One of my favorite joys in life is go to the partite di calcio (soccer matches) to watch the Fiorentina play. I love the energy of the tifosi (fans) and of course the sport itself. Last year Alessandro and I went to quite a few partite, and after going to Curva Fiesole, which to some is considered the heart of the stadio (stadium), I had a desire to get an abbonnamento (season ticket) this year.
Aleessandro and I discussed getting abbonnamenti last year, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do it because I had only been to the Maratona, which is another section of stadio along the long side of the campo (field). It was the spirit and energy of the tifosi in the Curva Fiesole that persuaded me to want to get an abbonamento. Almost all of my friends who go to the stadio have seats in the Curva Fiesole, so it'll be even more fun to get together for the partite.
In the Maratona, we were always sitting and rarely got to stand up and cheer while in the Curva Fiesole we were always standing and continually cheered throughout the entire partita.
People told me that the crowd in the Curva Fiesole was rowdy as there are also ultras (the fans who are known for being a bit rough and tumble), but I never saw anything happen at the stadio.
I was told that it was difficult to get an abbonnamento in the Curva Fiesole, but I still wanted to try because I love that part of the stadio. Up until the 19th, they weren't selling abbonnamenti to give precedence to those who had them last year to renew theirs first. But I kept a positive outlook. I filled out the modulo (form) for me and for Alessandro and made photocopies of our carte d'identità (ID cards). On Sunday, we dropped off everything along with the cash for the abbonnamenti to our friend Gianluca who is part of a Viola Club (a fan club for the Fiorentina).
I asked Alessandro to call Gianluca yesterday to find out about our abbonnamenti, but he had no news for us. Today when Alessandro's phone rang, I hoped it would be Gianluca. Alessandro nodded his head to me and I knew that he had got us our abbonnamenti. I was so excited that I jumped and hugged Alessandro while he was still on the phone. I screamed into the phone, "Grazie, grazie, grazie!"
I can't wait to see the tessera (card) of my abbonnamento to see where our seats are. What's interesting about the Curva Fiesole is that it doesn't matter where your allocated seat is because you can pretty much go anywhere you want. Someone has to arrive early to save seats and usually people keep going to the same seats all stagione (season).
I'm excited to go to the first partita of the stagione at the end of August. I'm hoping to learn a few of the main songs that they sing during the partite beforehand. I have learned a few already, but there are so many that I don't know if I can learn them all in one year!
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