When I go to the stadio (stadio) to see the Fiorentina play, I am in the Curva Fiesole, where the diehard fans are. I never bring my macchina fotografica (camera) with me because it’s not really allowed and our seats are behind the goal, quite far from the campo (pitch). Normally when I go to a partita (match), I am usually too busy clapping, singing and cheering to take any foto (photos) anyway.
When I read on-line that the Fiorentina were having a partita amichevole (friendly match) against San Miniato Basso today, I couldn’t wait to go. Even though I was invited to a lunch near Piazzale Michelangiolo, I called a taxi right afterwards to take me to the stadio. The uncovered area along the side of the campo, called “Maratona”, was open for the tifosi (fans). When I arrived, there were over 500 people sitting down to watch the partita.
The stadio was much quieter than what I’m used to, but it was a joy to watch the calciatori (soccer players) play. I stood at the top of the stairs near the goal to take foto. I wanted to be closer to the campo, but there’s a large plexiglass window separating the Maratona from the campo. One man was taking foto from below, but I ended up not having any time to do so.
I only saw the second half of the partita, but it was enough time for me to take a few good foto of my favorite calciatori. Shown here is the photo I took of Viola attaccante (striker) Alberto Gilardino. I posted the others on my blog’s FaceBook fan page.
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