Ciao, Roma / Hola, Madrid

A little self-deprecating music, because I could've started enjoying Madrid much sooner (also check out their new album. It's really good)

Ciao, Roma

Rome is one of my favorite places I've ever been. Something amazing to eat or see was always around the corner, from 2000 year old Roman monuments to a Renaissance statue to a local market to an amazing family-owned sandwich shop or pasta place. It was overwhelming in a good way. I could spend a year in Rome and still probably not see and eat everything there is. Even after 5 1/2 weeks, there were still parts of the city I hadn't explored yet.

The food and coffee culture in Rome was a dream come true for me. Chain restaurants were practically nonexistent and all the restaurants emphasized fresh, quality ingredients: two hallmarks of great restaurants in my eyes. It made finding a good meal incredibly easy. I felt spoiled by all the great food around me all the time.

Rome had also become a bit like my therapist. Whenever I was feeling lonely or a bit down, all it took was a trip to downtown and a delicious lunch and/or gelato to lift my spirits. The highlight of many of my days in Rome was exploring the city, because if there's two things that will never fail to cheer me up, it's exploring somewhere cool and eating great food (also baseball, but I had to go to Bologna for that).

I was really happy where I was and if I could've, I would've stayed another month or even two in Rome. All seemed right with the world and I didn't want my time there to end. I started missing the city from the moment I stepped on the plane.

Hola, Madrid

Allow me to throw Spain
in your face for a moment

         This is the attitude I came to Spain with. It led me to look for reasons to dislike Madrid and focus on what Rome had that Madrid didn't instead of trying to appreciate the new city. To add to this, it rained nearly every day for the first week and a half, which literally put a damper on things made it hard to go out and explore the city. Also working against me was the fact that my apartment and the study center are both a solid half mile out of the way of the center of town, so I can't just go exploring if I have a two hour gap like I did in Rome.
          All of this made me not care for Madrid for a while. I've since realized that the more I try to compare Rome and Madrid, the less of a chance I'll have to enjoy my time in Spain. The cities are so different culturally and historically that it's impossible to approach them in the same way. I still like Rome more, but I've finally started to take in Madrid and I've really warmed up to it. So, here's some notes on it:

Look how clean and modern it is!

-Public Transportation is a dream: Everything is clean, on time, fast, and you can get anywhere in city and even its suburbs by bus or train. The Metro and the bus system work like clockwork and are extremely reliable and fast. Coming from LA, where it's practically nonexistent, and from Rome where it's a chaotic, overcrowded mess make me appreciate it even more. It's hands down the best I've ever seen. It's so good that I actually don't mind taking the bus, something I try to avoid if at all possible in other cities. This is the public transportation all cities should aspire to.


-I'm less likely to die crossing the street: This was the case in Italy. I think I talked about the chaotic traffic in a couple different posts about Rome, which is why it was shocking how nice the drivers in Madrid are. If a driver sees you standing in front of a crosswalk waiting for you to cross, more often than not, they'll stop and let you go and make sure you're enough out of the way before going through. this is unlike Rome where the drivers all thought they owned the road and would aggressively maneuver around anything in their way.
          This caution extends to pedestrians as well. In Rome, you had to be opportunistic and go whenever you could, regardless of what the signal said. In Madrid, most people hesitate to go until the signal is green, even if there is absolutely no traffic.

Madrid really is beautiful

-Siesta: Yeah, it's real. For those who don't know, Siesta is socially acceptable nap time in the afternoon in Spain, usually between 2:00 and 5:00. All the restaurants are open during siesta, but if you want to go shopping anywhere in the afternoon, it might be hard because many of the stores are closed until later. Siesta traffic is also a thing. I took a bus to get lunch in the 2-3 hour and traffic was so bad that the bus got gridlocked to the point where the driver let us get off in the middle of the street if we thought it might be faster to walk. I have yet to try siesta myself, though. My class schedule makes it hard since I have all afternoon classes. It's because of siesta that...

-Everything happens later in Spain: Most Spaniards don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 PM and the bars stay open way past I'm willing to stay up. This is probably the biggest culture shock I've experienced since being abroad. A late dinner for me is 7:30-8 PM, but a lot of dinner places in Spain don't even open until that time. It can make finding food tricky when you're hungry at 6:30 or 7. Lunch also happens later, as a lot of the lunch places don't open until 1 or 1:30. I'm actually ok with this because I procrastinate enough that I usually end up eating lunch around then anyway. Speaking of food...

Paella from the Mercado de San Miguel. Probably the best
meal I've had since coming to Spain

-It's harder to find good food: I keep hearing Madrid is a great food town, but I haven't seen that so far. I've had a couple really good meals and found a few good places to eat, but the food as a whole hasn't blown me away. I haven't had a "holy shit" meal yet, one that makes me say those words after taking a bite (AKA the best kind). Tripadvisor was my best friend for finding restaurants in Rome, but it hasn't been that so far in Madrid, as all the "top" places are the fine dining, which is not my thing, nor is it something I have the money for. Spanish culture also seems to place an emphasis on meal time as a sit down, social experience. I didn't like this for a while because I had gotten used to of Italy's cheap, quick, and quality culture when it came to food and sit down is boring if I'm on my own exploring, which I usually am. This was initially my biggest complaint about Madrid, but recently I've been trying to put more effort into finding good places, so hopefully I can in the time I have left.

My first meal out in Spain was
literally just a plate of chorizo

-Pork: There is so much pork and ham here, it's ridiculous. From chorizo to the famous Jamón iberico (it's pork that's been fed acorns, apparently) to every form of cooked pig you could possibly want, Madrid has it. There's even a restaurant chain called "Museo de Jamón," or "Museum of Ham," as the ultimate homage to ham. I think pig is the tastiest animal, so I can't complain at all. My friend who's been here all quarter told me the pork culture comes from the expulsion of Jews and Muslims in the 15th Century, since a good way to test whether they had truly converted was to see if they would eat pork or not. I'm not sure if that's true, but it makes a lot of sense. 

Take one walk down Gran Via and tell
me it doesn't remind you of New York

-Madrid feels a lot more like an American city: It's new for Europe (founded in 1500s) so it's certainly closer in time to cities like New York and Boston, and even Los Angeles. The buildings and parks also look new and clean and it makes the city feel modern. If I were to describe it in one sentence, I'd call it the Spanish-speaking European lovechild of New York and Washington DC, since there are parts of Madrid that feel like each city. It has both the upscale commercialism and style of New York and the political buildings and monuments of DC.

Yay for government buildings

         International brands are also much more prevalent here than in Rome. You'd see the occasional McDonald's or Burger King in Rome, but otherwise, everything would be local. Here, it's common to walk down the street and see McDonald's, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, etc, and this makes the city feel really American. I think this is also one of the reasons I didn't initially like Madrid, since I was expecting something that felt more different than America. 

-Madrid has money: The biggest difference between Rome and Madrid is money. In Rome, the really touristy areas were well-financed, but the side streets were often left deteriorating. There was trash and dirt in the streets and it seemed like the government either didn't have the money to maintain everything or decided to spend it elsewhere. Madrid is not like this. Everything looks really well-funded. As I mentioned, the metro is fantastic and about as clean as a metro can get, all the buildings look sleek and modern, all the public parks are well-watered and taken care of, and the city just has a very clean feel to it. It's clear that someone is pouring a lot of money into the city because it's absolutely spotless and gorgeous. From what I've learned in class, this is the only region in Spain that can afford it.

Crappy pano shot of Plaza Mayor

I still like Rome more, but Madrid is definitely growing on me. It's an absolutely gorgeous city and I feel like I've just begun to give it a proper chance to win me over. I'm sure I'll have more to say in a week or two.

Oh my God, Florence

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all.

I had a lot of trouble writing this post because I left Florence with so many stories and so much to say. I ended up with 5 and a half pages worth of raw material based off a very long series of notes in my phone. It took me a long time to decide what to leave in and take out and also how to tell it. If the final post is a tasty sausage, then this mind-numbing process of cutting, rewriting, condensing, and rearranging is the ugly process of grinding up all the nasty bits of the animal no one really wants to know about. Anyone who tells you writing is always easy and fun is either a bad writer or a liar.
          I originally wasn't planning on going to Florence, but my classmates who had visited absolutely raved about it, so I decided to check it out as a part of my trip to Bologna to see a baseball game. My day and a half in Florence can be summed up with the phrase "Oh my God, Florence." Why? Because, depending on how it's said, it can express either awe or frustration, both of which I felt a lot.

         The trip began when I realized I had bought a ticket to Florence's Rifredi station and not the main Santa Maria Novella one. The Rifredi station is small, run down, and in the middle of nowhere; 3 miles from the center of town. It was a 30 minute bus ride to get anywhere close to town. I walked through town and headed across the river to my hostel. As I walked down the street, I felt like I was in slightly cleaner version of Rome. I was a little disappointed because I expected it to be more different, but I obviously hadn't seen the main area of town yet, so I wasn't going to pass judgment.

          I walked past a gelato place called La Carraia with tons of "Best of" stickers in the window and absolutely no line. I hadn't had lunch yet, but I decided I need to do this. This was probably the best gelato I've ever had. I had Tiramisu and chocolate cookie flavor and it blew me away in both taste and texture. It was so light and creamy and flavorful. It more than made up for my day to that point.

          I then checked in to my hostel, which took a lot longer than I wanted, and went to get lunch at a place called Sandwichic that TripAdvisor rated the #1 restaurant in Florence. TripAdvisor was right. I ordered a sandwich with mortadella, caramelized onions, and cream cheese. I swear to you all, this was the best sandwich I’ve ever had. One bite and I was in heaven. This sandwich was able to reverse all the negative emotions I had from being tired and really hungry. If you’re ever in Florence, you NEED to go to Sandwichic. I cannot recommend it enough. This was the sandwich to end all sandwiches, in my eyes. 

           I then began to wander around town a bit and did some sightseeing and souvenir shopping. I eventually made my way to the town's big Cathedral and its famous dome. I was a bit of a bad traveller and hadn't researched the sights that well, assuming I'd just wander, so I didn't really know it existed. Imagine having no prior knowledge and casually turning a corner and seeing this:

Needless to say, I was stopped in my tracks. The Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore was one of the most amazingly beautiful buildings I've ever seen. Even coming off the immense high from Sandwichic, it amazed me. I spent the next 30 minutes slowly walking around this enormous building and taking in the art. The designs were so intricate, detailed, and colorful. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. This is the moment I finally started to feel Florence. I was like, "Yes, baby! THIS is art. THIS is Florence!" Sadly, by the time I got there, the Cathedral was closing for the day, so I didn't get a chance to go in, but my day had still been made.

I mean, just look at this thing. HOLY CRAP, MAN.

          Unfortunately, walking around the Cathedral was the high point of my day. My time in Florence was plagued by minor annoyances and bad luck, and my day went downhill from here.
           It had been raining on and off all day. I forgot to bring my umbrella, so vendors on the street would single me out and try to sell me one, but I kept stubbornly ignoring them and walking past with an attitude of “I’m a strong, independent tourist who don’t need no umbrella." It never rained hard for more than about 15 minutes and I didn't feel like it had gotten bad enough to spend my money on one, especially since I thought I had one back in Rome.

           You know how the old saying goes, right? "Pride comes before a fall." After seeing a couple cool churches, I crossed the river and headed towards Piazza Michelangelo. I took this picture while crossing the river: 

See that gray mist off in the distance? That should've been my warning. 
         I walked along a beautiful green parkway for a while, but couldn't find the entrance, so I decided to turn back and try again tomorrow because it was getting dark and I was hungry and tired.

"Mostly cloudy" my ass

I am perfectly ok with the
events that are unfolding

         It then started to rain. Since I was on a parkway and not in the city, there was no cover anywhere nearby. I found refuge under a tree, thinking I’d just wait out the worst of it, since it provided just enough cover to make it worthwhile. The rain only got harder. I got drenched to say the least. I finally decided the only way to get out of this was to leave and try to find some shelter. Thankfully, there was a bus station not too far away. I waited it out and eventually made it back to my hostel. 
          I dropped my stuff off and decided to go out for pizza. I was so tired and done with being wet that caved in and bought an umbrella from my hostel. It was really ugly, but I was beyond the point of caring.

           I got some pretty good pizza at a place called Gusta Pizza my classmates had recommended and returned to the hostel. I did some writing, showered, and got ready for a good night’s sleep, something I hadn't had in a few days. I came back from the shower and put the key in the door to unlock it and this happened:

Who does this even happen to?? This was the point I decided someone or something in Florence had it out for me. I can accept getting caught in the rain or arriving at the wrong train station, but this is too ridiculous to happen by chance. I told the manager and he said it wouldn't be a problem if the other half of the key wasn't in the door. It was. Of course it was. He explained that as long as the key was stuck in the door, it could only be opened from the inside. Since it was 1:20 AM, everybody was asleep. I was locked out. The manager offered another room, but a girl who was also locked out had an early train to catch, so we had to get into the room. We resorted to knocking. The manager insisted he do it because he was really concerned about waking up too many people. After a minute or two, a bleary-eyed guy with messy blond hair and pajama pants came and opened the door for us and went immediately back to his bed, even before we could thank or apologize to him. I felt so bad for the manager the whole time. He had this look of extreme guilt on his face and no one should have to deal with a crazy situation like this at 1 in the morning while trying to keep all the guests happy. When I checked out, he and I shared a glance of apologetic recognition.

The inside of SS Annunziando

         I got on the road by late morning and pumped myself up for the city. The rain was gone, it was beautiful and sunny, and I was going to go straight to the National Gallery and see some famous art and it was going to be great. Public museums are free in Italy on the first Sunday of the month, so I had intentionally put off the museums for the second day so I could see these masterpieces for free.
         Unfortunately, it was May 1st: Worker's Day, meaning all the public museums, including the National Gallery, were closed. "It'll be open tomorrow," they kept saying, but today was my last day in Florence. Just my luck.
          Though I was discouraged, I wandered around the neighborhood found one of my favorite churches in Italy, SS Annunziando, and a cool market to explore, so it wasn't all bad. 

         I resisted temptation to go back to Sandwichic and decided to try lunch at a place called Il Bufalo Trippone. It was incredible. It wasn't quite as good as Sandwichic, but definitely in the same league. The sandwich I had had salami, cheese, and dried tomato sauce. It was one of those meals where you take one bite and you nod your head and say "yep" several times because it's that much on point. I don’t know how Florence manages to make sandwiches so incredibly simple yet insanely delicious. I didn’t think this level of delicious was possible with only a few ingredients. I'd go back to Florence for a week if all I did was eat sandwiches and gelato.

            I then got in a big line outside the Cathedral to go up in the bell tower, which someone had recommended I do. I waited about an hour and as soon as I got in, I decided to cut the crap and head straight for the top. The bell tower has no elevator, so you have to take the stairs. A LOT of stairs. And you’re climbing up staircases that are dark, steep, and barely wide enough to fit two people. Often times, one person would have to stand to the side while another went the opposite direction. I'm glad I'm not claustrophobic and I'm also glad I'm in reasonably good shape because both those things would've otherwise made the climb up the bell tower absolute hell. 

           The climb was more than worth it though. I can’t stress how gorgeous the views were. You can see all of Florence and the surrounding countryside, especially on a clear day like it was when I was there. You also get a pretty much uninterrupted 360 degree view. The countryside was especially beautiful. It looked like something out of a postcard. I made my way around the tower 2-3 times just taking in the scenery and appreciating the beauty of the city. This was far and away the best thing I did in Florence. If you ever go, you need to do this regardless of how big of a line there is.

Actual city or Windows XP background with a city in front? You decide

          I came down exhilarated and since the ticket I bought got me into both the tower and the Cathedral, I was excited to go inside. I got in a line for it, but when I showed the security lady my ticket, she turned me away, saying it was closed. I didn't know enough Italian to argue with her or figure out how you could get in, so I decided to more or less call it a day. I got some more gelato, headed back to my hostel, and rested for a few minutes before catching a train back to Rome.

        Florence's final vengeance came after I returned to Rome. It started to rain when I was out exploring. Remember that umbrella I bought at the hostel? This is what happened to it in about 45 minutes on its second day of use. I call it "Degradation of an Umbrella in Three Parts," a comment on the fragility of the human condition:

This was the worst excuse for an umbrella I've ever seen in my entire life. Calling it a cheap, worthless piece of crap would be giving it far too much credit. I expect umbrellas to flip inside out when there's a decent amount of wind, but this thing legitimately flipped in a slight breeze and broke in the process. I could blame this on Rome because I was in Rome, but since I bought the umbrella in Florence, it was definitely Florence's fault.

         After getting home and and shaking off the exhaustion and frustration, I was left with mixed feelings about the city. On one hand, it's gorgeous, has some of the best art and architecture you'll find anywhere and has wine, sandwiches, and gelato worth dying for. On the other hand, the city is extremely touristy. Walking through Florence, I found myself wondering if anybody actually lived there. In Rome, Naples, and Bologna, if you leave the main streets, you find a residential neighborhood. with a local cafe, people's laundry would be drying on the railings, and you'd see people come and leave their homes in cars or on bikes. Florence wasn't like this. Even when I got off the beaten path a little, it seemed like the "residential" neighborhoods were mostly made up of hostels or student residences. The Italians in the town seemed like either visitors or workers and I got the sense none of them lived in town. I felt like for a city that has such a massive cultural heritage that it didn't seem to have much, if any, local culture. 

          This may not matter to some people, but it does to me. When I travel, I like seeing the sights and eating the food, but what I love is being in a place and feeling its history and culture flow through me by doing things that I can't anywhere else and trying to have an "authentic" experience (for example, when I was in Bologna, I made sure to get authentic Bolognese sauce). I didn't feel like I could do this in Florence. While I'll associate the amazing restaurants with Florence, the food and experiences didn't seem like they were part of the town's culture or heritage. The sights are beautiful and the food is incredible, but it felt like there was little to nothing beneath the surface. Looks dazzle, but I'm not going to fall in love unless there's something more there.
           Having said that, I'm glad I went to Florence. It was a beautiful, historic city and the food was great. If given the chance, I think I'd go back to Florence for a day to eat and to see the sights I missed, but I don't think I would go out of my way to visit. However, just because I didn't fall in love with it shouldn't discourage anyone from visiting. I know several people who did and loved everything about it, and even I think it's worth going just to see the sights and say you did.

Baseball in Bologna

It's a little known fact is that this song is actually about Bologna's infield defense (I've also been on a Rolling Stones binge the last week or so).

I have two religions: actual religion (which I touch on here) and baseball. I follow one. I'm a slave to the other.

Like many of life's best experiences, this one started by following through with a crazy idea. I knew, thanks to the World Baseball Classic, that Italy has somewhat of a baseball program going, so I looked into it when I got to Rome for study abroad. Unfortunately, all the teams were based in Northern and Central Italy, with the closest to me being about 200 miles away. Fortunately, I'm really committed, so I booked a train trip to Bologna to see a game between Bologna and San Marino. (I also added a leg in Florence to make myself feel like this was more than a single purpose trip).

The stadium, named Gianni Falchi after an Italian baseball writer, was located about 3 miles from the center of town; a 30 minute bus ride away. I had to double check the sign to make sure I was in the right place when I got there. The station looked like just another stop along a residential street. There didn't seem to be anything that resembled a stadium nearby. There was a park down the street Google Maps led me towards, but that was it. No huge parking lot or bustling metro station. I probably would've walked right by it had I not known it was there.

As I approached the park, I saw a small, unassuming concrete building with the words, "Stadio Baseball" on it, so I knew I was in the right place. This was the ticketing office. There was no assigned seating, so you bought a ticket for a section instead. I bought a ticket for lower level, though I planned to move around a bit to get different angles of the stadium. I apologize in advance for the subpar picture quality later in the post. The only camera I had was my phone.

The outside of the stadium

I arrived about 7:30, half an hour before game time, since I wanted to make sure to got a seat. When I got there, I was one of about 30 people max, most of whom were huddled around the grandstand eating food. I was a bit worried. What if the entire crowd was here and I came all this way for a really boring experience?

Gianni Falchi is the smallest baseball stadium I've ever seen above the high school level. Two levels of seats wrapped around home plate between the two dugouts, and then there was a single set of bleachers on the side of either dugout down the line. The inner seats and those beyond the dugouts were your typical metal bleachers. They're not very comfortable, but bleachers like that are pretty common at non-professional games. The upper level of seats was made out of big concrete steps except for a single section behind home plate on the upper level with traditional stadium seats, but I don't know what you'd have to do to sit there. I spent a majority of the game in the upper concrete seats because I thought they were more comfortable, warmer, and had a better view.

There was only one place to get food. It was removed from the seating area and was part of an eating terrace down the third base line. There were several tables and a patio with picnic tables that overlooked left field. The grandstand had the traditional fare: hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, candy, and beer, plus a couple local specialties like paninos with porchetta. I couldn't bring myself to order a hot dog in Italy even though it's tradition, so I got a panino with porchetta.

My Panino <3

When you order, you go off to the side and the worker puts the semi-cooked meat on the grill with vegetables of your choice. I love my Dodger Dogs, but if given the choice between a Dodger Dog and a porchetta panino, I'd pick the panino almost every time. It wasn't even the best sandwich I had in Italy (go to a place called Sandwichic in Florence), but it was so much fresher and tastier than anything you can get at a baseball stadium of any level in the US. Satisfied, I wandered back to the bleachers to watch the beginning of the game.

Though it wasn't the first game of the season, both teams were introduced as if it were opening day, with the players and coaches lining up along the baselines when their names were read. The Italian national anthem was played and the players took off their caps and faced the flag and then dispersed into their dugouts.

Like in soccer, there was advertisements all over both teams' uniforms. Even their naming rights could be bought out, as neither team had a name like "Eagles" or "Pirates." Bologna went either by UnipolSai or Fortitudo B.C. (I'm still not sure which is the official name) and San Marino went by T&A. Bologna wore yellow uniforms and San Marino wore blue.

Play Ball!

-Top of the 1st: Bologna's starter was a lefty with a big black, Matt Shoemaker-esque beard named Mattew Zielinski. In his delivery, he would turn a bit and then throw it short arm style roughly over the shoulder. I remembered how much I missed the cracking sound of a wood bat hitting a ball. It was the first time I'd heard it live since September.

-Bottom of the 1st: San Marino's starter was an average-looking righty named Carlos Quevado. I was eating when they announced the lineups, so I didn't hear them. Bologna's #3 hitter was announced and I swore I heard "Ronny Cedeño." No, that couldn't be right. The former utility infielder for the Cubs and Pirates? Nah, it couldn't be. I went to get a program between inning, and OH MY GOD, IT IS HIM. They even take out a whole page to do a feature on him, because apparently his coming to play in Italy is a big deal. This was his third game with the team, apparently, and he was so far 1 for 8. He was DH-ing. Of all the things I expected to find at the game, a former major leaguer was not one of them. This was probably the most excited anyone has ever been after learning Ronny Cedeño is in the lineup. After looking at the rosters, I also found out that former Indians and Padres pitcher Justin Germano plays for San Marino, though I didn't see him pitch.

Ronny Cedeño

-Bottom of the 2nd: With runners at the corners and one out, a grounder was hit to the right side and San Marino tried to turn two. The lead runner beat the throw to second, but they got the out at first. I don't think I've ever seen that happen before. He was scored on a base hit through the hole on the left side. Infielder Francesco Fuzzi then lined it just fair down the right field line and scored another. 3-0. At this point, Quevado was clearly rattled. He walked the next two batters and loaded the bases for Ronny Cedeño, but he hit into a force out at second to end the inning.

By the time the game got going, the crowd had filled in. It wasn't packed by any means, but I'm guessing there were probably about 150-200 people in attendance. I was surprised at how invested the crowd was too. The team's fanbase is obviously small, but it seems very loyal. Most of the crowd seemed to know what was going on and was paying attention to the game, and they cheered accordingly when something happened in the game. This is more than can be said about a lot of US crowds, who start drunken chants of "Let's Go Dodgers" in the second inning when the other team is batting. It felt like most of the people there were there because they loved the game and not just because a friend or coworker invited them or because they were looking for something to do on a Friday night.
        A majority of them were older and middle aged men. Other than me, children in families, and two groups of teenagers, there really wasn't anybody who looked younger than 35 in the crowd. It makes sense because the older generation was probably around when the American GI's brought the game to the country after World War 2. Therefore, the younger Bolognans didn't grow up with it. It made me worried that baseball in Italy might die with the older generation.

Home run shot!

-Top of the 4th: San Marino's Mario Chiarini clearly didn't like the umpire's strike zone and complained after a pitch pretty high in the zone was called a strike. He turned to the ump and motioned with his hands like,"what the hell?" and said a few things, but didn't get tossed. After grumbling, he got back into the batter's box and rocketed a line drive home run to straight away left on the next pitch. 3-1. This threw Zielinski out of his groove. The next batter hit a long fly ball that was caught at the warning track. The batter after that ripped a double in the gap in left center. He reached third after the third baseman misplayed a grounder and had a tough hop eat him up. With runners at the corners, Luca Pulzetti struck out after a great at bat, but the ball got away from the catcher, everybody was safe, and a run scored. 3-2.

-Bottom of the 5th: Catcher Marval Osman launched a home run to right center. 4-2 Bologna. It had gotten dark, there was a slight breeze, and the temperature was dropping rapidly, so I decided to warm myself up by getting a coffee and walking around a bit.

Mattew Zielinski

-Top of the 6th: After 5 innings, Zielinski was taken out of the game and replaced by righty Brent Buffa. After a one out double, the runner moved to third on a grounder, but rounded third and was caught. As the shortstop threw the ball to the third baseman, the runner decided to break for home. The third baseman's throw hit the runner. The defense couldn't recover in time and he came home safely. 4-3 Bologna.

Carlos Quevado

Defense seemed to be the biggest competitive difference between the minors and the Italian League. The players all ran, hit, and pitched like I'd expect from college or low level minor league players, but the defense was poor. The fielders didn't play their positions very well, there were a lot of misplayed balls, and were poorly positioned if there was a defensive play being set up. At times, if you told me I was watching a minor league game, I would've totally believed you. Other times, especially when watching the defense, it was clear why these guys aren't playing in the US.

-Bottom of the 6th: Bologna hit back to back doubles to add an insurance run and knock Quevado out of the game. 5-3. It was really interesting to see home fans cheer Quevado as he walked off, even though he played for the opposing team. The crowd seemed a lot friendlier than those in the US that either ignore or boo the opposing pitcher.

-7th Inning Stretch: This was honestly kind of a letdown. I and about 10 other people stood up and they played a country version of "take me out to the ballgame" over the PA, but nobody sang. I guess that's to be expected because the song isn't in Italian, but I was still disappointed.

Proof that I'm not kidding

-Bottom of the 8th: I actually missed this half inning. I needed my phone because I had no idea when to get off the bus and how to get to my hostel from there without it, and the battery had dipped to below 10%. I didn't want to leave early, so I went on a desperate search for an outlet. It's a baseball stadium, so it's not crawling with outlets to begin with, but the minimalism of Gianni Falchi made it worse. The only outlet I could find was on the face of a control panel in the bathroom. Have you ever been so desperate that you're willing to stand in a public bathroom with your phone plugged in 5 feet up on a wall on a control panel you're pretty sure you shouldn't be using? I have. While I was here, Bologna scored one more. I heard a lot of cheering, but I couldn't tell what happened. 6-3.

-Top of the 9th: With my phone now at acceptable battery levels, I decided to watch the final inning, assuming the game would be over soon with Bologna's comfortable 3-run lead. Little did I know I was about to witness the most epic defensive meltdown I've ever seen. Bologna brought in a big, hard-throwing righty named Scott Patterson, who, according to Baseball Reference, appeared in 4 major league games with the Yankees and Padres in 2008. The inning began with a single that fell just in front of the Bologna center fielder. The next batter hit a pop fly to short left center. The shortstop moved under the ball as it came down, but he dropped it, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. A wild pitch moved them to second and third and one was scored a sharp single to left. 6-4. The next batter looped a fly ball the opposite way down the left field line that landed for a double and scored another. 6-5. With first base open, the next batter was intentionally walked and Patterson was taken out. Despite the rough outing, the crowd cheered for him as he walked off the field.

Not directly relevant, but this was taken in the 9th

          Bologna's new pitcher Filippo Crepaldi (there's an Italian name for you) battled back from 3-1 and struck out the first batter he faced. The next batter hit a fly ball to left and the runner at third tagged up and scored the tying run, just narrowly missing a tag from the catcher. 6-6. With first and second and two outs, Crepaldi threw back to second and got the lead runner caught in a rundown. The infielders went through the motions, but nobody was covering the bag at second and the runner was able to get back safely, as the defense threw away a gift out. The stadium was upset. The next batter hit a routine ground ball up the middle. It was snagged by the second baseman and flipped to the shortstop, but the flip pulled him off the bag.
           The crowd was livid. There was a lot of shouting and it was probably the loudest I heard the stadium. Interestingly, this was the only negativity I saw from the crowd the whole game, but it was totally justified considering the inexcusable level of defensive play.
           Crepaldi finally got a second out, but the bases were still loaded. Next, a grounder was hit to short, but the shortstop took too much time, everyone was safe, and the go-ahead run scored from third. 7-6 San Marino. They finally got out of the inning after that. The inning and the game could have ended many times, but the infield defense kept giving it away. The RBI single was the hardest hit ball of the inning. Everything else was either misplayed or a stroke of bad luck.

Ronny Cedeño digging in.

-Bottom of the 9th: The inning started with Ronny Cedeño, who was hit on the shoulder after falling behind in the count. He didn't look very good at the plate the whole game. He ended up 0-4 with 2 strikeouts and a hit by pitch. He swung at everything and wasn't working the count at all. The two pitch he was able to put in play were weak ground balls.
          The next batter reached on a 4 pitch walk and the runners were moved up on a sac bunt. An intentional walk then loaded the bases to create a force out. The next batter hit a ground ball to first, which was taken to the bag for the out, but they couldn't turn two at second, so the tying run scored. 7-7. With 2 outs and the winning run 90 feet away, San Marino once again decided to intentionally walk the batter with first base open. I didn't understand why the teams kept doing this. Not that this isn't a legitimate strategy--it is--but not one that seems like it should be used almost automatically like it seems to be in Italy. Anyway, it didn't matter because Francesco Fuzzi came up to bat and struck out on 3 pitches to send the game to extra innings.

By this time, I was freezing cold (it wasn't that freezing, but I'm from LA. Give me a break), it was almost midnight, I didn't want to have another phone charging session in the bathroom, and I had a 9 AM train to Florence to catch the next morning, so I decided to leave. According to the team's Facebook page, the final score was 12-9 San Marino in 10 innings. I missed a lot unfortunately, but it was the right decision.

The score when I left. It goes runs/errors/hits instead of the traditional runs/hits/errors.
Yes, Bologna had 6 errors. They had restarted the line score because it was the 10th.

I was a little skeptical at first, but going to an Italian League Baseball game was an awesome experience. Despite the small scale and lack of national interest in the sport, the crowd had a lot of energy. It also was just a fun, exciting game, and at the end of the day, it's baseball, and in my book, it's really hard to go wrong with baseball, especially when it's part of such a unique experience. Let's just hope Bologna plays better defense next time.