Madrid - Day #2 - morning breakfast & "futbol" stadium tour

Day #2 in Madrid started with something I have come quite accustomed to here in Europe - a simple breakfast of a croissant with a spread of some sort (Nutella, Jam, Butter, or sometimes just plain) and a cup of coffee and juice. While the croissants were not nearly as good as the ones I picked up in France, they were still a bit better than what we have in the States, and they were provided free by the hostel along with the black coffee and juice, so I had no complaints. I really wish I could somehow have a fresh, warm, flaky croissant delivered to my house in Houston each morning - such a good start to the day!

Today, I decided to go take a tour of "El Estadio Santiago Benabeu", the futbol (soccer) stadium and home of Real Madrid (pronounced Ree-Al, meaning Royal). I really wish I could have taken in a game there - they actually played the night before I got into town and lost to AC Milan 2-3, and it was supposedly quite a match according to my dormmate Marcus from Australia.

They are the most succesful futbol club in the history of futbol, and they recently (2009) picked up some of the biggest names in the sport in Ronaldo and Kaka.

The tour was mainly self guided, leading you through designated points throughout the stadium including: the upper deck, the middle deck, the trophy room, and small history section, the locker room, the field boxes, the area where the players sit ready to enter the game, and the press room. As you will notice in the photo above of the field, they actually put articifial lighting on the grass that is shaded by the sun to make sure it continues to receive light nourishment and stays green, a practice I did not know stadiums ever undertook.

 

I managed to have a few people take my picture along the way at the other stops as well.

They also had an Adidas Real Madrid gift shop at the end of the tour where I picked up some new shorts, to add to my ever growing array of athletic shorts at home. It's only 11:30am, now what?....

-z!