May 2014. Atlantis Women in
Spain-III:
Return to Madrid and the Madrid
Sevens Leg 3
(Atlantis
tournament #144)
Emil Signes
JUNE 15, 2014 (rev. July 30, 2014)
Friday May 30
(continued)
We dropped off our cars at a
reasonable hour at the airport, cabbed it back to the Puerta del
Sol, checked into our hotel, the Petit Palace Puerta del Sol
on Calle Arenal, basically right on the Puerta del Sol (thanks
again, Dana, for the location). As opposed to the
piso/apartment we'd had before leaving for the Mediterranean, we
checked into 3 tiny rooms, with a bunk bed and two twins. In
my room I got the lower bunk for which I was thankful.
We headed for dinner. We were on our own: most of us stopped
in at small local eateries, had quick meals and got to bed in time
to get a good night's sleep before the culmination of our tour.
It's been a few years since I'd been in the Puerta del Sol, but I
noticed something different about the famous Tio Pepe sign: it
wasn't where I remembered it, and I thought it had changed. (Tio
Pepe is a brand of sherry and the sign is a famous part of Sol,
kind of like the Boston CITGO sign visible from Fenway
Park.) After I got home I checked online and it turns out
the sign - which had survived a lot over the years,
including the Spanish Civil War - was removed in 2011 and just
this year an updated version was brought back to the Puerta del
Sol, being lit for the first time on May 8, 2014 (tonight was May
30). In addition, although it's back on the Puerta del Sol,
it's on a different building. I feel a little better about
this now.
The new (May 2014) Tio Pepe sign in
Puerta del Sol
0530d-mm-DSC05035-Puerta
del Sol-ed-1200w.jpg
Saturday May 31
We arrived at the Hortaleza grounds
(same one on which 4 of us had played for Arquitectura the
previous Sunday) at about 8:30 AM for a 10 AM game. It was a
beautiful day and we arrived in plenty of time to go through our
full warmup in comfort and be ready for the first game vs.
Hortaleza.
All still action shots are by Francisco Santiago, the father of
one of the Majadahonda players.
Game 1: Hortaleza. We played a solid game and
won pretty comfortably 30-0. Jess Wooden scored 2 tries, and
Josie, Mollie, Eli and Marki had one each. If we were to
miss all our conversions, this was the game to do it in.
Happily, my cousin Yolanda and her family came to
support us at the tournament, and we took a photograph of them
with us. Somehow, however, sadly, that photo has entered
the land of the lost. :( At any rate, below is a photo of
my Besteiro cousins (Yolanda in the middle of them) and me - taken
on the previous Monday -with a bust of Spanish hero El
Empecinado sculpted by our great-great grandfather
Francisco Graciani (a cousin of the relative - mentioned early
in this report - that named his daughter Nitroglycerine). The
bust is located in the Alcalá de Henares City Hall, not open to
the public, but Yolanda is a Councilwoman there so I was able to
get in and see the sculpture. (My lifetime search for
Graciani/Graziani relatives and our common history continues, in
both Spain and Italy: http://emilito.org/family/emilito/graziani/finding_graziani.html.)
May 26: Emilito
and his cousins Carlos, Yolanda and Angelita Besteiro, in Alcalá
de Henares City Hall
The bust behind us, of Spanish hero El Empecinado, was sculpted
by our great-great grandfather
0526a-es-DSCF0664-g-g-grandhildren & El Empecinado.jpg
The first two games were nearly 4 hours apart, so - besides taking
a nap, we needed something to keep us amused, and the team broke
into a long game of charades, which served its intended purpose.
Left: Our team gets a charade clue
from a device on Cynthia's forehead /
Right: Presumably we are acting out something that will help her
decipher our actions
0531d-mm-DSC05138-charades1-ed-1000w.jpg /
0531d-mm-DSC05169-charades2-ed-1000w.jpg
Game 2: Rugby Atleti. Our second
game was against Rugby Atleti. We suspected from watching earlier
that this team was not going to threaten us, and I asked the team
to play to our pattern. Instead, we played a very selfish
game, with each person in turn trying to do everything on her own.
I was really angry afterwards, but Dana encouraged me to relax. In retrospect, watching the video,
there were a couple times I would have preferred they moved
the ball, but for the most part, players were just playing
what was in front of them. At any rate, we won 57-0.
Lunde gets high enough
0531b-fs-IMG_5808-Kaelene LO v Atleti-500w.jpg
We lost Lauren in this game when she slammed her foot into the
turf and received an injury to her metatarsal. I took Lauren to
the hospital and waited for her. They wouldn't work on her till
she put down a credit card (she wasn't sure - and they weren't
sure - if her US insurance would cover it). Hint to all
travelers: make sure a) your medical insurance will work overseas,
or, if not, that b) you purchase travel insurance.
Regardless of the outcome, the total bill, including X-rays,
consultation, casting her foot (it was broken) was I think 285€,
and crutches were I believe another 75€ ... worst case scenario,
if her insurance doesn't cover it, she'd be out slightly less than
$500. Not great, but imagine what we would have paid in the US for
that. And, medically speaking, Spain is a first-world
country. Players need to be advised, each and every trip, their
"to dos" include: have a passport, bring your passport, bring your
boots, make sure you have insurance that will cover you, bring
proof of that, etc ...
Lauren at
hospital
0531a-es-DSCF0742-Lauren
at hospital-ed-800s.jpg
Semifinal: Sanse Scrum. Lauren
and I got back to the tournament in time for the semifinal game, a
17-5 win over Sanse Scrum, another top Madrid side. It was
probably our weakest performance of the tour, but it was good
enough for a relatively comfortable win over a good side. It
seems to be generally true that, even when you win a tournament,
there's always one game where you struggle, and not necessarily
the final. I felt more comfortable after this game than after the
previous one.
The semifinal began well for us, as we got the ball back following
our kickoff, won the ball at a ruck, and moved it wide to Mollie
Martin who scored on the edge. With the half-time score 5-0 we
scored from the opening 2nd-half KO when we won the Sanse kickoff
and moved it back across the field where Mollie broke the line and
took it all the way, virtually uncontested, for about 70 meters.
Mollie Martin on try-scoring break
against Sanse Scrum
0531c-fs-Mollie-try-ensayo-
GIF.gif
Final: Majadahonda.
The first 15 minutes of the 20-minute final was the best sevens we
played on the entire tour. Majadahonda had a very talented
"keep away" offense, with midfield players capable of quickly
changing directions. To defend, we got our numbers in place,
then got ready to jump in the lanes and double-tackle when
opportunities presented themselves. We did it very well.
We scored the first try following a long break by Kaelene
Lundstrum. We then had a scrum near the center and flyhalf
Jess Wooden got the ball coming from right to left behind the
scrum for the SH pass and took it to the left corner for the
try. Jess also scored the second try when she broke the line
following a lineout (Majadahonda's line was not connected - train
off the tracks we would say), beautifully stepped the sweeper and
finished a 70-m try. Rhi Clark scored a third try from a
Majadahonda turnover and following a great touchline conversion by
Jess Wooden the halftime score was 19-0.
In tourney final vs. Majadahonda, Jess breaks line, steps
sweeper, and scores
0531b-fs-IMG_6154-Jess at sweeper-ed-1500w.jpg /
0531b-fs-IMG_6155-jess beats sweeper-ed-1500w.jpg
The first try of the first half belonged to us as well, as
following a scrum at the Majadahonda 22, the ball got out to wing
Mollie Martin who got outside her opposite to score 24-0.
We'd been playing all day with 10 and Majadahonda 12, and with
Lauren injured we were down to 9. Majadahonda had insisted
on 10-minute halves (we would have preferred 7, but said nothing;
we would have done the same thing in their place) and, now, about
14 minutes in, their decision seemed to be a wise one for
them. They picked up the pace, we started to look weary, and
they started to exploit gaps. Although they did score 2
tries, we hung in there and the final score was 24-10. Great
finish to the playing part of the tour!
The videos (ball in play) of each game may be seen here:
Atlantis 30
Hortaleza 0 / Atlantis 57
Rugby Atleti 0 / 17 Atlantis
vs. Sanse Scrum 5 / Atlantis 24
vs. Majadahonda 10
Our 22 tries on the day may be seen
by clicking on one of the links below:
6 tries vs.
Hortaleza / 9 tries vs.
Rugby Atleti / 3
tries vs. Sanse Scrum / 4
tries vs. Majadahonda
Atlantis Scoring
Summary, Madrid Sevens Leg 3
Player
|
Tries
|
Cv.
|
Pts
|
Jess Wooden
|
5
|
9
|
43
|
Mollie Martin
|
6
|
0
|
30
|
Josie Ziluca
|
4
|
0
|
20
|
Cynthia Wright
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Rhi Clark
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Kaelene
Lundstrum
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Michelle Marki
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Eli White
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
Total
|
22
|
9
|
128
|
Opponents
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
Champions, Madrid Sevens 5/31/2014
0531d-cw- Sat
Madrid Champs-ed-1200w.jpg
We got together with Majadahonda for a joint photo afterwards, and
had a couple of beers at the pitch to celebrate during the men's
final. It was well after 9:30 but still light when the
tournament ended. Before we even celebrated, JT was able to
post a tour wrap up on a little sideline banner, which was a quote
I'd used on several occasions on the tour. I had noted that
one of my favorite recurring moments with my father was,
when he was in a particularly enjoyable situation, often but not
necessarily at the Jersey shore, often but not necessarily with
a beer in his hand, he would sit back, relax, and comment, in
his thick Spanish accent, "Emiliet, dees ees dee good life."
Her sign reads, "This is the good life." This tour was, indeed,
the good life.
JT's got the tour wrap up right
here
This is also a great view of the
Picasso drawing on the jersey
0531d-DSC05483-this
is the good life.jpg
It turns out it was second time we had defeated Majadahonda in a
sevens final in Spain; the first was in La Coruña in 1997:
http://www.emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/1997/t_057.html
Here's a picture from the newspaper El Ideal Gallego's
account of that 1997 tournament. Captain Mary Beth Spirk is now
(2014) one of the top 20 coaches in the nation in victories among
active NCAA D-III basketball coaches, having surpassed 500 wins
with Moravian College earlier this year (my wife Heide and I were
at the 500th to join the celebration!)
1997, La Coruña: Kim Cyganik (L)
and Mary Beth Spirk holding Atlantis' trophy
The team headed out into the center-city Madrid night and
celebrated.
The tournament gave us no hardware,
so these Burger King crowns had to do
0531d-mm-DSC05657-queens
in crowns-ed-1200w.jpg
Sunday June 1
Sunday was a bonus day; the rugby
was done.
I've noted that our hotel was basically right on the Puerta del
Sol. The Puerta del Sol is considered to be the center of Spain,
kilometer zero, the point from which distances on all radial roads
are measured. The inscription below is right in front of the clock
tower on which we saw the Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid tee
shirts on Saturday when we (early arrivals) passed through.
Inscribed on ground in front of
clock tower
"Origin of the radial roads"
I can never think of km 0 without thinking of km 10 on the road to
Andalucia. Per official accounts it was there that my uncle
Emilio Besteiro was summarily executed on August 10, 1936.
No one seems sure of the details. It was in the first month of the
Spanish Civil War and people were being taken for "paseos" -
walks. The procedure was, a couple of armed people would show up
at your house, announce that you were being taken for "un paseo,"
and you would never be seen alive again. The odd thing about
tio Emilio's murder was that it seems that - though he, like all
the Besteiros, was on the left politically - he was murdered by a
left-wing assassin. Most current histories seem to agree that over
the course of the war there were a lot more murders by Franco's
side than by the Republic; in Madrid, however, controlled by the
Republic, a lot of these type of executions were committed by the
left. But it seems as though no one ever really figured out
exactly what happened to tío Emilio.
A card issued to commemorate his death a number of years later
says he was murdered by "la horda roja" - the Red horde.
That was clearly written once Franco was in power, so it certainly
wasn't objective. Opposed to the left-leaning Besteiros, the
Lagos branch of my family (my mother's paternal branch) was on the
right (my grandfather was a monarchist). The story my grandfather
heard about tío Emilio was that because he wore a suit and tie to
work the Communists thought he must have been a member of (or
affiliated with) "the ruling elite" and therefore they murdered
him. This (the murder of people that wore ties) was the rumor
flying around right-wing circles in Madrid at the time, and
apparently is at best an exaggeration *. Others told family
members that Emilio was murdered by a disgruntled employee (Emilio
was a manager for the Spanish railway system). I doubt we'll ever
know.
* Tantalizingly, however, I found an article on
speakingofspain.com that makes the whole story of men wearing ties
as elite and therefore enemies of the people more believable: "In
the aftermath of the 1936
elections in Spain, the new government watched as overnight,
villages and towns began to dismantle the old symbols of
inequality in the country. The Manchester Guardian reported that
in the new radical atmosphere of Malaga 'only foreigners now wore
ties'”.
Tio Emilio Besteiro in 1930 / A
card issued on the anniversary of his death (my notes say 1942
but I don't remember why)
It says "vilmente asesinado por la horda roja" (vilely
assassinated by the Red Horde)
1930-12 BESTEIRO GRACIANI Emilio
portrait-ed-800h.jpg / 1936 BESTEIRO GRACIANI Emilio.JPG
In a recent book about my great granduncle Julián Besteiro - Julián
Besteiro: Nadar contra corriente - it
notes that Julián was somehow apprised on July 21, 3 days after
Franco's rebellion began, that his nephew Emilio had been taken
from his home and held captive. Julián asked for help for
his nephew but was unable to save his life. This conflicts
with the story we'd always heard that there were only hours
between tío Emilio's abduction and his execution, as, if the story
I've related above were true, he would have been captive for 3
weeks. And by whom? The different versions of this story seem to
be a reflection of all the uncertainty in Spain about what was
happening at the time. See Paul Preston's 2012 book The
Spanish Holocaust for a description of the horrors of
the Spanish Civil War.
My parents - on their honeymoon - were actually trapped in Spain
when the war started - ironically they were scheduled shortly to
head from a visit in Gata to Madrid to meet, among others, my
grandmother's brother Emilio, when the war broke out - and they
had to escape. One of the letters my parents had in their
possession from Spain when they escaped was from tío Emilio, dated
July 11, and is shown in part below. He writes of the
happiness he and his wife feel, "that you are on Spanish soil, and
that the days are becoming years to us, before we can embrace you
in person...."
But, that's another story for another time ... or go here: http://emilito.org/family/emilito/signes/1936/1936trip.html.
11
July 1936. Dear niece and nephew Carmita and Emilio:
We received your letter and I can't tell you the joy it's
given us that you're on Spanish soil
The days are becoming years waiting to hug you
personally.
Until that moment arrives, receive [our hugs] by means of
this letter
from your uncle and aunt
[Signed] Emilio and Lola
The
letter from a thrilled Emilio Besteiro to his niece and her
husband (my parents)
He was looking forward to meeting them about a month later
He was executed by unknown assailants less than a month later
They never met
In the Madrid of my Besteiro ancestors. We head to
Calle de Milaneses, 6. This is where Emilio Besteiro's (and my
grandmother's) father, my great-grandfather Ricardo Besteiro - and
his father José Besteiro before him - owned a grocery store (or
warehouse - tough to know by the Spanish word "almacén" and all I
remember from my grandmother was it was a "tienda", a store). A
couple of years ago an online search resulted in an 1879 newspaper
advertisement for the store, then owned by José:
An 1879 advertisement for my
great-great grandfather José Besteiro Guiza's store
1879 A 0for Jose Besteiro shop.jpg
STORE/WAREHOUSE
OF FOODS FROM THE COLONIES
OF JOSÉ BESTEIRO
Calle de Milaneses, 6, Madrid
Domestic and
foreign wines, all types of liqueurs, canned and preserved
foods, cheeses,
dates, pistachios, gelatins, sausages of all kinds and from all
countries.
WE DELIVER EVERYWHERE
We sat down and had brunch in front of the old family business and
residence: Calle de Milaneses is the street on the right side of
the corner. The street on the left side of the corner
building is Costanilla de Santiago and the family lived there, at
#15, since at least 1855, the earliest year in which I could find
them on the census; my great-grandfather Ricardo was less than a
year old at the time of that census. (José, the owner of the store
in 1879, was born in Lugo, community of Galicia; not sure when he
moved to Madrid.)
Left: Team in front of Milaneses, 6
/ Right: corner of Calle de Milaneses (right) and Costanilla de
Santiago (left)
0601a-es-DSCF0748-team
at corner of Milaneses & C-Santiago-ed-1000w.jpg /
0601a-es-DSCF0746-corner Milaneses & Cost de
Santiago-ed-1000w.jpg
For some reason I was content to note the building but not
explore. It's currently a bar, "La Esquinita," and I
checked it out on the web and it's got 4 out of 5 stars from
customer reviews (https://plus.google.com/105814215540777802954/about?gl=us&hl=en).
From the only review in English I found: "La Esquinita
is a Spanish version of a dive bar. A tiny spot, this place
literally translates to "the little corner". Cheap beers and
raciones [as I discuss elsewhere, raciones is the
correct word for what I often incorrectly call tapas]
have made lots of local customers who pack in on game nights.
Right in the heart of town and not far at all from the main
tourist corridor, there is nothing touristy about this spot.
Worth a stop in if you're in the area."
From a 5-star Spanish review: "Cervezas
baratas y diversas. Buena atencion y servicio. Esto es lo que
encontras en el Bar La esquinita. ... cuando ando por ahi paso
por una cervecita, y darme un break para distraerme del stress
diario. La esquinita es pequeno, pero no necesitas mas para
darte un minuto." [Cheap and varied beers. Good
attention and service. This is what you will find at the Bar
La Esquinita... When I walk by there I stop for a beer and
to distract me from life's daily stress. La Esquinita
is small, but you don't need more to give yourself a
minute.]
How could I have been so close and not checked it out?
Oh, well ... next time for sure! The more reasons to
visit a next time: and the sooner the better!
... and the Graciani actors.
We had lunch in front of the store and then wandered around this
part of town, home to the Besteiro family. Among the
buildings we passed was the Teatro La Latina, where it's possible
that Ricardo Besteiro's wife, my great-grandmother Victorina
Graciani the actress, performed in her brief but notable acting
career. And if not her, there were a bunch of other Graciani
relative actors that populated the theaters of Madrid for decades.
Perhaps the most famous, Fernando Delgado, died in 2009 (Fernando
Delgado obituary) and his son Alberto is still on the
Spanish stage and TV. I met (and saw in performance) both Fernando
and Alberto between 1998 and 2003.
Teatro La Latina in 2014.
What would great-grandmother Victorina have thought about the
legs?
0601a-es-DSCF0754-Teatro
Latina-ed-1200w.jpg
The Reina Sofia. Next we headed to the Reina Sofia
Museum (with two art history majors - Rhi and Josie - it was a
given that we would visit here as well as the Prado). The
museum gave instructions to take only non-flash photos, except ...
no photos at all of Guernica. So I don't know how
this picture got taken, but ... shame on you, Marki. And
thanks.
Crowd visiting Picasso's Guernica
0601b-mm-DSC05946-Guernica-ed-1200w.jpg
I had seen Guernica at the New York Museum of Modern Art
in the 1960s. Picasso painted Guernica in Paris in 1937;
it is based on an infamous Spanish Civil War bombing by the Nazis
(Franco's allies) in the Basque Country town of Guernica in April
of that year. After Franco's victory, Picasso made it clear
that it was not to be shown in Spain until democracy
returned. After many years in New York, in 1981 it was
finally brought to the Casón del Buen Retiro (an annex of the
Prado) in Madrid for the Centennial of Picasso's birth and
eventually made its way to its permanent home at the Reina Sofia
in 1992.
Here are a few more selected pictures from the Reina Sofia.
Left: At Entrance (Rhi, Josie,
Mollie, Emil, Marki, JT) / Right: Dali's Premonition of
Civil War (1936)
0601b-jz-IMG_6730-Reina Sofia
entrance-ed-1200w.jpg / 0601b-jz-IMG_6777-Dali premonition of
Civil` War-ed-800w.jpg
Left: Was Jess really the model? /
Right: Lunde crawls through interactive exhibit
0601b-jz-IMG_6772-Jess and sculpture-ed-600w.jpg
/ 0601b-jz-IMG_6760-Lunde in sculpture-ed-900w.jpg
Most of team between exhibits at
Reina Sofia
Now we are taking care of our captain as she's taken care of us
0601b-jz-IMG_6785-the crewatRSofia-ed-1200w.jpg
Finally, still a bit upset that I didn't remember the Feria
del Libro was on this week, I did manage to pick up a couple
of books at the Reina Sofia bookstore to ease the pain.
Boats in the Park: Reprise. We headed back to the
Retiro and it is beginning to seem like "been there done that";
almost time to leave. The boat pictures are pretty
reminiscent of Monday's pictures so I haven't included any.
Today, though, we did pass a magic show in the Retiro.
Magic show in the Retiro
0601c-mm-DSC06141-magic
show-ed-1200w.jpg
Our last night in Madrid. Later in the evening
we went out for dinner to a classy restaurant not too far from the
Puerta del Sol. It was really nice (though when in Madrid I
prefer making my dinner be a collection of tapas, er, I mean
raciones). Dana and I received nice thank-you cards, we
cheered ourselves for our achievement during the week, and headed
back, some to party, some to sleep.
As most end of rugby tour nights, it was long and celebratory.
Dana and I received thanks from the players, but we equally have
them to thank for a great tour.
Toasting ourselves
0601d-mm-DSC06264-salud-ed-1200w.jpg
Management receives thanks from the players
0601d-mm-DSC06192-thank
you cards-ed-1200w.jpg
Rookie Show / Coke-Pepsi Revisited. Among
other performances, we had a Rookie Show tonight, which
comprised mostly the usual (friendly) mocking of the veterans.
As noted in Part I of this report, we also continued the
decades-long Coke/Pepsi rivalry. Perhaps the funniest moment
of this rivalry - judged by consensus (where consensus was
determined by the Coke captain) - was Coke's performance
featuring this ditty, sung to the tune of the "Brady Bunch"
(only a partial text survives):
"Here's a story
Of a man named Emil
Who was traveling with 11 rugby girls
All of them had speed and skill
Just like Dana
The youngest one loved Curls"
Chorus:
"The Fucking Boats,
The Fucking Boats,
We're so glad Emil found
The Fucking Boats!"
I'm so glad I came up with such a quotable quote this week.
And oddly, but topically from our point of view, while we were
there, El Cultural, a weekend supplement to the daily
newspaper El Mundo, featured an old historic picture
of the Retiro in honor of the book fair with which we started
the week. I picked up El Cultural and there it was, a
boat in the pond in the park.
Cover of El Cultural 5/30 to 6/5/14 cover
0530ec_ElCultural-1000h.jpg
Monday June 2
The team went home; I returned to my
relatives' - Amalio and Javier's - piso on Calle Lagasca in the
Salamanca district of Madrid. I made another quick stop at
the Archives to follow up a lead and started planning my next
visit there, possibly this year. I returned to Amalio's to
relax. Finally in the evening I made one quick stop at a
local bar - Hermanos Alonso - on Lagasca, where I'd had so many
evening tapas/raciones over the years dating back to the 80s ...
Having made my peace with Madrid for this trip, I got a good
night's sleep and left on Tuesday morning.
Javier and Amalio in the
office. At 94, Amalio is still a practicing Urologist.
0602-es-DSCF0774-Javier&amalio-ed-1100s.jpg
Some "Off the Field" Pictures /
Some Closing Remarks
Here's one final run through our
tourists, in each case with a non-rugby playing picture.
Where they've chosen to add a closing comment, I've included it
here.
Rhi Clark
Saturday, May
24: Rhi
participating
in the first
tour "Cheers!"
0524-ew-IMG_0050-Sangria-ed-1200w.jpg
Lauren Rhode
Rhi & Lauren -
the tour's muscular Yin and Yang
- flex off on Madrid Metro
0525c-cw-DSC_0153-Rhi
& Lauren flex-ed-900s.jpg
Josie Ziluca
Josie headed back to San Diego where she plays for the Surfers and
continues her goal to become a contracted player. She
continues to be a heavily recruited player and captained the Stars
7s on their successful (finalists) tour of the Calgary Stampede 7s
and will head to Australia with them later this year.
Josie's wrap up contained the following sentence (I've used the
entire remark earlier), which is what I love to hear from all our
players:
"I always love to play for Atlantis ... "
Josie at the Retiro
0526b-jz-IMG_6463-Josie
in boat-ed-1200w.jpg
Kaelene
Lundstrum
"Overall it was an awesome
opportunity to
travel, meet
new people,
and play some
rugby that I'm
very thankful
I could be a
part of."
Kaelene working on her Castilian
pronunciation at the field (Thank You / You're Welcome)
0531a-mm-DSC05121-Gratheeas-ed-1200w.jpg
Mollie Martin
Mollie ready to get the paella
eating started
0529c-es-DSCF0723-Mollie
starts serving paella-ed-900w.jpg
Jess Wooden
"I
really enjoyed
playing with
the
Arquitectura
women's team
and how they
helped us out
with a
practice field
and even
taught us some
of their
drinking
games.
The
universality
of rugby
culture always
gives me
goosebumps and
makes me so
thankful that
I am lucky
enough to play
this sport."
Jess helping finish
up the paella
0529c-ew-IMG_0237-Jess
getting seconds-ed-800h.jpg
Michelle Marki
"My favorite part of the trip was
visiting Coach Emil's extended Signes family and
receiving their gracious hospitality and
generosity of amazing paella (featuring rabbit!)
and food, touring around, and seeing "Carrer
Signes" in Gata de Gorgos, near Benidorm, Spain.
This trip being the second visit to Spain in my
life, these experiences broadened my appreciation
of Spanish culture and people. Our last Spanish
opponents in the Madrid 7s final match happily
joined us in a team photo right after we had won
the tournament and welcomed us to celebrate with
them thereafter.
"On this trip I gained more than new rugby
teammates, but friends who taught me many insights
into life and rugby. In spite of some setbacks,
the team exemplified the hard work ethic and
values in which rugby unifies us. I will always
cherish how we lived life and played rugby to the
fullest."
Marki
wears her hardware proudly
0531d-mm-DSC05557-Marki and
crown-ed.jpg
Cynthia
Wright
This tour exemplified once more how the rugby game and
culture permeates our society at a global level . . .
It's a good reminder of how small and interconnected our
world actually is. I will never forget standing in the
orange groves in Gata
as the sun sets, in awe of the beauty and peace.
Regardless of what may be going over here in DC, I know
that those sunsets are still happening in Gata. At the
risk of sounding corny, i look forward to finding more
of those moments. I'm honored to be part of this rugby
family and can't wait for the next opportunity.
Looking statuesque: Cynthia and Rhi
0526b-cw-DSC_0317-Cynthia-Rhi-statues-ed-1000h.jpg
Jess Turner
JT rowing in the Estanque
at the Retiro
0526b-jz-IMG_6456-JT
rowing-ed-1200w.jpg
Eli White
"The best part of the trip was winning the
tournament, not just because we won, but because of how we won
and how it felt as we played together - I almost didn't want
the match to end. We started off the week a group of talented,
but individual, rugby players. On Saturday, our first game,
though we played well, we were still individuals. Each game we
got a little better - maybe it was the bonding over Charades,
or rallying around our injured Captain, or just the
culmination of a week of fun together, but that last match, we
really brought it all together. I remember in our pre-game
huddle, we all looked at each other and promised to play that
game for each other, for the player next to us with Atlantis
on her chest, and we all really took that to heart. It wasn't
just words, it was a great feeling, and we won that final in
the best way - as a true team, with everyone making key
contributions and playing for each other."
Pre-final Huddle
pix/0531c-fs-IMG_6141-huddle-pre-final-ed-1200w.jpg
"I have
been lucky to have played for several different clubs
and select sides, and have been incredibly honored to
wear the Atlantis jersey for each tour. Thank you
for the opportunity to join this team, to continue to
learn from you, and for an amazing experience in Spain"
Eli prepares for Go Kart racing with
a horsey ride
0530b-cw-DSC_0833-Eli
on horse-ed-800s.jpg
Dana Creager
"I really enjoy coaching players that have a carefree
attitude mixed with a strong desire to work hard and learn new
things. The players on this tour perfectly encapsulated
all of those things."
Carefree, Dana
relaxes in hammock as tourney
goes on
0531d-mm-DSC05336-Dana
in hammock-ed-1000s.jpg
Emil Signes
"We were all chatting at the end of the tour
about what we thought was the best part of the trip. The two
parts of me traveling on this trip - Emilio Signes Lagos Monfort Besteiro
García Diego Toledo Graciani Costa ... (etc),
descendant of at least centuries of Spanish ancestors, and Emil
Signes, rugby coach - had two different answers.
"For the descendant of Spaniards Emilio, it was getting his team
acquainted with both sides of his family: a) his father's branch
in their home town of Gata de Gorgos, feasting on the world's
greatest paella, and wandering the town including a stop at
Signes Street, and b) meeting his (maternal) Besteiro relatives
in Madrid, and seeing several places where their common
ancestors had interacted with that city.
Family at Pou: Juan Lillo and his
wife Maite Signes; Maria Mulet, Antonio Signes, Rosa Signes,
Teresa Cervera, Emilito
0529c-cw-DSC_0799-family
in Spain & me-1200w.jpg
"For rugby
coach Emil, winning the tournament, and winning it by playing
excellent sevens, really put an exclamation point on an already
fabulous (and amazing:) trip. And it wasn't as if we
didn't play any good teams: Majadahonda knew how to play the
game of sevens; they got deep, spread the ball wide, had
midfield players that changed direction very effectively, and
were very disciplined. It was a very satisfying victory... "
And, as a P.S., it turned out, based on
the following week's results, Sanse Scrum, whom we struggled
to beat in the semifinal, went on to become the champion of
the entire Madrid Sevens Series; they defeated Majadahonda
17-12 in the final of the entire series on an overtime try by
Maria Ribera.
Here's a wrap up, in Spanish, of the series.
http://rugbyfemenino.com.es/2014/06/sanse-scrum-campeon-del-seven-de-madrid/
And here, also in Spanish, a mention of
the leg that we won.
http://rugbyfemenino.com.es/2014/06/atlantis-gano-la-tercera-serie-en-madrid/
Love and
Documentation
This was another great Atlantis
tour. I've been blessed with the opportunity to take
Atlantis teams of both sexes on amazing tours to amazing
places. Very occasionally we get invited to sponsored or
partly sponsored tournaments, but for the most part we can't
offer the players anything (and I mean anything) in the way of
financial support. The only thing Atlantis can normally
offer its players is love. And documentation. But
lots of both ...
Hmm ... "Atlantis: Love and Documentation ... " how does that
scan?
Which reminds me ... I've still got to finish my write up o
f Fiji 2014. And I think Las Vegas
2013.
It seems like this never ends.
Which, I guess, is a good thing.
End of the Tour
Often getting players to do skits
is a chore; this team, however, couldn't get enough of them.
The picture shown below is taken from the last one of these,
the evening before we split and headed home. I've taken
it metaphorically to be this team's welcome to future teams to
pass under the Atlantis arch into future places in future
times.
Cynthia: "I could have easily
continued to tour for another week with the group that I was
with. I feel very fortunate to have been on tour with this
specific group of girls. Everyone brought something unique
to our collective experience in Spain."
Sadly, Cynthia, each tour has to end. But at some not
very predictable time in the future,
happily, the next one begins.
And I'm sure that will outlive my reign as Emperor. :)
Creating a pathway from this tour to the next
0601d-mm-C06456-walkway-ed-1000s.jpg
FIN
Abridged
Version (a la Reader's Digest Condensed Books)