I always like travelling and soaking up culture. When I'm abroad I also try to fit in a football match. I've seen Dutch, Belgian and French football on a few occasions but I've always wanted to see matches from the big boys of Europe ie. Spain Germany and Italy.

Wouldn't it be nice to see an Italian match, I said to my son, particularly at the San Siro Stadium. Good kid that he is he agreed wholeheartedly. So I began investigating on the internet to find out how possible it would be to get to a game, whether one could pay on the gate or needed tickets etc. I went on to Channel 4's football Italia website which is an excellent starting point. I found the fixture list for the weekend when we would be in Milan. My heart sank when I saw that Inter Milan were at home to Juventus. No way, I thought, would we be able get into the stadium for a top match like that, there would be few tickets available except those priced at exhorbitant rates. I therefore started looking at other possible fixtures, such as Chievo v Udinese. No problem getting in to a game like that, I thought.

I clicked on the booking section, hoping that there would be a meagre few tickets remaining and that I was not too late. Lo, a problem appeared. The booking page was entirely in Italian. I then spent the next ten minutes hunting high and low for my Italian phrase book and dictionary.

Fast forward to the day of the match. We were having a great time, seeing the sites of Milan. We had checked in to the Youth Hostel which was only a mile from the stadium on the other side of the race course. The two Danish lads with whom we were sharing a room were also going to the match. In addition they had found a nearby bar that would be showing the Modena v AC Milan game live on TV. What a way to spend a mild Spring Sunday afternoon in Milan, sitting in a bar packed full of locals watching football while knocking back the beers. Unlike Britain, my son was made to feel welcome in the bar and sat with me and the Danish lads knocking back his cokes.

We then entered the stadium, even though we had just under two hours to kill. Our seats were on the lower tier in one corner level with the goal line. But that didn't matter. What a ground. It is massive. And those iconic towers at each corner of the stadium, we knew where we were all right. What was incredible, though, was the noise coming from the rival sets of supporters. It was awesome, bearing in mind that kick off wasn't due for ninety minutes. The Inter and Juve supporters were in the second tiers at opposite ends of the ground to each other, all hurling abuse back and forth. Each set of supporters had a cheer leader armed with a megaphone, organising and conducting the chanting and singing while hanging dangerously over the parapet. Amazing.

To get to the stadium from the city centre it is easier to use public transport rather than the car. Using the Metro take line MM1 towards Molino Dorino and alight at Lotto-Fiera2. From there it takes ten minutes walking alongside the race course to get to the stadium. Alternatively, for a slightly more scenic mode of transport take the tram, Line 16 from Cathedral Square.

To any football fan reading this, I beg you to make the trip. It's so simple booking flight and match tickets and the city itself is well worth a visit, it having the sights, shopping and the night life. Above all though the atmosphere at the San Siro is quite something else.