We got off to a late start in the morning after an exciting Friday night of great food and wine. After we got up and finished our homework for the day, many of us decided to go back to the Borghese Garden where they have soccer fields open to the public. We have been looking to play soccer for the whole trip (especially Jack) and today was finally the day. We bought an AS Roma soccer ball from a local vendor for 18 euros last night in anticipation of today. A bunch of us met up around 2 and made our way to the garden. We found an athletic center with a couple of fields. We got on the field, but a man came out to tell we had to pay. Since there was 11 of us, we agreed to pay the 50 euros for an hour, but an hour turned into almost two and he never came back to kick us off! We played some 6 on 5 for a while until Hergie started feeling the wine from last night a little too much to keep playing. We played a game for more than an hour before we finished off with some world cup. Team Spain (Max and Jack) won the ship.

After soccer we walked back to our apartments and a few people stopped for kebabs at Istanbul Kebab. The spicy sauce on the kebabs was all the rage. After some dinner, 8 of us made our way to Stadio Olimpico, the home of AS Roma and Lazio. We were there to watch Lazio play Atalanta. The stadium was awesome, but it was only 20% full (maybe even less) because of covid. Even at only 20% full, the stadium was electric. Before the game started, we listened to 2 or 3 Lazio songs being sung by fans and countless chants. The fans were chanting constantly, but it wasn’t enough to will Lazio to victory, or even a goal. The game ended disappointingly at 0-0. Even without a goal it was entertaining enough to watch the intense reactions of the fans and try to understand what they are saying. Soccer fans are as intense as you’d expect.

Another great day in Rome, full of all the soccer we could take.

Connor