Santiago Bernabeu

To all the people state side, I cannot imagine that I went my whole life without ever stepping foot on a fútbol (soccer) field. Well, I did. But not until I was way into college and that was strictly for intramural purposes. Let’s be real, I’m not Gareth Bale.

I grew up on the American past times: football, baseball and I even did a little white men can’t jump back in the day. What up, Woody. However, I never really appreciated fútbol. Living abroad in Spain, one of the premier fútbol countries in the world, I think it’s safe to say, I missed out. Step into any primary school and kids from the age of five, are asking you in a very Spanglish way, “¿Madrid o Barça? ” They grow up on this like wheaties for breakfast. And they don’t really let that passion dwindle until they are six feet under. Even then, there might be a Ronaldo jersey underneath that casket.

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It’s pretty interesting to me that people can be so involved with their team and never be afraid to show it. In fact on our way to our first match in Santiago Bernabéu, we walked right into a riot. However, when you think that this type of behaviour would not be tolerated, as long as they didn’t damage anyone's personal property the police say, “no pasa nada. ” They understand that to some people it is more than a game. That this can be expected from time to time. And whether you see that as childish or enthralling, you are right. But, it’s all OK.

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Once we entered Santiago Bernabéu (home of the fútbol club Real Madrid) for the first time, it was electrifying. There were no big screens, no mainstream pop blaring over the loud speakers, and no vendors available to stuff your face with any and all types of food. Please don’t misunderstand me, I love my Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks and the ‘Boys. And I love the entertainment side of all of these groups. Dollar hot dog night at the Ballpark in Arlington is a must. Anyways, this was different. They did not need any of those things to keep people at the game or to keep them entertained. Their entertainment was the love affair they had with the men in white. Every fan cheers, every child screams. For 90 minutes the people of Madrid’s focus is on a 344 ft x 223 ft field. Every goal is celebrated and relived for the weeks to come. Even if it ended 0-0.

Last season, Real Madrid competed in the Champions League final. It was one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, that some clubs only dream to be a part of. That year was unlike any other year though. They faced off against the other side of Madrid, Atlético. For both teams to have been competing for the Champions League final from the same city out of numerous distinguished clubs all over Europe speaks volumes for Spain as a fútbol loving country. It was a good match to say the least, that "los blancos" pulled out as victors.

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With all of that said, I cannot wait for the upcoming Champions League tournament. To cheer on your club is an adventure. If you’re already an avid soccer fan, I’d love to shake your hand. If you’re new to this, I hope you’ll be watching with me and the rest of the world come this spring.

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Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is a worldwide football institution. Even if you are not a Real Madrid supporter, or you don't like football, if you are in Madrid you can't miss a visit in this place: an open-air museum of the global football. Especially you can't miss a tour inside: you'll be allowed to have a go on the grass, in the dressing room, in the press room and finally in the museum where you can find the whole collection of trophies won by Real Madrid during the years: Championships, Champions Leagues, "Copas del Rey", etc. It's a magic place where you can breathe the history of football.

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This is one of the cafes which impressed me most, and not just because of the quality of the coffee, which I will explain in a moment.

Any madridista, or Real Madrid fan, will buy an item of clothing or some other piece of memorabilia of their beloved team if ever they pass through the Spanish capital. Many of them are far from cheap, but having a Real Madrid souvenir in your room (and adding a little to the team's treasure chest), is always a great pleasure, however, in this case the souvenir is not of a material nature.

Here, the madridista's reward is nothing more or less than being able to contemplate views of the Santiago Bernabéu's pitch while enjoying a cup of good coffee - the green colour gives a special background to your surroundings and makes your stay in the cafe magical.

The cafe can be found at door thirty of the beautiful stadium. Making your way there is quite lovely, as first of all you find yourself face to face with the wondrous sight that is the Santiago Bernabéu, a grand stadium rich in history and footballing achievements. From this moment on, your journey is much like that you'll be used to seeing on TV, as you'll pass by those well-known surrounding areas of the stadium and the ticket sales area where madridistas are often interviewed before or after matches, or to talk about the latest headlines relating to the club.

When I walked into the cafe, I was greeted by the girl at reception and a man who was a little older and who seemed to me to be the boss of the place, and they very politely explained to my friend and I what the cafe could offer. We had expected the price of the coffee to be quite high, so we were rather surprised to find that it would only set us back three euros, given the views of the place.

When you go in, you buy a "ticket" with which, for three euros, you can enjoy a beverage, be it a coffee, a cocktail, a beer or other alcoholic drink, or a soft drink, and you can sit where you like and enjoy views of the football pitch.

The café has two floors. On the ground floor, you can find the main hall and the toilets, the latter of which really caught my attention as they were quite different from normal toilets - they were quite futuristic and innovative, which I really liked.

The upper floor is where you can sit down to enjoy a meal or a drink, and where you can find the glass walls which surround part of the stadium and which offer views of the pitch.

When we went up to the top floor, we found one positive and one 'negative' aspect of the place: on the one hand, we were impressed by the cafe as it had the look of a high-quality establishment, with well-laid tables with tablecloths and well-dressed staff (we didn't believe a coffee there would cost just three euros), and all of this with a backdrop of Spain's most famous football pitch. The only drawback was that all of the tables next to the glass wall were occupied, leaving only the 'second row' tables free.

Even though this disappointed us somewhat at first, it was rectified quite rapidly by the member of staff attending us, who told us that as soon as a table next to the glass was free, it would be cleaned and made ready for us to sit and enjoy our coffee with views of the pitch. (We could tell that it wasn't the first time this had happened, and that doesn't surprise me).

The truth is that we were a little embarrassed by this, because the people sitting at these tables seemed to have ordered the more expensive dishes, and we weren't sure if a simple coffee would be enough to allow us to sit there but, thanks to the cafe owner (who was Argentinian), we could fully enjoy our time there.

Although we only ordered coffee (at least, that was our original intention), the Real Café Bernabéu is actually a restaurant, and it offers a wide range of dishes worthy of mention. I took note of some of them in case I return, as some of the prices didn't seem to be too excessive. It offers as follows:

Breakfast menu: served with coffee, milk, herbal teas or fruit juices, and home-made pastries, with the option of a piece of Spanish tortilla or bread with fresh tomato (prices range from three euros and upwards, depending on what you choose).

Appetisers and starters: Russian salad, manchego cheese with tomato chutney, turkey tramezzinis, chistorra (a type of Spanish sausage) skewers, etcetera.

Banquet menu: This type of menu is a little expensive (it varies between forty to fifty euros) and includes an appetiser such as warm bread with Majorcan sobrassada (a type of cured sausage), caramelised onion with goat's cheese or smoked chicken skewers; house salad with aubergine and honey, Tudela tomato with vine shoot oil...

For the main menu, you can choose between barbecued Iberian pork steak with cream of mushroom sauce, pig's cheek with potato puree and black truffle, oven-cooked Norwegian salmon, or Cádiz-style hake.

To finish off the meal there are all sorts of desserts, which looked delicious, at least.

Personally, given what happened to us, I would advise you take more than three euros with you because after our coffees we moved on to a plate of cured Iberian ham - when you see dishes like that passing by you and people all around you enjoying a delicious piece of ham, the Spaniard inside you simply can't resist and we ourselves ended up giving in to temptation; it was worth it because it was absolutely delicious, even if it wasn't exactly cheap (it's about ten euros per serving).

To bring this entry to a close I would say that, even if you're not a madridista, it's worth a visit to the cafe - if you don't want to spend much money, just order a coffee which is cheap enough (and it's a requisite for entry, since that's the price of the "ticket" I mentioned earlier, which you have to buy if you want to go in). You won't regret it!

To get to the Bernabéu, you can use public transport, which is useful because the stadium is a little way outside of the city centre. If you choose to use the metro, you should get off at the stop called 'Santiago Bernabéu', which is on line 10. If you're going by bus, you can take line 43, 120, or 150. Hala Madrid!