La Bombonera in Buenos Aires
“As a big football (soccer) fan I always wanted to see a traditional South American match and see if the atmosphere is as good as everyone describes.
Therefore I couldn’t miss my chance when I was in Buenos Aires doing a Buenos Aires Tour for 5 days.
Boca Juniors is easily the biggest club in Argentina. It is one of the most successful clubs and home ground for the legendary and infamous Diego Maradona. Sunday evening is the time all true Boca Juniors fans meet in the suburb called La Boca in which lies the colossal stadium La Bombonera. You can see everywhere the blue – yellow color combination, yellow jerseys, blue scarfs and all kinds of souvenirs.
As I was caught up in all the color and excitement of match-day, I forgot we are in South America where it is not easy to find ATM machine to withdraw money, neither to pay for your ticket with credit card! This caused me a bit of troubles as I usually don’t walk around with much cash. I started to be a bit desperate when the clock showed 45 minutes to the beginning of the game, so I was wandering around and tried to find a solution. Luckily I met a Dutch guy who was so generous to lend me some money even without knowing me! So we bought couple of tickets on the street and the gate was open for us.
As I entered the ground I was in awe at the brightly colored blue and yellow stadium with steep seating along the sides has capacity for 50.000 spectators. The game I attended could have around 35000 spectators and it was Boca Juniors vs Gymnasium. Who cares that Boca is not doing so well this season, the fans were crazy. The standing areas were totally full of the fanatical fans who start to sing chorals 30 minutes before the game starts. The atmosphere is amazing during the whole match, fans sing without stopping and soon after the opening goal the vibe is so intensive that without knowing I became a Boca fan too. You can feel the pride all around when Boca scored their 4th goal of the day.
Fanatics of Boca Juniors
At the end there was a big celebration, attractive game, great stadium. Argentinean passion… all for less than $50. Next time I will be doing a Buenos Aires tour I will plan my schedule around a Boca Juniors home game.
And at the end of the story? Next day I found the Dutch man in his hotel and paid for my ticket.”
Chimu Adventures has a fantastic Buenos Aires stop over tour. Visit our website for more details.
