Postcard from Madrid: Travels with Daniel Flick, Falcons reporter
MADRID — What’s a trip without photos?
And what is an Atlanta Journal-Constitution Falcons story without beat writer Daniel Flick?
Whatever the answer is, you’re not going to find it here.
Young Daniel and I arrived in Spain’s capital city Wednesday morning for five days of coverage of the Falcons’ week in Madrid, leading up to Sunday’s game against Cincinnati at iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
From Atlanta to Madrid in the wake of one Daniel Flick.
Behold (in the main photo on this story), the whippersnapper, awaiting our boarding call in Concourse T at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while simultaneously hammering out more Falcons coverage.
Our tireless reporter maintained the workflow while winging toward Madrid. You’ll notice the Falcons logo to his left. His seatmate was a diehard Falcons fan, a woman who has had season tickets for 29 years. (No promises, but you may be reading about her later this week.)
Daniel and his new friend had a lengthy conversation about their favorite topic. She sounded loyal to the Falcons to the end, though she was less convinced about her seatmate’s merits.
At one point, I believe I heard her say, “I can’t take you anywhere.”
So I mentioned this in my column, how the media who gathered at Real Madrid’s headquarters to watch a snippet of the Falcons’ Wednesday morning workout and attend the media availability moved with urgency toward the breakfast service when word spread that it was being served.
Nothing, though, can compare to football press boxes when hot dogs are being served at halftime. It’s like the Oklahoma Land Rush. But this was pretty impressive.
Can’t go wrong with a picture of a dog!
This is Arco, a security dog at Real Madrid headquarters. I’m not sure what he would have sniffed on media.
Coffee and carbs, probably.
There was a strong showing of local and national media for the Falcons’ first day at Real Madrid. Very roughly, Daniel and I independently guessed about 50. Here, they’re taking photos and video of the Falcons’ workout at the club’s small stadium field.
There is no truth to the rumor that Falcons officials conducted a whisper campaign suggesting the existence of free hamburgers in the stands.
The Real Madrid complex is enormous, a larger space than the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayette County. It’s called Ciudad Real Madrid, or Real Madrid City, and the club claims it to be largest sports complex ever built by a football (soccer) club.
It boasts 11 practice fields and a small stadium field (Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is not a part of the property) along with space for player residences, training, medical, basketball (Real Madrid also has basketball teams) and more.
Unlike the Falcons’ facility in Flowery Branch, though, Ciudad Real Madrid is nowhere close to a Chick-fil-A or even a Publix. The nearest Chick-fil-A is in London, almost 800 miles away.
We end as we began, with Daniel delivering ever more Falcons content, this time in an interview with Spanish football media members. (Just for the record, he was speaking in English.)
In this photo, he is demonstrating how easily he could tear apart his quarter-zip fleece if he so chose.
You can keep up with his AJC reports here.
Check back Thursday for another postcard!
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