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Argentina - Texas XXX's Vintage Rugby September, 2006
As you may know, Rankin is a rugby player or shall we say former rugby player. So, every two years ... give or take, we attend an international "old boys" rugby festival held in various places around the world. In 2006, the event was held in Buenos Aires and was actually the main reason we initially decided to tour Buenos Aires. This year Rankin played for the Texas XXXs team. The general agenda for the event is Day 1-Parade Day, Day 2-Game 1, Day 3-Off Day (tour day), Day 4-Game 2, Day 5-another tour day, Day 6-Game 3 and this year the Final Dinner was held on the same day. This rugby festival is not only about rugby, it's also about having fun ... there are no winners or losers, every game is a tie. People come from all around the world (Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, etc.) to attend this event and though we may not speak the same language ... apparently, fun is a universal. For us, it's not just about playing rugby and meeting many new people from around the world, it's also seeing and hanging out with old friends and catching up. Here are some of the photographs from this event.
Thursday, the Texas XXXs group went to a typical Argentine rural estancia - La Cinacina. This event featured local folklore, song, music, dance and displays of gaucho horsemanship skills. The Texas XXXs made all the ladies princesses for the day which meant we had to wear our crown all day. The good part was ... the men were required to be servants to the princesses for the entire day. We picked names from a hat which decided who our servant(s) was for the day. My servants were almost immediately freed ... it just seemed like the right thing to do. However, others were not so lucky ... one servant even had to stand in the ladies restroom line for his princess ... huh, not a bad idea. The music, dance and food were excellent, however the gauchos were the best. How to describe gauchos ... cool dudes (see picture below) . They straddled their horses using blankets bundled together and strapped to the animal as saddles, gallantly riding their horses with ease and dignity. They displayed their horsemanship by speeding down the track with their knees on the backs of their horse positioning themselves to place a medal pin the size of a small pencil into a tiny ring (the size of a dime) with a red ribbon tied to it ... some were rewarded with our cheers. We would like to thank our friends on Centime for contributing some of the photographs.
The final dinner is always a big event with live entertainment, three course meal, free flowing beer and great wine and dancing ... it always seems to end too quickly. This was our celebration with friends, old and new, and to say goodbye ... until the next time.
A week after it began, the Texas XXXs' Buenos Aires Vintage Rugby event came to an end. The next day, we watched many of our friends jump on a bus headed for the airport. We said our final goodbyes and then left the Aspen Hotel. Though rugby events came to an end, we had planned to stay in South America for another month. Our next stop, Mendoza, Argentina ... the wine country. So, take a look at Argentina - Mendoza to see what's next or you can catch up on the latest travels by selecting What's Happening. Don't forget ... keep coming back.
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