May 2014: Atlantis Women in
Spain-I
Background & First Days in
Madrid
(Atlantis
tournament #144)
Emil Signes
JUNE 15, 2014 (rev. July 27, 2014)
`
Álvaro Montero, here with Lauren
Rhode, saved our tour
0528b-mm-DSC03825-giving Alvaro the
ball-ed-1200w.jpg
Atlantis Women won Series 3 of the Madrid Sevens as well as
showing very well in a dual meet vs. the Madrid All-Star
Selection, a selection on their way to participate in a European
Sevens championship in Rome.
The tour, originally planned around the Benidorm Sevens, was
seriously jeopardized when the women's division of that tournament
had to be cancelled.
Background
Don't let anyone tell you that
touring is easy. It can be a success on the field, lots of fun off
it, but behind the scenes putting together a team, coordinating
with the host tournament, organizing all the little things can be
not only difficult but also fraught with unforeseen peril.
Thus in 2011 our planned men and women's teams' travel to Havana
was cancelled when the US Government decided, after several years
of giving us permission, to withhold permission for an identical
tour. Players that had bought tickets took a beating. Shame
on our government!
In mid-April, with 10 players in hand, I was assured the Benidorm
Sevens' women's division was on, with 3 national teams and two
Spanish select-sides committed, and gave the players the go-ahead
to buy their tickets. Within a week, we found out that the
promised teams were dropping like flies and in the end the women's
division of the tournament was cancelled. Realizing that this
would be a disastrous state of affairs, I pulled out all the
Spanish cards I had (not too many). The right connection
came through James "Guppy" Gillenwater, a former US Sevens player
who gave me contact information for Álvaro Montero, coach of the
Madrid Select VII. Through Álvaro's good graces we were able
to secure a live scrimmage with the Madrid Selects on Wednesday
evening May 28th, and also play in the third leg of the Madrid
Sevens Series on May 31.
Gup and Emil in Las Vegas, 2011
2011-Emil&Gup.jpg
In addition, several of our players arrived on the previous
Saturday (it was Memorial Day weekend, why not spend an extra
couple of days in Spain?:), and were able to pick up a couple of
games on Sunday the 25th in Leg 2 of the Madrid Sevens thanks to
Álvaro's connections. Four of us picked up with Arquitectura, and
another missing piece was filled in when their coach, Pilar
Hernández, generously offered to share training space on their
ground on Tuesday evening. Finally, Ignacio Davila, the
organizer of the Benidorm Sevens that had to be cancelled, helped
cover our expenses for a trip to Benidorm, training on their
pitch, and for a great meal with him and his wife Maike, in return
for our good graces to try to convince some more women's teams to
attend next year.
Getting to Benidorm meant we could repeat my favorite part of
every Benidorm trip, a team visit to my first cousin Antonio
Signes Signes and his family at their restaurant, the Bar Al
Pou in Gata de Gorgos, my father's hometown, where we
partook in a traditional paella, something that most Atlantis
teams before them (all of them men's teams) have also enjoyed.
1988: First Atlantis men in Gata
pick Signes oranges.
L to R: Steve Burnham, Bill Hayward, Chris Petrakes, Joe
Taranto, Dave Bateman.
In background right, back to us, Emilito's cousin Julián Signes
1988
Atlantis men in Gata-1200w.jpg
In the end, we were successful on the field and had fun off it -
both important goals of all Atlantis tours.
But it wouldn't be a stretch at all to say, based on all the
pre-tourney hassle, that this tour had perhaps the highest ratio
of pre-tour hassle to in-tour activity of all the Atlantis tours.
But all's well that ends well. I suppose.
A quite unfortunate unintended consequence of all the extra time I
had to spend on this trip was having to decide not to take a men's
team to a tournament in Iceland in July: I was so swamped,
time-wise and emotionally, that I had to focus just on this
trip. A very sad decision, as I had so looking forward to
making Iceland our 32nd country visited. Time to put a staff in
place.
Warning! Finally, Dear Reader, be advised that this
is not just an article about a rugby tour; it is also - perhaps
equally - an article about Emilito's family connections in Spain,
many of which were touched on this tour.
Emilito, Spain, Atlantis and
Spanish Sevens
Although I was born in New Jersey, I
have a nearly 100% Spanish heritage. My father was born and
raised in the town of Gata de Gorgos, province of Alicante,
community of Valencia, about half an hour from Benidorm. My mother
was born in Havana of Spanish parents from Madrid. My
mother's mother's mother - who came from a family of acclaimed
actors - was an acclaimed actress herself until her acting career
prematurely ended when she became pregnant at age 20.
Founded in 1986, Atlantis has had a long history in Spain. Our
first trip there, with the Atlantis men, was in 1988 when I found
an advertisement for the Benidorm Sevens in Rugby Magazine.
I was amazed that they played rugby in this part of Spain; in my
first trip to Spain in the 60s it was rare to even see cars on the
back roads, let alone organized sports. We made the semi-finals
that year and returned with a men's team in 1994 before actually
winning the championship in 1995. Besides the traditional tour
piece on that visit - http://www.emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/1995/t_041.html,
I wrote a very emotional piece on our championship that year:
http://emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/1995/Return
to Valencia - 1995.html
Previous trips to the Signes
hometown of Gata de Gorgos during Atlantis trips
Left: With my son Stephen during
our 1988 visit, we're in an orange grove behind my father's
birth house
Right: MVP Thadd Hill and Dixie
Dean of the 1995 Benidorm Champions in Gata; the road behind
them leads to the Mediterranean
1988 Emil & Steve Gata.jpg / 1995 Thadd &
Dixie in Gata.jpg
Descriptions of previous Atlantis men's trips to Spain (1988, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006) may be found here: http://www.emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/tournaments.html
The first-ever Atlantis women's tour was also to Benidorm, in
1992. The Atlantis team, comprised of mostly national team
players that had participated in the first-ever Women's [15s]
Rugby World Cup in 1991, defeated - in the final - a Saracens team
from London comprising mostly England national team players that
had also competed in the 1991 World Cup. The write up may be found
here:
http://emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/1992/t_026.html
Atlantis and Saracens Women after Benidorm Final 1992
Visible in picture are, kneeling or seated: Kathy Brown and
Elise Huffer
Standing, middle: MB Spirk, Chris Harju, Julie Drustrup, Sheri
Hunt, Tam Breckenridge
Back: Tara Flanagan / Not Visible: Krista McFarren, Tracy Moens
1992-05 Benidorm both teams in
mag-pic-300h_edited-2.jpg
The Atlantis Women have played in Spain on three other occasions -
1997 in La Coruña, and 1999 and 2000 in Madrid. We won the first
two and took 3rd in 2000. (Our 1997 final win was over Majadahonda
- or, I was told, for the final they put together a Madrid
selection based on Majadahonda - whom we were to meet in the final
this year as well.)
1997: http://www.emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/1997/t_057.html
1999: http://www.emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/1999/t_071.html
2000: http://www.emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/2000/t_077.html
1999: Last Atlantis Madrid Sevens
championship was 15 years ago
Top: Tyshawn Henry, Jules McCoy,
Natasha Kabloui, Becky Metzger, Jen Sikora, unknown
Bottom: Michelle Persica, Haley
Steele, Meg Madden, Justine Sleezer, Tracy Moens, Tanya Hahn
1999-06 Madrid-women-champs-900w.jpg
But I didn't get to go on any of
those three tours; I was working full time and coaching the US
Women sevens team, formed for the first time in 1997 when we took
part in the first-ever Hong Kong Women's Sevens. (And also
coaching Philadelphia-Whitemarsh men (7s and 15s), US Collegiate
All Star 7s, and ... probably something else.
So to get the opportunity to take an Atlantis team to Madrid this
year - the first time for me -- finally - was really exciting. As
I noted, the Signes half of my family was/is from the Benidorm
area, but my mother's side of the family - Lagos & Besteiro -
has had 200 years of history in Madrid. My great granduncle Julián
Besteiro Fernández was the President of Parliament in the Spanish
Republic of 1931-39 and died in one of Franco's prisons in 1940.
(He was rehabilitated as a hero after Franco's death; there is now
both a school and a Metro station named for him in Madrid).
I had met many of my maternal relatives in Madrid over the years
and it was going to be nice to combine my two passions - rugby and
family (history and current connections) - on this trip.
The photograph below is a bust of great granduncle Julián that I
picked off the internet, but which I'm pretty sure is in the
Parliament (Cortes) building - I forgot once again to check it out
on this trip.
Bust of my Great Granduncle Julián Besteiro
Fernández
%2019xx Bust of Julian Besteiro.jpg
The team
Our management team
consisted of Dana Creager and me off the field, and Lauren on it.
Dana, Lauren, Emil
0528b-mm-DSC03838-coaches & captain-800s.jpg
Emil Signes, Emperor and Coach. As usual, I went as
Emperor and Coach. My first year as US Men's National
Sevens coach was 1987. For my first kit swap as a national coach
I specifically sought out a Spanish player and found one in
Francisco Puertas, so my connections to Spanish Sevens - as well
as Spanish family - go deep into the past, and for me it's
always exciting to travel to Spain for either family or rugby,
better if both. (Aside: in 1987 we scrimmaged Spain prior to the
Hong Kong Sevens, and what was meant to be a touch competition
turned into something more physical. From that point on,
Eagle Gary Lambert began referring to a tackle scrimmage as
"Spanish touch.")
Dana Creager, Manager and Coach. Dana, whose Atlantis
playing history goes back to the previous millennium, played for
the US Women's National Sevens Team when I was the coach.
She proved invaluable as both Manager and Coach on this
tour. She took over the management role during preparation
for the trip and did a great job pulling us through some difficult
situations. As coach of NOVA and MARFU women - each of them has
won two national championships in the last 4 years - she has
proven success in her coaching role, and it showed.
Dana writes: "The Atlantis tour to Spain
was a huge success both on the pitch and off because of the team
that was selected. In addition to being talented rugby players,
these ladies were eager to learn new skills and push themselves
beyond their comfort zones, whether that was a two hour scrum
session in a wooded park area or packing everything up to travel
to a new destination every 2 days... The players on
this tour perfectly encapsulated all of those things. With
such an amazing team, the opportunity to coach with Emil was the
icing on the cake!"
Lauren Rhode, Captain. Lauren was our captain
for three years when I coached at Princeton, and she captained
Atlantis on our Laos tour in 2013. Lauren has participated
in USA Rugby's Top 50 camp in XVs and also played for the US
Development team at the All-Star 7s. Employed at the Pentagon, she
is also still a student at Princeton. Although she was the second
youngest player on the team, I had confidence in her abilities as
captain.
Lauren tackles Madrid player on
break; she's getting up to
poach.
0528s-Lauren
tackle.jpg
The other members of our team,
from eldest to youngest:
Eli White, DC Furies. Eli was the senior member of our
team at 32; a very young age to be the senior member of an
Atlantis tour. She's a member of the Washington Furies and besides
Atlantis has represented the NRU, MARFU, Midwest and Combined
Services. Eli is a great leader and ball winner.
Eli writes:
"Since I've come back from tour, my friends, family, and club
teammates have all asked me how my trip to Spain was. I
respond to them all with the same simple word - Amazing."
Emil: Based on the last few Atlantis
tours, I'm thinking of renaming us "Atlantis Amazing Sevens"
Eli again: "I'm not sure I can
adequately communicate what exactly it was that was so great
about this trip, but I must say that it was one of the
absolute most fun and rewarding experiences I've had in my
rugby career. I've moved around the country several
times and played on many teams, and I think what really stood
out for me on this tour was the bond between our team both on
and off the field. I think over the course of the week,
having a small touring group, staying together in a hostel and
then as a team all together in the apartment, seeing the
sights, taking a long road trip trapped in the vans, and
spending a wonderful evening with [Emil's] warm welcoming
family, that all made us become a family of our own. I
came into this trip only knowing a few of the players. I came
away from the trip with a wonderful bond with a new group of
friends.
Eli clears ball to space
0531b-Eli clears to
space-ed-1200w.jpg
Eli tackles for Arquitectura
0525b-fs-IMG_5377-Eli
tackle-ed-1200w.jpg
Jessica Turner, Berkeley All Blues. Jess is a ball-winner
and gets her team going forward. She was the Atlantis
captain in Las Vegas this year.
JT breaks through the Madrid line
0528s-JT on
break-600w.jpg
Cynthia Wright. In transition from Berkeley All
Blues to DC Furies. Cynthia just moved to DC from the
Bay Area, where she played for the All Blues for 2 years.
Prior to that she played for the San Francisco Fog. She's
represented the Pacific Coast Grizzlies in 15s. Every sevens
team needs a couple of power players and Cynthia was one of those
for sure.
Cynthia writes: "I've done a
considerable amount of traveling in my life, and
I have always considered it to have had a
significant effect on the person who I am. That
being said, I believe that this trip stands out
from the rest of my travels in that it was the
first time that I went abroad for a reason other
than to see the location that I was visiting. I
went to Spain to combine the skill in and
passion for rugby that I had developed in
California with that of my teammates from around
the country ... "
" ... learning
rugby songs in Spanish: it's special to
see the variance and similarity in rugby
traditions that exist around the world."
"[The mid-week Mediterranean] portion
of the trip could not have been more
perfectly-timed. Taking a break to head to the
country was like taking a breath of fresh air... I'm in
awe that amid the bustle around the world there still
exists space like [this part of Spain] where there is a
calmness, and more importantly a history that lives on,
regardless of time. Emil's family is, just like the
Arquitectura team, incredibly welcoming and loving,
without having ever met us before. Amazing company,
fantastic food (I had at least 4 helpings of the paella),
beautiful beaches!"
Cynthia hands off defender
0531b-mm-DSC05312-Cynthiastiff-arm-ed.jpg
Michelle
Marki AKA Märki Mark, Morris (NJ). Marki is an
Atlantis newcomer, but not a newcomer to international
rugby. Half Swiss and half Filipino, she represented the
Philippines' National Team at the Asian Rugby Sevens Series
Championship in Pune, India, in 2013, and will be playing for
the Philippines in Hong Kong in August of this year. Chalk
another nation to the list of countries that Atlantis players
have represented. There are 13 now: in alphabetical order they
are Argentina, Canada, England, Fiji, Hong Kong, Ireland,
Philippines, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, USSR, USA, Uruguay
and Yugoslavia. Surprisingly, perhaps, besides the USA, the only
two countries on this list represented by women are England
(Jane Mitchell) and the Philippines.
Marki writes: "I knew the teammates I was
about to meet for the first time had kind souls when I read
the note on the Madrid apartment door gate saying, "If you are
Michelle, press 2 and we will buzz you in. Love, your Atlantis
family."
"As we practiced together, I felt a rush of excitement pour in
as I realized how talented my teammates from all over the US
are, and whom I was eager to learn and gain feedback from.
Coach Emil and Coach Dana have coached great American rugby
and I gained valuable new rugby skills. We developed into a
family quickly and we adventurously explored Madrid, enjoyed
tapas & sangria, and played on the Benidorm beach together
as though we'd already known each other for a long time.
Note we left for Marki
0527a-mm-DSC03486-note for Marki-ed-1200w.jpg
Michelle Marki takes off against
Rugby Atleti
(Marki, get that ball into your left hand!)
0531b-fs-IMG_5814-Marki runs vs Rugby
Atleti-ed-1200w.jpg
Mollie Martin. San Diego Surfers. Mollie played most
of her rugby in the Midwest in Wisconsin and Minnesota, before
moving to San Diego. She has represented Wisconsin and
Midwest Selects in both 15s and 7s and also the So Cal Select
Sevens team. She played for Atlantis in Fiji. Mollie's
a finisher that breaks a lot of tackles.
Mollie about to fend off defender
0531c-fs-IMG_5975-Mollie
fends off D-ed-1200w.jpg
Kaelene Lundstrum AKA Lunde. MN Amazons. Kaelene was
the only full Sevens Eagle on the team. She came to rugby via
Track & Field, where she was an 8-time All American
(Heptathlon, Pentathlon, High Jump and 4x400m) at Gustavus
Adolphus (MN), where she began to play rugby (and Gustavus made
nationals her senior year). Since then she's been playing
for the Amazons. She represented the Midwest & US U-23
in 2011 for 15s, and the US 15s and 7s teams in 2011 and 2012. I
love having players that can play "prop-wing" and although Lunde
never played wing on this team, having a finisher at prop is
always a great thing.
Lunde comments: "I really loved [the
tour]." It was an amazing experience to go and play in
another country and be about to experience some of their culture
as well. I always like having new and different coaches
because i learn different thing and ways of playing the game
that i would have never known. I especially liked the
relaxed atmosphere that went along with the tour. We knew
we were there to play some good rugby but were also allowed to
experience the culture and have some free time."
Lunde on the run in the Madrid 7s
semifinal ... All 7 defenders are in the frame.
0531c-fs-IMG_5964-KaelenevSanseS-ed-1200w.jpg
Jess Wooden. Atlanta Harlequins. Jess has
played for the South as well as in the US Top 100 and Top 60
camps. She's got a flyhalf's creativity, a center''s ability to
get in space and feed the finisher, and wing speed to boot. Her
first Atlantis tour was to Fiji earlier this year. She was one of
our early arrivals and scored a 105-m counter-attack try while
playing as a guest for Madrid team Arquitectura the weekend prior
to our tournament.
Jess: "On my first day in Spain it seemed
like we walked at least 10 miles and toured the entire city of
Madrid. The architecture and the culture of Madrid was a
fantastic experience that I don't think would've happened if not
for Atlantis and the hard work done by Emil and Dana.
Through all the early tribulations of this trip they pulled off
something truly amazing!"
Jess Wooden scoring 105-m try for
Arquitectura
0525b-IMG_5311-jess try4-ed-800s.jpg
Jess on break vs. Rugby Atleti
0531b-fs-IMG_5841-Jess break v Atleti-1200w.jpg
Josie Ziluca. NOVA.
Josie began rugby at Longwood U (VA) where she also played D-I
lacrosse and tennis. She started playing with NOVA in 2011 and
attracted everyone's attention. Following the Spain trip
she became a resident at the USA Rugby Sevens' camp in Chula
Vista. Her goal is to become a contracted player. She has been
on several Atlantis tours in the last year, including
Laos, Las Vegas, Tobago, and Fiji. She's got a great
combination of strength, speed, physicality and desire.
She scores tries.
"I always love
to play for Atlantis, as it's the club I'm most proud of:
Atlantis has shown me that sport is a powerful communicator
and device to transfer certain basic, humanistic
principles."
Josie
finishes off a tackle.
0531c-fs-IMG_6001-Josie tackles-ed-1200w.jpg
Rhi Clark, DC Furies. - Rhi has
played for MARFU and represented Atlantis in Las Vegas and
Fiji. She, like Josie, has a rare combination of strength
and speed (helps to be a fitness coach I guess:) and is honing her
game with the goal of continuing to advance up the select-side
ladder. The link below is to video of a great try scored by Rhi
against the Madrid Selects.
Rhi beats both the end defender and
the sweeper on this nearly length-of-the-field try vs. Madrid
Selection
Click here for Rhi's try
0528s-Rhi try-4-245s.jpg / 0528s-Rhi
try-4-245s.jpg / 0528s-Rhi try-4-245s.jpg / 0528s-Rhi
try-4-245s.jpg
0528s-Rhi try vs Madrid.mpe
Coke v Pepsi.
The team revived an old tradition, the Coke-Pepsi rivalry.
For years - beginning I think in the 1960s -, Pepsi Cola ads
centered on the "Pepsi Generation" - as Pepsi was the new kid on
the block, Cola-wise, it was pictured as the drink of the young
vibrant generation. Thus - beginning in I think 1989, which would
make this the silver anniversary of the games - we began the
Atlantis tradition of Coke-Pepsi games, the youngest 5 (or
whatever 1/2 the roster size was) against the oldest 5. It
was the young and eager against the old and wise. In the
list above, the first five listed after Lauren, from Eli to
Mollie, were Cokes; the bottom four plus Lauren were Pepsis.
In the old days, this was simple: one or two touch games between
Coke and Pepsi. This year, however, the competition got a
bit complex, even baroque. With the exception of a penalty play
competition at two practices, it had nothing to do with play.
Contests included skits on the beach, Go Karting, reverse
alphabet, with a tie-breaker of rock/paper/scissors (which gave
Pepsi the hotly contested win).
Tour schedule
From chaos to
positive change. As noted above, the tour schedule
was in flux and chaos from almost the minute we all bought our
tickets. Our original plan was to fly to Madrid on Tuesday,
get straight onto a bus to Benidorm, practice, visit the beach and
the town, and play in the tournament. In the end our
official schedule had us playing the Madrid Selects on Wednesday
and taking part in the 3rd leg of the Madrid Sevens on
Saturday. To this we added the events discussed above. A
final summary of our activities follows.
On the field:
Sunday, May 25: the early arrivals that wanted a game picked up
with Arquitectura of Madrid.
Tuesday, May 27: official start of tour. Practice at
Arquitectura's pitch; first on our own, then situations vs.
Arquitectura.
Wednesday, May 28. Morning: scrum and LO practice at the Retiro
Park. Evening: 1 hour practice plus the equivalent of two full
sevens games vs. the Madrid Selects.
Friday, May 30: Morning practice at the Benidorm Sevens venue in
La Vila Joiosa (Alicante).
Saturday, May 31: Madrid Sevens at Hortaleza Rugby pitch (Campo de
Rugby de Hortaleza).
Off the field:
1. Throughout visit: just walking around Madrid and taking in what
was around us. Madrid has always been my favorite city in
the world, and I've always told people how much I REALLY love
Madrid. But after this week I realize that I REALLY REALLY -
¡REALLY! - love Madrid! And this was helped by the fact that
we stayed smack dab in the middle of Old Madrid: what a joy! (And
it didn't hurt a bit that my grandmother was born in that
neighborhood and always had great stories about her city.
How the theaters had two shows on the weekend, the latest one
ending after midnight, and the kids could stay up and play in the
street - safely! - till the shows were over (she had many actor
relatives - her mother had been one in her early years - some of
whom probably performed in the La Latina Theater down the street).
My great
grandmother's 1880 diploma from Spain's National Music
and Declamation School
In today's English, this might be National School of
Music and Drama
In which case her award would be First Prize in Drama
1880 V Graciani diploma.jpg
Thanks, Dana Creager, for tracking down accommodations for
Atlantis in this great part of the city!
2. Throughout visit: Madrid parks (e.g. rowing boats
in the Retiro pond), museums (Prado, Reina Sofia), shopping in
places like El Rastro, tapas at uncountable restaurants, a couple
of pubs here and there, etc.
3. Thursday & Friday, May 29-30: a day and a half
visit to Benidorm and the Mediterranean including some time on the
beach and a fun romp around the Finestrat Go Kart track. And
perhaps the biggest joy was visiting my Signes cousins and having
a huge paella at my first cousin Antonio Signes Signes'
bar-restaurant.
Saturday May 24
Early arrivals. Though the tour didn't officially start
until Tuesday, five of us were in by Saturday and starting the
exploring of Madrid. I went to visit family in the mountains north
of Madrid. Josie and I got in earlier than the rest; she
visited Toledo; I visited with family in the mountains north of
Madrid. Here saying "salud" are Rafa Nuñez-Lagos, his wife Yolanda
and their daughter Belen.
From R to L, from my mother's paternal side, Rafa Nuñez-Lagos,
his wife Yolanda and their daughter Belén
We are near their home in Mataelpino, in the mountains just
north of Madrid
0524-es-IMG_0451-Rafa-Yolanda-Belen-ed-1000w.jpg
I also
made it a point to get together with Madrid Select Side coach
Álvaro Montero to discuss the upcoming week. We reviewed a
schedule and I also found out he has a US background: turns out
that while he and his wife Isabel were in the US several years
ago he played for the Chicago Lions; she for the Chicago Women.
Rhi, Jess and Eli, after checking in at Cat's Hostel, the
residence for early arrivals, grabbed some cafe and pastries and
found the book fair, "La Feria del Libro" ... When I saw
the picture from the fair, I was jealous and upset with myself.
I often visit the Feria del Libro when I'm in Madrid
when it's on, but I hadn't paid attention to the fact that its
dates and my visit coincided this year. It probably saved me a
few euros.
Feria del Libro (Book Fair)
at Retiro Park in Madrid: Jess seems to like her purchase of Cien
años de soledad by García Márquez
0524-ew-IMG_0009-at Feria del
Libro-1-ed-1200w.jpg
After watching some kids play soccer on turf and locals doing
Crossfit on a jungle gym, they met up with Josie and headed out
again.
Eli writes: "Using our map we head out to
the tourist attractions - Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol. We grab
lunch and sangria then head over to the San Miguel market. We
bought a bottle of wine and some bread and cheese and went up to
the Temple of Debad, the Egyptian temple. We sit in the park and
enjoy our wine and snacks, do some people watching, then check
out the temple, which was really cool. On our way back
towards the center of the city, we stop in a few pubs to buy
half pints and use the restrooms, and finally find a wine bar
with some space that we can watch the Real Madrid v. Atlético
Madrid soccer match."
]]
Not sure I know
where in Madrid Josie and Jess are in this picture, but it looks
like neither do they.
0524-ew-IMG_0059-lost-ed-1200w.jpg
European Championship Clubs Cup.
This wasn't just a "normal" Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid match
(though there's nothing normal when these two rivals get
together), it was the European Championship match, between two
Madrid teams, quite a feat! It was being televised from
Lisbon. *
* (This, I felt at the time, boded well for Spain in the FIFA
World Cup: what a surprise, then, when Spain turned out to be one
of the first countries eliminated.)
This is what the Puerta del Sol looked like as they wandered
through in mid-afternoon. The Puerta del Sol is the geographical
center of Madrid; distances on all radial roads are marked in km
from this clock tower.
Real Madrid jersey on left;
Atlético Madrid jersey on right
0524-ew-IMG_0037-Puerta del Sol & soccer
tonight-ed-1200w.jpg
At about the time the game started is when I joined them. Downtown
Madrid was even more packed than usual on a Saturday night; supporters of both teams
- Real Madrid in white and Atlético Madrid in red and white -
were ubiquitous, watching the game at various TVs around town
and Madrid took on all the aspects of a huge holiday.
We wandered the streets a bit, keeping an
eye (but not too close an eye) on the game. Atlético took a
1-0 lead into the 93rd minute, but Real Madrid tied it with
less than a minute left, and won in overtime. I headed
back to my cousin's on a Metro full of Atlético supporters,
downtrodden but not nasty; the players, before heading back to
Cat's Hostel, ended up with a large group of soccer fans at
what they alternately described as a celebration and a riot in
downtown Madrid.
Cat's Hostel, where most of the early
arrivals stayed
0526d-jz-IMG_6509-CatsHostel-ed-1200w.jpg
Sunday May 25
Had I known at the start of the tour
organization what this tour schedule would morph into, I might
have tried to get us to take part in both Madrid Sevens weekends.
But of course I didn't know. And then, had I known all the
potential complications, I might just have decided not to tour
Spain this year. Which would have been a big mistake as this
was an awesome tour!
Madrid Sevens, Leg 2. Arquitectura. At any rate, Álvaro
Montero had arranged for any of us that wanted to play to be
divvied up among the other teams in the May 25 tournament.
As it turned out, however, the club Arquitectura came up short
players, so the four volunteers - Mollie Martin, Eli White, Jess
Wooden and Josie Ziluca - all got to play for them. It was great:
we made friendships, and their coach Pilar Hernández invited us to
share their facility to train on Tuesday. And we got to provide a
lot of firepower for their team at this tournament: Jess, Josie,
Mollie scoring long tries, and Eli winning ball everywhere.
Following the tournament we headed to a local pub where we joined
Arquitectura in some drinking games that quickly removed most of
the spoken language barriers.
Left: Atlantis joins forces with
Arquitectura / Right: We learn the game "Tensión" ... ["Más
tensión"}
0525c-es-DSCF0642-Arquitectura &
guests-ed-1000w.jpg / 0525c-cw-DSC_0145-tension-ed-1000w.jpg
Click on
right image to see the "¡Tension!" game
Monday May 26
The tour still not officially
started, this was a "park with boats" day.
Madrid Archives; Auntie Nitroglycerine. I spent the day,
until 2 PM, at the Archives of Madrid (Archivo de Villa) in a
continuing quest for family history - I can trace family in Madrid
back a couple of centuries; there are lots of data available to
search. The available census media - where I get most of my
information - at the Archives, however, is first-generation
microfilm only partially indexed, which makes searching klutzy and
that makes it frustrating. It's difficult to do but the fact that
it's possible makes it hard to stop. I had found my legendary
Uncle Federal and Auntie Nitroglycerine - children of an anarchist
father - this way ... but I digress.
My distant uncle
and aunt "Federal" and "Nitroglicerina" found on the 1873 Madrid
Census: a Family Legend
was true!
(long story:)
pix/1873-fed&nitro-orig.jpg
A Park with Boats. At any rate, when I left the Archives
and wanted to join the team, I sent a text to the only other
person on the team that had bothered to bring phone capability to
Madrid and asked "where are you?" She responded "we're in a
park with boats" ... this drove me crazy as there are more than 6
million people in the Madrid metropolitan area and more than one
park. "What [adjective] park? What [adjective] boat?" I texted
back for clarification, but my correspondent had already turned
her phone off. I called my wife Heide at home to tell her of
this ridiculous correspondence: I repeated the text I had
received, and before I could launch into my diatribe about how was
I expected to find them with that little explanation she said
"That'll be the Estanque [pond] at the Retiro; I'm sure you'll
find them there."
Dear Reader, do people that know it all sometimes piss you off,
too? So I headed to the Retiro, quickly found the pond -
Heide was right, and I should have known this of course;
I've been to the Retiro a few times - and I quickly happened on a
couple of the girls wandering around the park and a couple more in
boats in the pond.
They laughed at me for my text comments - can you believe it?
At any rate, I got a report that they had spent the earlier part
of the day at the Prado Museum, whose themes, they seemed to have
concluded, were "Jesus and Boobs."
This is the only painting any of
our group photographed
(The Three Graces, by Rubens)
0526a-cw-DSC_0198-Prado-nudes-ed-1000w.jpg
Left: About to enter the Retiro /
Right: The Estanque (pond)
0526b-jz-IMG_6499-Retiro Park sign-ed-600w.jpg /
pix/0526b-jz-IMG_6461-boats in the park-ed-1200w.jpg
Left: A Beer "Vendor" approaches
Rhi and Dana / Right: Happy with their purchases
0526b-ew-IMG_0149-Buying
beer-ed-800w.jpg / 0526b-ew-IMG_0157-bought beer-ed-1200w.jpg
Following their treat, Rhi and Dana
are now ready to rest (as is Eli)
0526b-jz-IMG_6466-Eli Dana Rhi in boat-ed-1200w.jpg
The end of a good
day at the park with boats
0526b-cw-DSC_0313-all
at park-ed-1200w.jpg
We head to one of my favorite evening tapas and dinner areas in
Madrid, the Plaza Santa Ana. I have had the good fortune to
visit Madrid in the evening with relatives on many occasions, and
having spent this past Friday and Saturday with my mother's
paternal relatives (the Lagos branch) I text my relative Rafa
Núñez-Lagos at his home in Mataelpino and ask for suggestions on
the Plaza Santa Ana. He recommended a place that I
recognized as soon as I saw it, "Viña P." His first
recommendation, the grilled asparagus, was phenomenal, with
accompanying alioli sauce (main ingredients: garlic and olive
oil): fabulous. As were the other many and varied tapas we
went through. We finished the evening eating a mini-meal at one of
the outdoor tables on the Plaza itself, but to my mind nothing
compared with the tapas at Viña P.
Along the Plaza Santa Ana. We
headed further up the road
0526c-cw-DSC_0339-Tapas Santa Ana-ed-640w.jpg
I have been a huge fan of jamón serrano and its high-class version
jamón ibérico, for many many years, and until recently it was
almost impossible to get in the US (though now Wegman's carries
it) ... One of the first things I do when I'm Spain is - always -
get a tapa of jamón serrano or ibérico and a glass of red
wine. I believe the jamón ibérico shown here is my first of
this trip :) ...
Left: Jamón Ibérico / Right:
Tomatoes and Jamón (I assume Ibérico)
0526c-cw-DSC_0355-jamon iberico-ed-480w.jpg /
0526c-cw-DSC_0346-Place we had tapas-ed-480w.jpg
First drink together with more than
half of us
Mollie, Dana, Josie, Eli, Lauren, Rhi, Emil, JT
0526c-cw-DSC_0348-1st
drink together-ed-1200w.jpg
Tuesday May 27
Our "piso." Our tour party
was finally complete as Kaelene (AKA Lunde) and Michelle (AKA
Märki Mark) arrived today. For the first time the entire
team was together, at a "piso" (what the madrileños call an
apartment, because it often covers an entire floor [="piso", pron.
pee' - so])
It was the second floor at Nuñez de Arce, 7, just off the Plaza
Santa Ana.
It was a huge place (could sleep 18 in seemingly countless
bedrooms - I had my own sizable room - multiple bathrooms, a
living room and kitchen); had we known early enough what our
schedule was, we would surely have spent all the Madrid nights
there. By the time, however, our schedule was finally fixed,
it wasn't available for our return.
Like most rugby tours, we had a fining system in place to cover
just about all misdeeds or anything vaguely resembling a
misdeed. Being the only male on tour I got hammered with
multiple fines for leaving the toilet seat up.
Our piso at Nuñez de Arce 7. Left:
both picture taker Eli and Josie are in the apartment. Right:
one of the bedrooms
0527a-ew-IMG_0169-our
piso extent-ed-800w.jpg / 0527a-ew-IMG_0168-our piso
Tuesday-ed-800w.jpg
Practice with Arquitectura. Tuesday evening we headed to
the Arquitectura pitch; we took the Metro (by the way, Madrid's
Metro system is great!) to Moncloa where we were picked up and
driven the last couple of miles to the pitch, which is just
outside the Madrid city limits.
Arquitectura has a full field and a half field available for games
and practices. Both are turf (most of Madrid's rugby fields
either are now or are being converted to turf) and both completely
lined - strictly for rugby. Both men's and women's teams
were practicing, but we had a half field at our disposal for the
first half of our practice. This was perfect for working on
kickoffs and defensive patterns. When we finally got to
scrimmage Arquitectura we focused on these areas.
Our "Directions and Logistics Team"
(Lunde and Jess) confidently plotting a route to the
Arquitectura practice meeting point
pix/0527b-cw-DSC_0404-are we lost-1-ed-600s.jpg /
pix/0527b-cw-DSC_0405-are we lost-2-ed-600s.jpg /
pix/0527b-cw-DSC_0406-are we lost-3-ed-600s.jpg
At Moncloa Metro Station, we pass
ball around so our rides will find us :)
0527b-cw-DSC_0419-waiting to be picked up at
Moncloa-ed-600h.jpg
Top: practicing our defensive line
using ropes
Bottom: Scrimmaging vs. Arquitectura: Mollie turning the corner
0527b-cw-DSC_0422-defemse pm ropes-ed-1400w.jpg
/ 0527b-cw-DSC_0466-scrimmage-ed-1400w.jpg
Atlantis and Arquitectura following practice
at Arquitectura's field
Top, L to R: (2-3) Lauren, Marki; (5-6) JT, Rhi; (8-11), Lunde,
Josie, Dana, Emil
Bottom, L to R: (2) Cynthia, (4) Jess, (6) Mollie, (8) Eli
Arquitectura's coach Pilar Hernández is bottom left, and
Patricia Laso, also a member of Madrid Selects, between Mollie
and Eli
0527b-cw-DSC_0466-scrimmage-ed-1200w.jpg
La Casa del Abuelo. On our return from
practice each group picks out a dinner place. I end up with a
small group at La Casa del Abuelo, immediately next
door to our piso. As part of what is a continuing week of food
delights, we enjoy the asparagus, the mushrooms, the ham, the
shrimp, the - whatever else we had. And a little vino
tinto.
Our tapas at La Casa del Abuelo, Calle de la
Victoria, 12. I rarely photograph food - and I didn't take
these photos - BUT looking at them after the fact makes me
salivate.
Some great tapas at La Casa del
Abuelo: Top left asparagus / right: jamón ibérico, eggs
and fries
Bottom left: Mushroom / Shrimp
0527c-mm-DSC03629-asparagus-ed-800s.jpg /
0527c-mm-DSC03627-jamon-ed-800s.jpg
0527c-mm-DSC03639-mushrooms-ed-800s.jpg /
0527c-mm-DSC03631-shrimp-ed-800s.jpg
Wednesday May 28
There were still a couple of things
we needed to practice before we played against the Madrid
Selection. Scrums and lineouts mostly; things that could be done
in tiny spaces. We went to the Retiro, picked out a small
piece of ground and worked on both.
We wandered about town on the way to and from the Retiro.
This scene reminds me very much of a similar Starbucks + street
corner in Hong Kong that we used to walk by regularly with the US
women.
Family Connections. Our walk today took us past two
buildings that play a part in my family stories. The first
is the Palacio de las Cortes, labeled "El Congreso de los
Diputados," the home of the Spanish Parliament. The history of las
Cortes goes back to the 11th century, evolving into a modern
parliament in the 19th century, and - with breaks - twice again in
the 20th century. As noted earlier, my great granduncle
Julián Besteiro was President of the Cortes during the second
Republic of 1931-1939.
The second building of family note that we passed was the Palace
Hotel. On my first-ever visit to Spain in 1964, I met
relative Gonzalo Cardenal Lagos, who held an executive position at
the Palace (I believe "Secretary General"). Julián Besteiro
was on the political left; Gonzalo was on the right. A Franco
supporter trapped in Madrid when the Republic first beat off
Franco's rebellion in 1936, Gonzalo lived in exile - in Madrid -
he was granted asylum in the Chilean embassy, where he stayed for
3 years. When Franco won, he - and many others of the so-called
"5th column" inside Madrid - came out and in the end were rewarded
for their support of the rebellion. My mother's surnames,
"Lagos Besteiro," represented both the right (Lagos) and the left
(Besteiro) of Spain, and my mother was always conflicted about
just what each side represented and exactly where she stood. (But
I know deep down she was a lefty: she confessed, after all, to
having cast her first vote for President for Socialist Norman
Thomas.)
Left: Palacio de las Cortes /
Right: Palace Hotel
0528a-mm-DSC03730-Cortes-ed-800s.jpg
/ 0528a-mm-DSC03714-Hotel%20Palace-ed-800s.jpg
Jersey Ceremony. As we were to play our first
official games this evening against the Madrid All-Stars, we had
our jersey ceremony mid-afternoon. Tonight would be the first time
we wore them.
Players with their numbers after
jersey ceremony
Is Lunde hiding behind the V?
0528a-mm-DSC03737-Jersey
numbers on display-ed-800s.jpg
vs. Madrid Selects. Following the jersey ceremony we were
off to officially wear the jerseys for the first time, in what
figured to be our toughest test. We took the Metro to Plaza
Elíptica, and from there took cabs to the pitch at Orcasitas.
Left: Team en route to meeting with
Madrid Select / Right: first picture in team kit
Note the jersey design is a "watermark" version of Picasso's
famous drawing of Don Quijote and Sancho
0528b-cw-DSC_0484-en route to Madrid
scrimmage-ed-600w.jpg / 0528b-cw-DSC_0492-team in kit 1st
time-ed-800s.jpg
We run into our friend Patricia
Laso from Arquitectura; she presents Lauren with an Arquitectura
shirt
0528b-ew-IMG_0186-with
Patricia at madrid scrimmage-ed-1000w.jpg /
0528b-mm-DSC03762-Patricia Laso gives Lauren Arq
shirt-b-ed-1000h.jpg
Group "flex off"
0528b-mm-DSC03816-muscle
girls - & Kaelene-ed-1200w.jpg
We practiced on our own for about an hour, then scrimmaged Madrid
Selects. We played two seven minute periods, then took a break
while the Madrid teams scrimmaged each other (they had more than
20 players there), then two seven minute periods again.
It's hard to say how to score them, as we played them as discrete
periods with breaks, but if we looked at them as two games, we
would have won the first 26-5 and lost the second 5-12. As
Álvaro told me they would have their best players in at the end,
and as we kept shuffling our players, the difference between their
top seven and the rest showed. 1-1 would be a good representation
of the results, and we were really pleased to have the competition
and to do well. (Of course, had we lumped it together as one game
it would have been a 31-17 win :).
I make sure to let Álvaro know that he has saved the tour for us;
we presented him with a signed Atlantis ball and our thanks.
Afterwards we accompany some of the Madrid coaches and players for
a bit of light refreshment following the scrimmage. Then we
head back to our piso to pack and get ready to head to the
Mediterranean.
Lauren gives Alvaro ball in
recognition of all his work
0528b-cw-DSC_0522-Lauren%20gives%20Alvaro%20ball-ed-800w.jpg
Left: ¡Salud! Another successful
event / Right: Dana punished by being forced to wear "error
shirt" from previous tour
pix/0528b-cw-DSC_0538-coupla
beers after training-ed-800s.jpg / 0528b-cw-DSC_0535-Danas
award-ed-800s.jpg
The last documented Wednesday evening event was a tongue-length
competition between Lunde and Eli.
Based on this picture, Lunde seems
to be the champion (I don't remember if there were any official
results)
0528b-cw-DSC_0541-tongue
contest-ed-1200w.jpg
The next day Madrid's Video Analyst,
Nacho Pérez, sends me fabulous videos of the scrimmage. It's
been a great week so far. Not just because of how poorly
this trip might otherwise have turned out, but in an absolute
sense as well.
Click here for videos of Atlantis vs. Madrid Selects (ball in
play): Period 1 /
Period 2 / Period 3 / Period 4
Click here for our 5 tries in the
scrimmage
Our scoring in
this competition:
Player
|
Tries
|
Conv
|
Points
|
Rhi Clark
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Mollie Martin
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
Lauren Rhode
|
0
|
3
|
6
|
Kaelene Lundstrum
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Total
|
5
|
3
|
31
|
Opponents
|
2
|
0
|
12
|
To continue, click here: Atlantis
in Spain-II
