May 12

Another check off of my Florence bucketlist: attend a soccer game! Florence's local team is called the Fiorentina. It is common to see their purple jerseys on the backs of locals. The stadium is about a 40 minute walk outside of the city center. The game was wild! Tons of chanting, flag waving, exaggerated groans followed by elated screaming. Stadium food of choice for the Italians? An "authentic American" hotdog smothered in mayonnaise. At halftime, though, it began to pour. Never have I seen rain like this in Italy. I took shelter under the stadium. After it was apparent the rain was not going to let up and the game was called, our group decided we should call a taxi to get a ride back to the center. The taxi companies simply stopped answering their phones because of the high volume of calls they were getting. I got soaked. I ended up getting on a random train that was on its way to Santa Maria Novella and got back to the city that way. I banked on the fact that tickets would not be checked for a such a short ride. Phew!