Madrid...or as it probably should be called 'The home of football' given that this great city is home to four teams in the shape of Getafe, Rayo Vallecano, Athletico Madrid and of course Real Madrid. It is with the latter we're focusing on today as myself and my good lady went on holiday this week to Spain making a pit-stop in the Capital whilst enjoying a week in Valencia.
Madrid itself, to shed a little light on the city, is most beautiful with attractions such as the royal palace, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del sol and Grand via just some that this great city has to offer, in actual fact it appears one of the most laid back capital cities that we've had the privelege to visit. Once you're drunk on tourism and full of magnificent tapas theres always the footy....and Madrid is a city that does football you could say rather well.
Taking a ride on the metro to the stadium is an experience in itself as Madrids metro is in dire need of an update, with stations designed on the maze featured in the film 'Alice in Wonderland' and train drivers harsh on the brakes (one even was on his mobile phone whilst pulling into the station) brace yourself for a bumpy ride, still it got us to the holy grain of many-a-football fan as the impressive site of the Bernabeu came into view.
The stadium is a rather tidy arrangement with all stands of equal height without taking away from the character of the stadium, the closer you get and the higher the stadium seems to rise above you giving the impression of how incredible this must be on a match day and the historic buzz of knowing just how many great players, managers and (sometimes) chairman have graced this immense venue. For the early arriver at the stadium there are bars and restaurants dotted around and a commerical centre situated beside the club shop which harbours a few boutiques and eateries.
First in line and itching to get beyond the concrete walls we were greeted by the tour vendors to the tune of 'oh.....only two areas of todays tour are accessable to view, the trophy room and the panoramic,nothing else' our collective hearts sank as we reluctantly accepted a cut-price tour for only 8 euro's and trudged up the stairs of Tower B to take in the view.....and my word, what a view.
Each and every stand finished to perfection, the stands steep and the view inviting, is there a bad view in this place? When and where can I get my season ticket? Right we're coming back for a match yada yada yada the place was just incredible and with only a Japanese tourist for company instead of 80,000 Madridista's it took nothing away from what an awesome arena the Bernebeu really is. Something that is disappointing is that on T.V the camera angle is such that it cuts off 60% of the arena, not to mention that amazing roof and other bits and bobs that make the stadium so great.
Onto the trophy room and Real museum to see the journey that this club has been on from formation to greatness and it really is inspirational, the figures of the great Puska's, Ronaldo (the fat one), Raul and even a statue of Santiago himself, a shrine to the great man and former once great player who did so much for this great club. From there you are blinded by the glow from all the trophy's that the club have amassed over the years including an incredible 9 European champions trophys, 18 Copa del rey titles and 31 La Liga titles and one of the most prestigious of all the FIFA 'Club of the 20th century' award sitting proudly on a single display.
There are also photo opportunites to be had with the European cup and a player of your choosing that are avaliable to purchase at the end of your tour at the club shop. One interesting feature of the trophy room is next to the memorabilia (ticket stubs, pennants, signed goalscorer's boot's) of each champions league final is a televised highlights reel of the final itself, who remembers Steve McManaman bagging a volley in the 2000 final in Paris? The real sense of occasion engulfs the room along with the audio of Spanish commentry 'gol-gasm's'.
We'd only just recovered from our history lesson when we found ourselves pitchside of all places with the entire ground to ourselves, after a few photo opportunites and silly poses in the dugouts it was on to the press area, wasn't all this off limits? Quite frankly we couldn't give two hoots as I did my best Mourinho impersonations to a group of disinterested Spanish security guards 'probably Barca fans' I thought to myself.
As it transpired the only section of the tour we missed were the dressing rooms which lets face it was like having a roast dinner without the vegetables. So all that for 8 euro's was more than satisfactory, in case you are wondering what you see for the full-price (subject to avaliability) the dressing rooms in addition to all mentioned will set you back a cool 16 euro for adults and 11 for children under 14, if you are a Madrid resident then you will get discount subject to providing valid I.D.
To sum up, the stadium is an icon of world football and an aura of history from the greats who have graced the hallowed turf over the years can be felt from the moment you enter. Tickets incidentally for a match at the Bernebeu are not as hard to come by as you may think, aside from the games against Barcelona, Athletico and Sevilla. With that in mind, i'm sure we'll pencil in a game, who knows, I may even get that season ticket....
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| The Greatest club of the 20th century |
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