crowds safely home to our hostel. Completely exhausted, we fell asleep in like two seconds ... What a day!!!