After a long day traveling and an overnight flight from Montreal to Rome, my body’s natural inclination was to get to the hotel and lay down for a nap.  But on this trip to Italy, there was one and only one chance to participate in the most Italian of traditions.  A tradition bordering on religion to many Italians was to take place at 3pm on this Sunday afternoon.

Calcio.  Football.  Soccer.   It was something I wasn’t going to miss.   After a remarkable cultural experience watching my first European soccer match last year in Prague, weary body and mind wouldn’t keep me away from joining 30,000 others for the afternoon’s Lazio-Sassuolo match.  From touchdown of our plane through train and subway to our hotel, then subway and tram to Stadio Olimpico, we made it just minutes before the match was to start.   The Lazio supporters and ultras had already taken up their traditional place in the Curva Nord and were warming up their voices as the players were introduced:

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