Settembre 1998: Lisbona!

September 1998: Lisbona!

28 August 1998, Friday: today it is a very important day for all Bologna fans. We had no chance to play an European Cup since 1990, but as we have won our Intertoto tournament, we have gained the opportunity to play in UEFA cup. Today we will know the name of the first team we have to meet: Sporting of LISBONA. It's a strange destiny, Lisbon is the city where we have spent our last European adventure... 7 years ago I had not enough money to participate to that travel, but this time, I want to go!

10 September, Thursday: it is too late to find a travel to Lisbon. There is the EXPO in town, so it is all completely booked. We only find three places by plane: take off on Saturday and go back on Wednesday. LET'S GO!

12 September, Saturdays : at 12.30 a.m. we all meet to the airport. Takeoff to 14.00 a.m. with Andrea and Daniela, and after three hours: we are in LISBONA!

We find the right bus to the city center, where we are so lucky to find a really cheap and clean "PENSÃO"!!!
Andrea decides to go to see the match of Benfica, while me and Daniela prefer to have a look of the city center. In the evening we eat a sandwich and we re-enter in the hotel to discover that on TVI there is the game of Bologna F.C. against Milan which has scored two goals. We turn on the tv set just in time to see the goal of Leonardo and to feel a little sad ...

13 September, Sunday: today we spend all the day for tourism. Just a few steps along the pedestrian way (the Rua Augusta)to join the elevator "Saint Justa" where we buy the three-day tourist pass for unlimited rides on the tram or bus and elevators. We start our tour going up the 23 meters of this street elevator (built in 1902 it is one of Lisbon's more extraordinary structures) in order to enjoy the view. From here, you may observe all the Baixa, the area between Praça de Figueira and Praça do Comercio (the gridded 18th-century downtown shopping area).

We have our breakfast, then we go to the ALFAMA, one of the most typical quarters and the most picturesque. We start from the Catedral Sè square, we continue by bus to arrive to the medieval castle of Sâo Jorge., perched on the top of a hill from which one has a panoramic view of Lisbon. But remember to walk within the preserved Moorish walls and the castle's ramparts and towers, it is equally worthy!!! A short stop to the Saint Luzia viewpoint covered by characteristic blue tiles called Azulejos.

Then, we go back to sea-level, through the tortuous streets of the Alfama arriving in Praça do Comercio to take the tram to the Belèm area. The bus stop is just in front of the great church and monastery of the Hieronimyte friars (Monastero dos Jerònimos) which is classified as a world monument by UNESCO. Built in sixteenth century, it is considered to be the masterpiece of Manueline art (founded by King Manuel I who gave his name to the architectural style of the period). Unfortunately there is too much people waiting to enter and it is impossible to visit this great monument.

We continue along the river, in order to see the Tower of Belèm, also in the Manueline style. It was built as a fort to guard the entrance to Lisbon and with its balustrades, terraces, statues and balconies is probably the most lavishly decorated fortress in the world. Back to the monastery we stop for a moment along the river Tago in order to see the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, built in 1960, the quincentenary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. The monument commemorates the great voyages of Portuguese navigators under his influence in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

In the afternoon, Andrea decides to go to see the stadium where we will play on Tuesday, but me and Daniela, we prefer to continue our sightseeing tour taking an elétrico (tram) . This is one of the most amusing and enjoyable ways to get around Lisbon (built by British engineers at the end of the last century).

In the evening, we all meet in order to have dinner together. We decide to take the small funicular-railway (elevador da Glória) just behind Praça dos Restauradores, to Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara in the Bairro Alto. Later we go back to the Rossio in order to find an economic small restaurant!!! Our day ends as it was begun: going up with the elevator "Saint Justa" to see the night view of the city lights. "Good night! "

14 September, Monday: EXPO!!!
Really it turn to be not so exciting as we all have thought : too much people, and pavilions are not so interesting as the ones I have had the chance to see in Seville in the '92 EXPO!!!

We know that to the Italian pavilion, people are waiting for the Italian delegation at lunch time ... but the delegation arrives, he is Mr. Violante (Pres. of the Italian Parliament)... "he is not the man WE was looking for!!!" We ask the hostess of the pavilion again to discover that the Bologna delegation will arrive to 16.00 p.m. ... we stay in the international area visiting other pavilions waiting until 16.00 p.m.

Mazzone (the coach) and Marocchi (the team captain) arrive to have a short press conference. We ask them to have a photo and then we spend some time talking to the Italian press . So we discover that they have a bus waiting for them at 18.30 p.m. to go to the ground to see the training of the team... We decide to go there ...

After the training we obtain to go back to the EXPO again by the press-bus, to re-enter to participate to the great dinner in honour of press and fans!!!

15 September, Tuesdays: today it is the great day!!!! . After breakfast, we go to the stadium in order to see the training of the team. We first go to see the museum of the Sporting cups of the Sporting (there also are those won in other sports)... "It's great!!!"

The team arrives at 11 a.m. and we are the only three Italians fans ... we start talking to the Sporting fans and to the guys of the BFC staff. We wish some luck for the team and we say: "in bocca al lupo" to Eriberto... (IT WORKS!!! He will score a goal) We buy the ticket for the match and go back to the town where we meet two friends, Matteo and Cecilia. We all for a coffee to the famous bar "A Brasileria" in rua Garret, in the Chado area!

At 7.00 p.m. we are ready to go to the stadium for the match! We arrive to the metro station Campo Grande and we soon enter the "tribuna". A small group of fans travelling with the team, arrives: now we are nearly 20!!! We try to support the team, we use all our voices... the boys from the field greet... they ear us!!!!!! After first goal (goal by Nervo) is a great joy... all around there are Portugueses who cannot believe to it... but at the end of the game, the result turn out to be BETTER: 2-0 for Bologna... it's a dream!!!

At 2 a.m. we are all in the room of the hotel, but it's so hard to feel asleep... This wee-end has been so exciting that our body do not want to relax!!!