Our annual rugby trip took us once again to the almost seaside city of Rostock. The Hanse Sail took place on the weekend we visited, but our real reason for travelling up north was the attraction of a fun-filled rugby competition. 10-man rugby gives the older members of our club a chance to run our and strut their stuff once again. Fridays bus trip was already quite the adventure with various stops along the way to pop to the toilet, have a fag and stock up on drinks. One stop at a garage near the Rostock city centre even gave us the chance to prevent some freshly made bread rolls from meeting the local rubbish bin – the fish filled rolls were gulped down by our rowdy crew.
A beautiful sunset was our reward upon arrival. Thankfully we had some time to get our groovy outfits on and make our way to the party mile along the shoreline. First stop out bearded guitar-playing friend.
We decided to take it upon ourselves to help this probable “Sailor wanabee” drum up some interest for his raggle taggle show. Hop, up on the stage and throw you dancing legs around whilst singing the chorus to some song he said we were sure to know. Little did this man know that we were able dancers and singers and as if by magic we had drawn one hell of a crowd. With a few Irish folk songs we wowed the spectators and lets hope the guitar man was able to make a pretty penny!
Day 2 involved recovering from hangovers, dealing with right-wing taxi drivers and the small matter of the rugby tournament, which we had won the previous year. Needless to say our preparations this year were not so optimal: sleeping on a concrete floor of a fitness studio/sports hall meant that sleep was hard to come by! 3rd place was ok – especially as the ultimate winners, the Danish took the just for fun comp quite serious.
The second night of partying also involved a spectacular fireworks display which enthralled the crowd. A quick spin on a rollercoaster type thing did wonders for my stomach…..NOT! I knew I shouldn’t have had that last beer. Then back home to the stony bed for a good nights sleep with 50 other dudes and the obligatory early wake-up. A quick shower to freshen up and the 4 hour bus ride back with mandatory stop for scrambled eggs topped off an eventful weekend!
See you next year Rostock!