La Mestalla

When we returned from Xátiva, one of our group leaders informed us that the Valencia professional soccer team had a game that afternoon. I naturally seized the opportunity to do so and a few friends and I decided to go to the game. The name of the stadium and/or the neighborhood it is in is called Mestalla, and the team mascot is possibly Las Murciélagos, which means the Bats. A bat is sort of the symbol of the city and there are bat wings everywhere all over the city.

This is the east side of the stadium, if I remember correctly. 

Crowds of people walking to the game.

We didn't actually know where to buy a ticket or how much they cost, so we wandered around looking lost for a while. Eventually we found the booth and bought them for 10 euros each, as this was the cheapest price we could find. Valencia played Almeria, a city to the very southern end of Spain. 

Warm ups. 

The scoreboard.

Game time.

Valencia scored in the 11th minute and man does that stadium get loud. Everyone starts whistling and screaming and the acoustics of the stadium are such that it sounds like you are being swarmed by bats. Coincidence? Hmmm.

Me, Brittany, Nicole, Chris, and Jenna up in the nosebleeds with some raucous fans. Photo cred to Jenna. 

Valencia ended up winning 3-2, which put the cherry on the top of a great day. And I couldn't resist buying myself a cheap Valencia scarf.