Santa Fe

  Santa Fe, Argentina
Friday, May 25, 2007

Santa Fe... a biggish town.

There is bugger all to draw the tourist to this town. The only reason for us coming to this town was to watch the Argentina vs Ireland International rugby match. It was pure coincidence that we were in Argentina when this tour was on.... pure chance. So, it was a case of how often is one able to say that they saw their country playing on foreign soil... not often at all.

Luckily, weīd booked our accommodation in the town a few weeks previous, as there wasnīt a room left in the city come the day before the match. However, the room we had was like the Black Hole of Calcutta... and you couldnīt swing a dead cat in the room, never mind a live one. Once again though, at only €15 a night, we couldnīt complain.

The night before the match we went for a feed of steak in a local restaurant... and who should walk in but Donal Lenihan and all the RTE filming crew. Also, one or two of the players came wandering in... you see... not much to do in this town!!!! After our feed we retired to the room to watch some TV and prepare for the big day tomorrow.

The match.... ARGENTINA vs IRELAND (Santa Fe, 26th May 2007)

16 The Happy couple at the end of the game!!

Remember those... €7.50 tickets. Well, we were in the terraces with all the Argentine fans. Rugby isnīt the chosen sport here in Santa Fe, its soccer, soccer, soccer and the local team is Colon. Now, soccer in Argentina has a bit of a bad reputation. Here are the preventative measures for a pitch invasion, working from the terraces toward the pitch...
     - A 2 metre deep dyke filled with water
     - A fence topped with razor wire
     - A 10 metre hight metal fence
Some how or other I donīt think that thereīll be any invasions going on here!!!

The atmosphere was unbelievably hostile!!! Even when the Irish team were warming up... the crowd were booing and jeering! In rugby when a player is taking a penalty kick there is usually silence.... a kind of respect for the kicker.... here in Argentina... Nope.... its the time to make the most noise... booing... jeering... whistling... shouting... the noise was just incredible!! A really really intimidating arena for any player.

Even though the Irish got off to a great start.... they ended up losing to a last minute drop goal. It has to be said that the Argentinians wanted it more and deserved to win.

Now.... the fun!!!!
     "Ok, Sarah lets find us some Paddies and have a few drinks!"
After what seemed like a decade and a half of walking we couldnīt find ANY bars... couldnīt find any Irish fans at all!
     "Eh, What are we goin to do now ?"
We had actually walked all the ways back to our hotel. We asked the hotel owner if he knew of where the Irish fans would be hanging out. He suggested a place, but after another lengthy walk we decided... that ainīt happening... the Irish fans are not going to walk THAT far for a drink. Lets hail a cab then. So, we hailed a taxi and jumped in. 
     M: "Heh, Mister Taxi man, do you know where there are Irish fans drinking ?"
     T:"No Mister Foreigner I donīt, but we are driving past the hotel where the Irish
                    team are staying"
     M: "Right shur, weīll get out there then"

We didnīt even attempt to go into the hotel as there was a bar next door that seemed to be hopping with Irish fans. We werenīt half way through our first drink when the Irish team bus pulled up outside the door... class... so we applauded them off the bus. They went into a club that was across the road. So, we said "Bugger That", skulled our drinks, and followed the team into the club.

What a night we had!!! There were only about 20 other Irish fans in the place. We had free drink for the first 2 hours, we had free food all night... they even came around at 2am with plates of paella for everyone. We got to see the presentation of caps to the newly capped players and the various other prestentations from the IRFU to the Argentinian Union, etc.

20 Jerry Flannery n Mike do the Pulp Fiction dance

22 Bryan Young and the gang!

24 Mike, Geordan and Malcolm discuss tactics!

We spent the entire night drinking and having an absolute laugh with all of the Irish Rugby team... BRILLIANT... something that we could NEVER EVER do at home!!!! The night was spent talking to Malcolm OīKelly, Jerry Flannery, Geordan Murphy, Bryan Young, Kieran Lewis, Tommy Bowe and others!!!!

We didnīt get back to our hotel room until 7am .... that was a lot of drinking time... WHAT A DAY!!!!

That was the extent of our time in Santa Fe!!!

What next ?