Seven days ago, I was back home in Bari feeling a little gutted that I had to teach a two-hour class at the same time as the England v Germany Euro 2020 match. 11 years earlier at Glastonbury 2010, I had even made the difficult decision to miss legendary Kinks frontman Ray Davies’ set on the Pyramid Stage in favour of watching the match on the big screens near the Dance Village instead. England got thumped 4-1, so in hindsight it was perhaps, the wrong call.
England v Germany is always a big deal. The match last Tuesday at Wembley was made even more significant by the fact it was a repeat of the semi-final at Euro ’96, where England were knocked out of the tournament with our then-central defender and now-manager Gareth Southgate having his decisive kick saved by Andreas Köpke in the penalty shoot-out.
Highlights of the famous England v Germany Euro 96 clash at Wembley. 26th June 1996.
The ’96 match was on the same day as my elder sister’s graduation from Durham University so she and my parents watched it there, whilst my half-Khasi grandmother travelled from Eastbourne to look after me in Market Bosworth, where we were living at the time. I actually missed the first half because I had to go to Scouts (there is a pattern emerging here), but was then glued to the TV for the second half, extra time (including the agonising near misses by Gazza and Darren Anderton) and then the ensuing dramatic penalty shootout. Despite being only nine years old, the game finishing at nearly 11pm and having school the next day, I vividly remember my grandma (a former nurse) encouraging me to “listen to some music” to calm me down so I would be able to go to sleep. I think I finally drifted off to sleep sometime after midnight.
Back to the 2021 rematch. I managed to watch the pre-match build-up on the BBC but then had to make the 15-minute journey into school, just as the game was kicking off. I switched my phone to airplane mode and didn’t look at any texts from friends and family for a few hours. On my walk home I actively avoided going past certain bars or pizzerias that might be showing the game and wore headphones to drown out any noise. At 9pm I was finally able to re-watch the match on my laptop but unfortunately, despite trying to avert my eyes, the 2-0 scoreline was revealed to me as the on-demand footage was buffering. It did perhaps make for a slightly less stressful England-watching experience though…
Never did I think for a moment that I’d be at the quarter final against Ukraine at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome a few days later as part of the travelling ‘Expat Army’. As soon as England had beaten Germany last Tuesday, I started getting WhatsApp messages from people asking if I was considering getting tickets for the game. With Covid restrictions still requiring Brits to quarantine for five days upon entry to Italy; the only people who could go were England fans living in mainland Europe (or even further afield than that).
A near-empty Stadio Olimpico upon our designated arrival time of 6.30pm. 3rd July 2021.
British media began (incorrectly) reporting on Tuesday night that the British Embassy in Rome would be issuing tickets to expats. However, after making a number of calls on Wednesday morning to the UK Consulate in Rome, it became clear that this was false and that UEFA would be selling the tickets after all – but only to people who could prove they were permanently living outside of Regno Unito. A British lady of Italian descent was selling a ticket through social media for €150 on behalf of her cousin who could no longer go; she seemed legitimate enough but was making a sizeable mark-up on the ticket and I took the risk and decided to wait until some became available on the official channels.
Finally, on Wednesday evening, UEFA made tickets available through its online portal. They weren’t cheap and initially my instinct was that I couldn’t afford it (in Puglia I earn significantly less than I did in London), however several friends in the UK urged me to reconsider. To quote my good mate from school Matt Turner; “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!”. I snapped up the tickets, hastily began making travel plans to get to Rome the next morning and soon the Expats in Italy community was buzzing with people who would be making the very same pilgrimage.
I’d originally planned to take my time with Rome. I wanted to spend a full week (or even longer) in the city when the weather got a bit cooler in September or October. The idea was to get the tourist sights out of the way nice and early and then live like a local and really get to know some of the less obvious parts of the city. Instead; the weekend just gone has been a fun-yet-hectic, whistle-stop visit, dominated by the football on both Friday and Saturday nights. I arrived on Thursday evening and didn’t really stop until the high-speed train back to Bari Centrale left Roma Termini station early on Sunday evening.
I walked a daily 30,000 steps on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and on the first day tried, and succeeded in covering off The Vatican City and St Peter’s Basilica, Piazza del Popolo, The Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Altare della Patria monument, the Trevi Fountain, Campo de’ Fiori, Castel Sant’Angelo, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. The average temperature in Rome over the weekend was 30˚ and it’s accurate to say that by the time I met up with people for a drink that evening, I was suitably parched. The cold beers went down very well.
A snapshot of my day exploring historic Rome.
The fact that the Pantheon – a Roman temple built by Hadrian circa AD 113 – has been in continual use ever since then particularly blew my mind. Let’s be honest though, even with the Covid restrictions in place, much of Rome’s Centro Storico is a honeypot for tourists. Food and drink there costs three times what it does in Bari and the crowded area around the Trevi Fountain, whilst beautiful, reminded me of a Baroque Leicester Square. I sought out some respite in the nearby Galleria d’Arte Moderna – a tranquil gallery that was hosting the ‘Ciao Maschio!’ exhibition about toxic masculinity and political tyrants, as well as permanent works by Willem de Kooning (the Manics wrote the Everything Must Go track ‘Interiors’ about him), Carlo Levi and even London’s Gilbert & George. Entry was just €7 – highly recommended if you want a break from the crowds.
Some of the delights of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Roma.
It was the Italy v Belgium quarter final on Friday night and a small group of us watched it on a screen outside a restaurant just off Campo de’ Fiori, chowing down on cacio e pepe, cold cuts and burrata and knocking back a few Birra Messina. The final few minutes were tense but as the game finished 2-1 to Italy, the streets around the Centro Storico erupted and very soon they were teeming with local revellers celebrating the fact Italy had made it through to the semi-final. We stationed ourselves outside a small bar just off the Piazza Navona and there was a carnival-like atmosphere around the packed small lanes with plenty of chanting and the odd flare being let off. It was a lot of fun and the crowd continued to grow as the night went on. We called it a night around 3.30am and it was probably the right decision with the England game the next day – the locals continued festivities long after that though.
The scenes around Piazza Navona after Italy’s win against Belgium on Friday night.
Saturday was a slightly more chilled affair and after the typical Italian sweet breakfast of a pastry and coffee, I explored the Trastevere neighbourhood a little down the River Tiber. It’s an area famous for its rustic and bohemian vibe, although there are now a lot of upmarket boutiques and eateries. After an extremely rich polpettina di cicoria con pecorino and carbonara lunch, I climbed Il Gianicolo – the second tallest of Rome’s seven hills, with a small terrace area at the top offering fine views of the city. I then made my way downhill to the Orto di Botanico di Roma – Rome’s botanical garden, opened in 1883 and operated by the Sapienza University of Rome. It featured over 3,000 different species of plants and a Japanese, Mediterranean and medicinal garden – not to mention two greenhouses full of giant cacti. It was a peaceful, almost otherworldly place to relax ahead of the excitement that was awaiting us at Stadio Olimpico just a few hours later.
Heading downstream to Trastevere and the Orto di Botanico.
Due to Covid-restrictions, everyone attending the England v Ukraine match was given a designated entry time with their ticket and mine happened to be 6.30pm – very early considering the kick-off wasn’t until 9pm. We were treated to an awkward set by the tournament DJ (Euro-trance was his speciality) and some football jugglers but at least they showed the highlights of the Czech Republic v Denmark game on the big screens. I’m not sure the stadium was quite prepared for how thirsty the England fans would be and very soon the bars had huge queues by them and the poor guys whose job it is to wander around the stadium selling drinks and snacks would be accosted as soon as they came back to the stand and would sell out again and have to refill pretty much instantly. Soon the choruses of ‘Three Lions’ began to ring out across the England section of the stadium, whilst the opposite end gradually filled up with the yellow shirts of the Ukrainian fans.
There was a great atmosphere in the stadium as it got busier and we met people who had travelled to Rome from across mainland Europe, and even one lad originally from near Middlesbrough who’d made it over from Dubai in time. There was a group of Anglo-German healthcare workers who had decided to fly over from Frankfurt that day and were returning the same night and my English mate Jamie was also flying back to Vienna at 4am, straight after the match. Whilst the newspapers made much of the “ragtag band of teachers, lawyers and waiters” (to quote a headline in The Sunday Times) who would be cheering England on in Rome, the mood became increasingly raucous and noisy, particularly after the three goals in the second half went in.
Inside Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night, including shots of the players celebrating Harry Maguire’s headed goal and Harry Kane leading the applause to the England fans.
Enough has already been written about the finer details of the England v Ukraine game itself, the team’s slow-build performance in the tournament so far and the possibility of the team reaching their first major final in 55 years. However, in summary, the first half performance was efficient but not thrilling – Harry Kane’s early goal after four minutes settling some initial nerves. Ukraine had a few half-chances towards the end of the half but we were never really in danger of conceding.
The team turned up the heat in the second half though and Harry Maguire’s header was a real thunderbolt; we had a great view of it as we were sat right above where Luke Shaw’s assisting free-kick was taken from. It was great to see Jadon Sancho getting his first start of the Euros on the right and Jordan Henderson’s first-ever England goal for number four too. Kane led the players on a lap of honour at the end of the game and even the unused substitutes like the plucky Phil Foden and Jack Grealish joined him in their tracksuits too. Foden’s newly-bleached peroxide barnet making him unmistakeable – even from the stadium’s furthest seats. Ukraine didn’t provide the most challenging of opposition so perhaps it makes sense to keep the flair players in peak condition for the next match against Denmark.
Another rendition of ‘Three Lions’ at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night.
Stadio Olimpico is a quite long way from the centre of Rome and post-match the 2,500 travelling England fans dispersed in several different directions very quickly. However, we still had a few beers after the game but it was nothing compared to the celebrations after the Italy win the night before and the scenes in the alleys around Piazza Navona and Campo de’ Fiori.
Sunday was spent exploring the Villa Borghese park just above the Piazza del Popolo, a quick walk around the Pantheon area again and then lunch at a great restaurant I had found on Thursday evening in the Prati district called 3 Quarti. Reasonably-priced, off the tourist trail and busy with mainly locals, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting Rome (they also have another restaurant in Roma Nord). Thursday’s dish of choice was the classic Roman dish Maccheronici alla gricia and spicy sautéed cicoria as a side and lunch on Sunday was courgette flower stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies and cacio e tre pepe (three peppers – black, white and pink).
The boating lake at Villa Borghese and the delicious fare at 3 Quarti on Via Attilio Regolo in the Prati district of Rome.
So, my first trip to Rome didn’t turn out exactly how I imagined it would be. I walked on average 11 miles per day, drank quite a lot of beer and tried to cram as much into a three-night stay as physically possible – and that’s without starting on the football. It was great fun though, a real adrenaline rush getting the tickets so close to the match and good to also catch-up with some familiar faces.
I’ll be back in Rome before not too long but next time, will look forward to spending some time in the more under-the-radar neighbourhoods of Ostiense (a formerly industrial district now full of bars, galleries, museums and street art), Parioli (a leafy, well-heeled suburb of Northern Rome) and San Lorenzo (the buzzy student area where bottles of Peroni apparently still cost €1). Another image of Rome that is embedded in my mind as much as the ancient architecture and numerous Baroque church spires is that of the distinctive stone pines (also, known as the Parasol or Umbrella pine). They are everywhere – even in the city centre and are very much an iconic emblem of the city. Until next time. A dopo Roma.
Rome’s distinctive stone pines.
The sunset over the River Tiber near Prati on Thursday evening.
I was curious why you were in Rome. Makes sense Clive. I’m sure the match was amazing live as it was very cool on the tele.
It was quite a full-on weekend but definitely worth it! Glad it looked just as cool on TV – hope you’re enjoying the game so far tonight as well!