And thus Jim Thorpe greeted King Gustav V, after the king had called him “the greatest athlete ever.”

Seeing this stadium had to be one of the highlights of all the travel I’ve ever done. Usually, when you see places that you’ve seen in pictures, they disappoint. Only three places I’ve been in my life made me feel that seeing them live way surpassed the photos. Those are Red Square, the Mona Lisa and this stadium.

It was raining the first time I went to see this thing. I assumed it was a tourist attraction that they had guides to and maybe charged admission. Instead, it is an actual, functioning stadium. This made it all the more weird when someone, in the pouring rain speaking in a New York accent flagged down some boys in a golf cart who worked there. No doubt they were perplexed about my wanting to see the thing. Did they not know of my long standing obsession with the Olympics?

Anyway, here are some NON ARTISTIC photos of the stadium taking in the pouring rain:

That person down there actually had the forethought to wear some kind of clothes that protected them from the rain. I wasn’t that smart.

This is going to sound like the cheesiest of cheese-ball statements, but I walked into this thing and could almost hear the cheering and the crowds from the Olympics that was held the year my grandfather was born.

Some more rain soaked photos:

Rib vaults? Rib vaults on a stadium? The thought that went into building this place really amazed me. Its a stadium, but it seems to be influenced by gothic architecture. Sublime.

Here are some from a day where the weather wasn’t totally suck ass:

And, an “artistic one” for the haters out there who think I am not longer artistic. Again, I had between 5 and 20 minutes to photograph this thing, so just kinda capturing it took center stage:

To close, a picture of the street where the stadium was located. Finally, something will replace a place in my in my past that my animosity towards is too large to explain here. That Valhalla is exorcised from brain, to be replaced by the street on which this lovely stadium is located:

Take that Mrs. Cialfi, whereever it is you are.