Day 3 of the Brown Men’s Soccer trip to Spain was certainly one to remember. There could not be a better way to start off the day than feasting on Hotel Ambassador’s breakfast spread: deliciously ripened fruit, a variety of juice, several types of bread and pastries, over easy eggs, scrambled eggs, sausage, veggies, bacon, you name it-they had it! The boys were ready to start a long day with full bellies and high spirits.
At 10 am, about two thirds of the group went to the Prado Museum. The other third were still feeling a bit jet lagged and stayed at the hotel to catch up on some more sleep. The Prado Museum allowed students to enter for free and our tour guide, Paul, was able to get the coaches in for free as well. Needless to say, it was worth every penny! The museum was two floors and contained mostly Spanish paintings ranging from 12th century Romanesque mural paintings to 19th century works by Goya. The Goya collection was most plentiful, including more than one hundred of his paintings with his most recognizable one’s being The Second of May, The Third of May, and Saturn Devouring his Child. We left the museum more “cultured” especially with the help of Mike Manella (art history major) and his vast knowledge of the paintings.
We were given free/down time for the rest of the day before our first game against Rayo Vallecano at 8pm. Most of us walked to El Plaza Mayor, which was a large square that attracted a lot of tourists. There were restaurants and ‘cervecerias’ lining the outskirts of the square, but we chose to eat at El Mercado de San Miguel. El Mercado de San Miguel was a very cool glass structure with several different vendors selling fruits, sweets, seafood, and a variety of tapas, which are delicious Spanish appetizers that are fairly cheap. In anticipation of the game, we walked back to the hotel around 2-3pm in order to rest our legs and experience the legendary Spanish “Siesta!” Here is a hilarious quote from Kevin Gavey that sums up our siesta knowledge: “I think people take siestas because they’re still on American time, so they’re always tired and need to nap.”
Finally, the time had come for BMS to compete in its’ first international match versus Rayo Vallecano. The soccer facility was beautiful and had 4-5 fields that were being used by all sorts of age groups for training when we arrived. We were all excited to play and felt grateful for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Rayo Vallecano was a very talented team and possessed the ball well for the first 10 minutes of the game. We settled into the speed of the game and created several dangerous opportunities through the run of play and set pieces, but were unable to finish in the first half. Coach Laughlin made a few substitutes at halftime and a couple more at the 60 minute mark, totaling 17 different BMS players throughout the game. Rayo Vallecano struck first in the second half finishing a cross from the right side. However, we responded quickly from a Tom McNamara driven free kick. Crossed in from the right side, Captain Eric Robertson calmly received the ball with his back to goal, and found Dylan Remick with a splitting pass at the penalty spot who slotted it back post in the side netting! The match ended in a 1-1 draw and although we played well for our first game together since the fall season, Eric Robertson firmly reminded us that we should not be satisfied with a draw no matter what opponent we face.
BMS capped the long day off with a much-appreciated 4-course dinner at Hotel Ambassador. After the first two courses, spaghetti with tomato sauce and an eggplant dish stuffed with sausage, we thought the meal was over. However, the servers brought out meat and potatoes capped off with a piece of layer cake. If there is one thing that we learned about Spanish meals, it is that the dessert will never be disappointing! By the time dinner concluded, it was 11:30 pm and time for a much-needed night’s rest. We hit the sack with wake-up calls set around 8 am for breakfast, and our second game versus Atletico Madrid to be played at the Spanish National Team’s facilities at 11:45 am!
Til' Next Time,
Ya Boy Bobby Belair
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