For someone  who grew up watching Channel 4's legendary Football Italia as a kid, it is a bit of a dream come true.

Sure, it got called off after 10 minutes because of a waterlogged pitch, but just being inside the Stadio Olimpico for a Roma match is an experience in itself.

AS Roma hosted Parma on Sunday and four Irish journos ended up in the Curva Sud, just to the right of the home side's famous ultras.

So here's a few thoughts from the matchday experience:

• You can understand why Roma are set to build a new stadium. It's not like the Olimpico is in bad nick or anything. Indeed, it's a beautiful arena. But Roma (nor Lazio) cannot fill the 80,000 seater stadium which is located up the road from Vatican City. Juventus recently moved into the 40,000 Juventus Arena and that has turned out to be a superb decision. Roma are set to follow suit and build a 55,000 seater stadium which will be a better fit and one they will not need to share with Lazio.
• The club's ultras are an interesting bunch and we happened to be sat to the right of them with just a glass barrier between their section and our section (in the video below, you can see their sea of flags and banners to my left). I had heard that the fan groups which controlled the Curva Sud have become increasingly right wing over the years (unlike Lazio's ultras, they had tended to be left wing) and I saw a brief glimpse of one member's beliefs. Because of the heavy rain, the glass barrier fogged up and one of the ultras (a skinhead from the look of him) began tracing swastikas with his finger. Bit strange seeing a Nazi sympathizer in anything other than a documentary or that particularly brilliant of episode of Father Ted. I must stress that was an isolated incident and not a reflection on the vast majority of Roma's fanbase.
• Flares are a normal part of the matchday experience in Italy and always visible when watching Serie A games on TV. I've only seen it once before in Ireland when I was reporting from Shamrock Rovers' final home game of the season against Sligo Rovers in Tallaght Stadium. The gardai put a stop to it very quickly. It does add to the atmosphere but the inherent dangers make it a risk for fans and players alike.
• Perhaps it was the weather and maybe it was the long journey from up north, but there were a dearth of Parma fans. In the video below, they are directly to the left of the opposite stand, the empty mass of blue seats. All in all, Parma's 12th Man consisted of just about 12 people.
• Tickets are cheap at €30 for that Parma match which is similar to the price you'll pay in Spain for the average La Liga game. There is probably no need to book in advance unless it's the Rome derby or Juventus because there were enough empty seats on some of the other stands. 

And here are a few clips from inside the stadium set to the club's anthem Roma, Roma (hit Watch on YouTube)...