Salt of the earth. I'm flying to Madrid on Friday for the last ever Atletico Madrid game at the Vicente Calderon Stadium, and the best game I could find for the Saturday is Deportivo Leganes vs. Alaves. I emailed the club to find the best way to get a ticket, in case I end up travelling across Madrid for nothing, but no reply. I emailed a random fan from their official Facebook page, just to get confirmation or some sort of answer, and he told me he would have an answer for me in 10 minutes. 10 minutes pass and he messages me saying he's at the stadium and asking how many tickets I need and inviting me for lunch and beers with him, his family & friends before the game! What a credit to his club and the human race that guy is!
Hope you enjoy the game and great to hear of such help from fellow Europeans. I travel quite a bit and I'm commonly staggered by how much people will help and support and assist a complete stranger who is trying to see, experience and learn a little about their country in some way shape or form. Some wonderful people on this planet. Across all regions, all religions and all persuasions. We should never ever forget that.
Tried the same arrangement for a Nigeria match. Was supposed to be spending the day in company of a Nigerian prince and his family. All he said I had to do was give him my bank details and post him my passport so he could register it in advance with the countries diplomatic services and he would sort the rest out. How good is that, sent him the required stuff, just waiting for him to get back to me now., can't wait!
Most folks in Madrid are sound, we went to see Atleti against Real (when Atleti won the league a couple of seasons back), we booked accommodation through AirBnB and the guy moved out of his apartment and cooked us a meal for when we arrived. He insisted that we should eat anything in the fridge etc. He was a Reyo Villacano fan so we went to the ground and bought him a mug.
I missed out on Vallecano last time because it was the one day it was absolutely p*ssing it down, and this time they play on the Friday before I arrive!