Barcelona vs. Manchester....What a Day!

I'm going to backtrack a little bit to yesterday's post for just a minute or two.

There were all kinds of people that came to see the Pope. All kinds of umbrellas came out too providing a little relief from the sun!






I mentioned yesterday that I was fascinated by the security guards at the Vatican. I looked up some facts about them because I'm sure you're just dying to know! :)


*Their official name is Papal Swiss Guards
*They've been serving in the Vatican since 1506
*Recruits must be Catholic, single males, have a Swiss citizenship, be between the ages of 19 & 30, and need to be at least 5'7"
*They have to have completed basic training with the Swiss military and be able to obtain certificates of good behavior conduct
*It's often thought that their uniforms were designed by Michelangelo but the current uniforms were created by Commandant Jules Repond in 1914

Now......
We consider ourselves to be a soccer family. We love the sport and all 3 of the kids started playing around preschool age. The girls played up until a year ago and Ben is still playing. He's on a comp team and is a great defender and goalie! One of my favorite things to do is watch him play. We are missing not being there for their spring season!!!
Last week the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) European Soccer Championship was held in Rome. The game was Wednesday night. It was Barcelona vs. Manchester United. What a fun day to be in Rome!!

This sign was on a sloped road in the Spanish Steps area



The atmosphere was extremely festive everywhere we went. Diehard fans were sporting their team colors in shirts, flags....even hair color!

In the Vatican area.....go Barcelona!


Honking wildly around town


Barcelona in the Vatican area


Barcelona in the Vatican area....singing and chanting


Barcelona at the Vatican


It was awesome. They were erupting in song all over the city, honking horns and having a wonderful time. We didn't see anyone get out of hand but the riot police were scattered all over the city keeping an eye on things.


At the Pantheon....this group had a little recorder playing music with the help of a megaphone. They were singing along quite boisterously :) They sang "Que Sera Sera", "That's Amore" and many others!


Riot Control at Spanish Steps


Manchester United at Spanish Steps


Manchester United at Spanish Steps


I read somewhere that there were about 50,000 fans in Rome for the game. I believe it....We got on one bus that was pretty full and then the next stop even more people crammed on! It was so hot and humid in that bus....there was sweat dripping off our faces. I tried wiping my hand on my pants and it didn't help at all. My MIL said she had sweat dripping off her earrings! We were laughing in between trying not to pass out!
The Metro was no better....what do you do when a Metro car is packed like a can of sardines? Duh, you pack more people in!!




Barcelona won 2-0....I bet the city rocked with celebrating! We were already tucked away in our quiet, peaceful villa out of Rome.