Saturday, March 9th. Verona

My train to Verona was pretty dope. I had a first class ticket and it was cool. It's not a huuuuge difference from second class but it was nice.

I was sitting with a Russian family from Moscow. I fell asleep and woke up shortly after, as the attendant checked our tickets. The Dad struck up a quick conversation with me but he didn't know much English. His wife asked if she could see my Nintendo switch. I let her see it really quickly. She saw Pokemon and asked if her daughter could play. I changed the language on my switch to Russian and the daughter was ecstatic.

The mom was very thankful and gave me some chocolate. The Dad busted out some jagermeister and offered me some. It was like 10:30AM but you can't turn down that offer lol.

We talked for a little bit, with both his daughter and Google translate acting as our translator.

Their family were skiing the Austrian Alps. Fucking bourgie ass family, lol. They brought their skiis and everything. It turns out that both he and his wife are morticians. He said that his wife was the "Death Doctor." I was scared so I left that joke alone, lollll.

He encouraged his daughter to speak to be in English for practice. She was cool. She's 8 years old, swims, skiis, and reads for fun. She plays Pokemon go on her phone. She was explaining how in Russia they have to download an emulator or something that in order to play. She seemed pretty tech savvy for her age.

Shout out to that family. They were cool af.

The remainder of the rain ride was great. The views were craaazy. You see the snow-capped Alps and all these cool villages. It felt like Switzerland but not as grandiose.

I finally arrived in Verona and God damn was it a welcome sight. I think it was kind of draining, staying in all of these big cities with big buildings. Verona has a very old-school, small city feeling. It came at just the other time for me. That's a lie, I probably would have been happier if I had been there a day or two earlier lol.

I checked in to my bed and breakfast place. It was very much a family owned business. The business messaged me on Whatsapp to confirm details with me. It was weird but kind of cool at the same time.

I got settled in and headed out. I struggled to open the front door because none of my keys worked. I was so confused. I tried one more key and I actually turned it so hard that the key broke off LOL. I messaged the guy on Whatsapp and he came and gave me a replacement key. It turns out that there's a switch on the wall that you flip to open the door. Smmfh.

I only had a couple of hours to roam around because Milan played Chievo Verona at 8:30PM. Thankfully Verona is a super small city and you can walk from one end of the city to the other in less than 30 minutes.

I skipped out on Juliet's balcony and grabbing her breast (yeah, it's a real thing lol). I crossed Castelvecchio Bridge and went up to Piazza Castele San Pietro. That whole shit is a fucking VIBE. Definitely worth going back. Being there during sunset was the exact kind of thing I wanted to do on this trip.

I went back to my B&B and relaxed before the game. It was nice to finally have a room to myself. For the rest of the trip I'll have my own room. Actually, starting tomorrow in Naples, I'll have hotel rooms. It's fucking lit!

I made my way over to the game. It was super hype for me because of the feeling. You could see the bright lights of the Stadio Bentegodi off in the distance. It was walking distance away but the light made it feel like it was so far away. I was getting more and more hyped the closer I got.

Imagine my surprise when I got to the stadium and there was a FAT line to get in. On top of that, I had to buy my ticket there because you couldn't purchase tickets online. They only had €50 tickets left an I had to wait in the crazy line. Italy is dope but the smaller cities really gotta get their shit together lol. It's ridiculous that you can't buy tickets online.

I finally got in and I couldn't figure out where my seat was. I walked in just as the game started and I didn't feel like searching anymore. I looked around and other Milan fans were standing on this perch, so I followed suit. I stood on that perch the entire game. It actually offered a great view and I didn't mind standing.

The game itself was wonderful. Lucas Biglia scored on a free kick (who knew he could score free kick? Lol) but Andrea Conti didn't defend a cross well, allowed a free header on goal, and we conceded right before halftime. The  Chievo Verona fans lit up the Bentegodi with excitement. I've never seen so many old people (especially grandmas) cheering so loudly and violently. We went into halftime a little nervous, especially considering our coach got sent off for dissent. We're a much better team than Chievo Verona so the home fans were super happy to be tied at halftime. They had every right to be happy.

Thankfully Milan isn't that far from Verona (I think it's like a 2 hour train ride) and
many Milan fans made the trip. If I had to guess, half of the stadium was Milan fans. It was wild. I really picked a great time to make this trip. The team is in great spirits and it really feels like this is the beginning of a beautiful thing

The Curva Sud (Milan's most dedicated fan base) created an electric atmosphere. They were chanting in unison the entire game, as loud as possible. The way they stay organized is incredible. They lit red flares when we scored and changed the name of any player who scored. It's seriously hard to describe how incredible it is to be there to witness it in person.

In the second half our star striker Krzysztof Piatek scored and put the game away. I don't know most of Milan's changes because they're in Italian but I know Piatek's chant. Witnessing him score and how the Curva celebrates him was so dope. Being able to recite the chant along with tens of thousands of other Milan fans was DOPE.

After the game ended I made my way back to my B&B, smiling and happy to finally have a room to myself. Naples and incredible pizza tomorrow, I'm HYPED.