Quite enjoyed the trip - thou doubt it would make my alltime top five to be honest. Saw Florence one day, Pisa the next and despite only being in each for a few hours don't really feel like I have missed out on much.
We turned up at the main station (SMN) but not a shuttle bus to be found. Waited, others in same position, all confused as the Police info had said they'd leave from there. Gave up and got a service bus (52). The Firenze fans that got on at the next stop were excellent - they started singing OUR songs as soon as they got on and continued right to the ground. They even started the bouncing!
Whenever we stopped at lights etc people in apartments or offices came to the window to see what the noise was! Excellent atmosphere, nice people. Inter II
However, that dropped us by the home end and from there it was hard to find out where we had to go. Some stewards told us to walk round past the turnstile til we got to No 12 - we got to 16 and couldn't go any further. Then another one told us to walk round the adjoining sports venue - which we did. It was miles! I had flashbacks to Athens when something very similar happened to us and we walked 4.5 miles (google maps!) before we even found the entrance. This felt the same. There were no signs or stewards on route, just a crowd of reds walking through home fans going the other way (good job they were friendly!) and us unsure that the steward wasn't winding us up. Eventually (25 mins fast walk) we got to the away end and all was ok. By for those saying the organisation was great. I have to disagree up to that point.
The free water was extremely welcome when we got there! Didn't have any pasta as we'd eaten not so long before but very kind of them. The stewarding after that point was great. e.g. Letting people pour water into plastic cups rather than just taking it off them - simple but much better!
Saw Ged Poynton inside and had a word about the long trek. It could have been avoided with a couple of signs, or a letter/map given out beforehand as they often do.
Thought the ground was a typical shit Italian one, though the view was better than expected where we were.
Managed to squeeze onto a shuttle bus back thankfully (no way was I walking back round that sports complex!) which them dumped us somewhere in town. We didn't recognise anywhere so had to go into a posh hotel and ask for a map to work out our way back. The reception guy was not impressed but obliged luckily. It was quite central but we didn't know that at first. Nice idea when it works.
Having deliberately avoided having too much to drink at the ground (given the toilets!
) I was dying for a drink but managed to get myself some free glasses of wine (plus the bottle I bought) so it ended up being a good night.
All the local people we met were friendly, Pisa too. Everything seemed expensive, though, and in some cases well overpriced. But the weather was glorious! (And unlike some I am not covered in insect bites!)
Oh, and the guys were NOT impressed by the mini-alcohol ban in parts of the centre! There were two coppers outside the Spar banning people from buying any cans etc - the shop staff had been warned not to sell any. Bars and restaurants were selling it though, and there were plenty of little shops with it in too - all dear, but it was available.
All in all, sounded like we had a much better welcome and time than the bluesh*te a couple of years back!
