If you know me, I’m a pretty big Real Madrid fan. I get a lot of flack from my Barça friends, but I don’t care. Hala Madrid! After settling into our apartment and grabbing some food, we jumped into a cab and headed toward the Santiago Bernabéu. A smile came to my face just by saying those words.
We stepped out of the cab and WOW. There it was. It was massive and grand and wonderful. I can’t even begin to imagine what the atmosphere is like on game days. I was finally getting to live out a dream.
History in the Making
We bought our tickets and walked up a seemingly endless number of stairs. Hey! I didn’t sign up for a stair workout with the price of admission! When we got to the top, my complaining was done. We had a look over the entire stadium. It was gorgeous. For the non-fan, it may not seem like much, but for me it was the beginning of a wonderful tour.
After taking in the views from above, we entered into the actual museum part. They thrust you into a room with a trophy cabinet filled with trophies and moments from their entire history on one side. On the other side, there are a bunch of screens showing highlights from their past with the announcers going crazy. We walked pretty slowly through this bit, just taking in the feeling.
Somehow the museum combined their past and present to create a futuristic feel. After wandering through the trophy room, we made our way into another room that celebrated the current players. It had data from the current squad and the jerseys of them, too. Screens on the wall showed the players showing off some of their moves. It was like the players were in the room with us! We also got to see all the Golden Balls and Golden Boots that the players have won.
Count that Silverware
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, WHAM! We were then moved into a room with all the Champion’s League trophies the club has won. For you non-soccer fans, the Champions League is a tournament played by the best club teams in all of Europe. Real Madrid has won a record-setting TEN wins! (2017 update: TWELVE!) The tenth, or La Décima, was the newest of the trophies. My dad and I posed with the trophy holding up ten fingers, which started a new trend. (2017 update: Apparently I need to grow a third hand to keep up.)
We also saw the newest trophy to the collection! The team had just won the FIFA Club World Cup (played by the champions of each of the continental leagues) the previous Saturday.
A Player’s Viewpoint
But wait, there’s more! After putting our jaws back into place from all that silverware, we then continued along to see the locker rooms, the athletic training rooms, and all that behind-the-scenes things that you normally don’t get to see. We were then shuffled around the stadium and led down to the pitch. Of course we didn’t get to run crazy around the field, but it was pretty cool to see what the players see when they play.
At the of end the tour, we were dumped into the gift shop. It’s torture. I wanted to buy everything in there. I did get one thing, though: a pink Real Madrid jersey with Sergio Ramos’s name and number.
To some people, this may seem like something silly, something trivial. For my dad and myself, this was an opportunity of a lifetime. I hope to be able to see a game played there one day to really get to experience the atmosphere. Some people may give me a hard time for the team I support, but no matter what they say, I’m going to continue to support them.
2017 update: I’m pretty excited to be heading to Madrid later this year. I really hope I get to see a game. If I don’t, please take away my fan privileges forever. I’m super bummed to have missed out all the celebrations from La Liga and the Champions League wins this year. They’ll just have to do the same next year! Hala Madrid!
