Paris in December.

On Friday I finished work early in order to get home and get organised for another weekend trip to Paris. To make life easier in the morning I stayed overnight at Colin’s house in Bath. We had a nice evening out in Bath but went home quite early because of the early start next day.

Next morning I was out of bed in a flash when the alarm went off at 4 am in order to get ready at leisure and we left the house at 5.30, allowing time for another cup of coffee at the station before I caught the 6.22 train. This fortunately was on time and it was a pleasant journey to London. As per usual I had my portable music and a good book to while away the journey. One slight niggle during the journey was after realising that the new address of Leo and Christele wasn’t in my handbag when I looked and try as I might I simply could not remember their number at the street where they lived! I was hoping that Pierrette could find out for me via the French equivalent of Directory Enquiries.

I arrived in London at ten to eight and within half an hour reached Waterloo, too early to check in for the train leaving at 10.23. So time for another cup of coffee and then check-in at 9 am and an hour’s wait in the boarding lounge before getting on the train itself.

The journey itself on Eurostar was very smooth and comfortable. I had a window seat although spent most of the journey reading a good book. The train was running slightly slower due to maintenance works on the tracks in France, so arrived 20 minutes later than scheduled. As soon as I walked off the platform, Pierrette was there to meet me and in no time at all we were outside the Gare du Nord and crossing the road to a restaurant called ‘Buffalo Bill’ which is a chain of restaurants throughout France as popular as MacDonalds but serving steaks instead. We spent a pleasant couple of hours there, me opting for a Bison steak as I am not a lover of beef and very nice it was too. I finished off with an enormous American style icecream sundae - three flavours of icecream and chocolate brownie, all decorated with creme chantilly and pecan nuts.

I found I was really struggling with my French throughout the time spent with her at the restaurant. After being 100% fluent at French this all seems to have flown out of the window after a year of intense Spanish learning. I am now pretty fluent in Spanish but unfortunately at the cost of losing my French. It was only with immense concentration that I could manage a whole sentence in French and even then the odd Spanish word crept in. This didn’t matter later when I was with Leo and Christele because they are all fluent in both Spanish and French, even the children, but poor Pierrette who doesn’t speak Spanish had some difficulty in understanding me and at times I had to revert to speaking in English slowly. I could still understand her spoken French perfectly though so at least I still have that!

Afterwards Pierrette tried to get Leo’s telephone number from Directory Enquiries only to find that they weren’t listed yet, or were possibly ex-directory. She didn’t know the whereabouts of any nearby internet cafe (so that I could send a ‘help’ message to Leo) so we decided to find the street anyway and hoped that it wasn’t a long one! I had an idea the number might be 40 or 42 so we decided to start there.

It was quite a long way on the Peripherique to get to Bagneux, or at least it seemed long because of the busy traffic. We got off the Peripherique at Montrouge and with the help of an A-Z type book of maps found out way quite easily, only to find when we reached No’s 40 and 42 that these were individual houses and not the apartment block I was looking for! We asked a passerby if there was an internet cafe in the area only to find there was not! This left no choice but for me to look through my baggage and hope I could find the address there and sure enough there it was at the bottom of my hand luggage, revealing that the number we wanted was 68!

We drove to 68 and parked outside and had just got inside and found no names were written against each of the bells or postboxes and were just wondering what to do next when Leo appeared down the stairs. They had been looking out for me and saw me arrive and soon enough we were all inside and relaxing with a drink before Pierrette made her way back home. It had been lovely to see her again and catch up on our news.

After she went home Leo and Christele showed me around the apartment which they had purchased around the time I visited them in March and were spending every spare minute back then decorating it and doing it up ready to move into just before they went to Costa Rica to Leo’s family at the end of June. I could see that Leo had worked very hard - he had installed beautiful ceramic tile floors or parquet flooring throughout, done lots of decorating and installed extra electric points etc and the results were excellent. The apartment was much bigger than the last one, with four bedrooms and an excellent balcony the length of the lounge big enough to eat outside on in summer.

Leo and I exchanged the music we had copied for each other, both of us really happy with big smiling faces to be receiving a huge pile of new CDs! With the extra ones that Leo copied for me throughout the weekend I went home with around 70 new ones, all complete with the covers that Leo had scanned and printed for me - which is more than I did for him! I took the covers of the ones copied with me and he scanned and printed them there. It was lovely to see their Siamese cat Chicootoo again and I had fun playing with him and cuddling him throughout the evening.

I had brought spices with me as I wanted to cook for them, so we decided on making the Chicken and Chilli soup (to a Thai recipe) that evening to accompany what they had prepared, with me making the Peruvian Carapulcra the next day. Leo helped me with the preparations so it didn’t take too long to make, and when we served it up later they all enjoyed it immensely. It really was great being with them again. They are such a close-knit and loving family which I immediately felt part of, just like last time, the children even giving me a kiss goodnight at bedtime. We all ended up going to bed at well past midnight and after the early start I slept well, not waking up until gone 8 am, which is pretty late for me.

Next morning we all enjoyed a nice breakfast together, which among other things included my favourite - croissants - and that lovely crusty French bread that Camille had gone out to buy fresh just before breakfast, juice, comfitures and excellent Costa Rican coffee. Afterwards we decided to cook the meal for that evening in advance, knowing that we wouldn’t get back until about 8 pm. Again Leo helped me with the preparations and soon the Carapulcra was made - a delicious Peruvian stew with pork loin and chicken pieces, very gently spiced with finely ground nuts to thicken the sauce. We also prepared that day’s lunch as well and had it quite early as we had to be at Pierre’s house by 3 o clock. Christele had to take things easy as her baby is due at the end of January and is in danger of being born too early. To avoid this she has to rest much of the time and apart from the Sunday excursions for the Los Quirquinchos rehearsals spends all her time at home at the moment.

After lunch we were soon on our way and on the motorway leaving Paris behind us. It took about half an hour to get to the Forest of Chardon where Pierre and his family live right on the edge of the forest. I was very warmly welcomed by Pierre, his wife and the other members of Los Quirquinchos and we all had expresso coffees before the band started to play. I really enjoyed the next couple of hours of listening to andean music live in such comfortable surroundings. Although quite mild a lovely log fire was burning in the grate and it was really cosy. I enjoyed cuddling their tabby cat as well, a male who adores being cuddled. Near the start of the rehearsal we saw him appear on the patio outside carrying a mouse he had caught in the forest and were all highly amused to see him put it in his food bowl! Halfway through the rehearsal we all sat around the fire and enjoyed an excellent beer flavoured with Tequila, slices of Stollen cake, other little cakes made with choux pastry, fruit etc. When the band got up to play again I remained by the fire with the cat stretched out on my lap and it was lovely to enjoy the cat and the music at the same time, as I had already taken a few photographs earlier.

Afterwards we drove back home and while the children got themselves prepared for school the next day, Leo and I got the Carapulcra heated up for tea and again they really enjoyed the meal, to my delight. Afterwards Leo continued copying more of his CDs for me - ones he had invited me to pick out from his collection - and I really enjoyed looking through his collection, and listening while he copied, and chatting to Christele. Camille said his goodbyes to me before he went to bed as he was leaving early next day - his classes starting at 8 am. We didn’t finally go to bed until about 1.30 in the morning. I was able to say goodbye to Charlotte next morning as her classes started later.

Next day after breakfast I wrote out both recipes in Spanish for them so that they could make them again and I also looked at their photos taken during the month spent with Leo’s family in Costa Rica before packing my bags ready for the trip home. Leo had given me the empty CD cases as well for the CDs so I was well laden. With these and the three bottles of wine they had given me I had quite a lot to carry, but luckily my little trolley case had wheels and it was possible to balance the other big bag on top and secure it with a big luggage strap in order to wheel all the luggage along. Then after a last lunch with them Leo drove to the nearest metro station, parked the car and he carried my luggage all the way to the Gare du Nord and the passport control point for Eurostar passengers where we said our goodbyes as he wasn’t allowed to go through. I had really enjoyed the lovely weekend spent with them - the next time I see them will be in March or April when they will all come to Bath.

By the time I walked into the boarding lounge from passport control, passengers were already boarding the train and I reached my seat only five minutes before the train departed. Before leaving Leo’s house I had sorted out a selection of the ones I wanted to listen to on the journey home and thus the ride back to London was spent really pleasantly listening to Fernando Jiminez, Illapu, Grandes Charanguistas de Bolivia, Markawasy etc. The train pulled into Waterloo at just after 5 pm where Aquiles was waiting to meet me and it was great to see him again. He took charge of my luggage and we set off by train to Greenwich to go to one of several restaurants he liked there. Once there we decided on the Noodle bar and enjoyed huge bowls of soup and Singapore Noodles and shared a nice bottle of wine and it was great to catch up on all news.

After leaving the restaurant Aquiles accompanied me all the way back to Paddington, arriving there about 35 minutes before my 9.30 pm train. We had just got drinks at the pub upstairs and sat down to enjoy them when we noticed the screen in front of us and I looked to see if the platform number was listed yet - only to find the word ‘cancelled’ in the platform number column! I phoned Colin which is when I learned the embankment had partially collapsed between Didcot and Swindon and only half the trains were running. Although the next scheduled train was 11 pm, fortunately the Swansea train leaving at 10.10 was also stopping at Bath and Aquiles helped me onto that one before he went on his way, promising to come down to Bath before Christmas, most probably two weeks hence. Although passengers for Swindon and Chippenham had to get off at Reading and continue their journey by road, fortunately Bath passengers could stay on the train all the way. I finally reached Bath at 11.40 where Colin awaited me and drove me home. Once home I found that another six CDs had arrived from Tierra de Fuego in Argentina that day, making a total of 80 new ones to enjoy in the coming weeks. All in all another fantastic weekend spent with such lovely friends. Although late home, I was up bright and early on Tuesday to return to work, with only a few days to wait until Friday and the Kausary concert at the Michael Tippett Centre in Bath, plus the delightful company of the Kausary band at my home throughout the coming weekend.

Claire and Aquiles Visit.

The past week spent with Claire and Aquiles was great fun. They arrived on Thursday evening and stayed until Wednesday morning when they were moving on to Birmingham and then Liverpool, then northwards towards Chester where Claire's parents live. They went to Cheltenham on Friday and although the plan was for them to get back in time to come out with Colin and me to a country pub in the evening, I had a phone call around the time Colin was arriving to say they were still on the train which had been delayed. So Colin and I went out without them and when we got back they still weren't at the house but arrived about ten minutes later. We then ended up drinking wine and listening to music until 3 o clock in the morning - although Aquiles prefers the latest chart music to Andean, he was really impressed with some of the new stuff in my collection (which I've just updated and it now stands at 918 albums of Andean music) and he actually enjoyed listening to Andean music for a change.

Next day we were all up early and I drove us to Newport in Wales. I really enjoyed the whole day there. I love that little town which is probably about the same size or a bit smaller than Bath with lovely shops, friendly people etc and less than 50 miles from Bath. We arrived at 11 am and I dropped them and their equipment off in the centre and then went to find a car park where I could park all day without a time limit. After that my first priority was a trip to the bank to change 850 francs back into English money so that I had some money to spend and when I got to the bank another Andean band were playing outside. So I quickly bought their latest CD as I adore the other Alaya CD that I have and said I would come back and listen later.

The next three hours I spent browsing around the shops as there were several particular ones that I wanted to visit and in one of them I bought a fantastic Indian style purple crushed velvet tunic top which I shall wear on Christmas day. It probably was at least three hours later before I got back to listen to Alaya and having noticed that one of my favourite songs "Pascua Linda" was on the latest CD, I asked one of them between songs if they would play it for me and the short guy said yes he would. At that moment I noticed his leather instrument case had "Rumillajta" on it and I told him I was in La Paz and met up with Adrian and Jorge of Rumillajta and he said he would like to talk more and would take a break in a few minutes.

So I waited and listened to a couple more songs including Pascua Linda and then he came over to chat and I was delighted to realise he is the ex member of Rumillajta - Miguel Angel Puna - who is a very close friend of Jacco so I told him about Jacco's visit to the UK in August and how we might have popped across to Paris to see him had he been at home. At that time Miguel was touring in the South of France. He lives partly in France and partly in Wales. He was delighted when I was able to give him news of Jacco and asked for his address so I gave him both his postal address and his latest email address and he is going to keep in touch with me as well mainly to let me know if certain Andean bands in France come over to England - eg Awatinas. I would give anything to see them live and he thinks they might pay a visit to England next year. I hope he keeps his promise and lets me know as given enough notice to arrange it I would definitely go and see their concert wherever that may be. He also mentioned a festival of music in Cardiff in August that Alaya will be performing at in 2002. Maybe Awatinas as well. That certainly sounds like a festival not to be missed.

I told him about my trip to La Paz and Adrian's visit here to Bristol so we were chatting for at least 20 minutes. He seems a really nice guy, in fact all three of those Rumillajta members that I've met are really nice and if they are a good example, along with Jacco, of what Bolivian people are like it is no wonder I love that place so much!

I finally ended up listening to Claire and Aquiles for their last half hour session as it was almost getting dark and in the process we met a lovely Peruvian woman from Cusco who has lived in Wales for 30 years. She lives in Caldicot which is near the bridge between England and Wales and she was so enchanted with the music of Claire and Aquiles, plus the fact of meeting someone from Cusco (and they knew each other's families as well) that she told them they would be welcome to stay in her house in Caldicot any time and could even come for Christmas if they wished! Aquiles was equally thrilled to talk to someone from Cusco and she extended the invitation to me as well, even though I was obviously not a member of the band. We told her we were going to a Spanish circle event that evening in Bath and she was immediately interested, so I promised to send details of the people who organise the Spanish circle events. Even though Caldicot is probably 30 or more miles from Bath, she was definitely interested in attending some of those events and meeting other Spanish and Latin American people.

After that it was a mad rush to get back to the car with the equipment as Aquiles wanted to stop first at Bristol to get a Thai take-away meal from our favourite take-away place there. Luckily I managed to find my way out of Newport in the dark without getting lost and we reached the shop about 40 minutes later after a very fast drive down the motorway, only to find when we got there that it wasn't open yet!! We found another nearby and had something and then had to rush home as Colin was coming for us at 7.30. We arrived home at 7.20 with just 10 minutes to get ready so it was a bit of a rush.

When we arrived at the Hope and Anchor, another lovely countryside pub and restaurant just outside Bath, we were fortunately in time to grab a table next to our most favourite people in the Spanish circle and thereafter enjoyed the most pleasant evening with them. Claire and Aquiles enjoyed meeting them too and the three ladies to whom I gave a CD copy of "Milagros de Navidad" along with their Christmas card were delighted. One friend Jaunita invited us to a party at her house on New Year's Eve, although unfortunately I had to decline as I will be in London, and another married couple are going to join us for a meal at a nice country restaurant we recommended shortly after Christmas. They are a delightful couple - she is actually half Asian and one of the organisers of the Spanish Circle and her husband is English and absolutely worships the ground she walks on - I love to see a man so devoted to his wife like that. Colin got on really well with him as they have both spent time in Trinidad, so an evening in their company would be really enjoyable. Alison speaks eight languages which I find incredible - I find that I get my French and Spanish mixed up when trying to speak both so to find someone switching with ease among so many languages I find absolutely amazing.

On Sunday we decided to go to Bristol. The shops don't open there until 11 am on Sundays so we had time for a nice breakfast first and I did an enormous traditional English breakfast for us before setting out complete with lots of Peruvian organic filtered coffee. They finally set up their equipment in the centre of town around midday and I went off to park the car and then did a tour of the shops. I spent about 3 hours in one covered shopping area on three floors and didn't need to go to any of the shops outside. I was dressed up in so many clothes because of the cold weather that it was quite uncomfortable in that warm place, but essential for when I got outside again later. We've been in the grip of an extremely cold spell for about three weeks now, the car screens frozen solid every morning and the central heating on pretty well 24 hours a day to keep warm enough. I wore different Peruvian hats both days, gloves, scarf, fur boots, poncho etc. I decided to buy some trousers as all mine are a bit tight on the waistband. I've put a bit of weight back on since returning from Peru which means I will be back on a diet after Christmas to lose it again. I may rejoin Slimming World for a couple of months around mid January. I also bought a beautiful skirt which will be perfect for any classy event that might come up. The style is classic in burgundy satin with a full circular skirt which really flows, ankle length, and with its own matching evening bag in the same material. It's really stunning so I shall look forward to an opportunity to wear it. The weekend was the first shopping I had done for clothes since I was in Peru. I never look at clothes shops normally, only when I have several hours to kill when with my Andean musician friends.

After they finished playing on Sunday, we had to rush home as Aquiles was cooking the meal that evening. He had marinated everything overnight, and made the sauce for the starter the night before. Colin joined us at 8 pm and we had Papa a La Huancaina first, followed by Adobo de Chancho (both Peruvian dishes) and they were really delicious. Aquiles is a really good cook and Colin really enjoyed the food as well.

I left them sleeping Monday morning as they were going to play in Bath, getting a bus around 9.30 (I leave the house at 7 am which is much too early for them!). However, they didn't feel like getting up and catching the 9.26 bus when the time came and decided to get the 11.10 bus instead which they missed with 2 hours until the next one, so they ended up having a quiet day at home instead! That night we went to the cinema to see Spy Game which Claire and Aquiles wanted to see. Aquiles had also suggested "Lord of the Rings" which appealed to me more than Spy Game but didn't appeal to Colin. So I lost 3-1 and we decided to see Spy Game - an action movie, which I actually enjoyed more than I thought I would - the soundtrack of music was especially good. Over Christmas there are two other films I want to see - The 51st State and Amelie, a French film, but I don't know when we are going to fit them in as most of my Christmas holiday from work seems taken up already!

On Sunday 23rd I'm off to London, leaving Sunday morning. I stopped at Bristol train station on Sunday on our way in to buy advance tickets and it is a good thing I didn't leave it any later as pretty well all the trains are full. I could only travel on the 9.15 morning train and there were only two trains left for my return on Christmas Eve. I will be staying with Johnny's family and the whole family are going to Tito's, a Peruvian restaurant near London Bridge. Kausary are playing there so it promises to be an excellent evening. I like Johnny's Mum Flor and his wife Sandra a lot so will enjoy being there with them. I get back Christmas Eve and then Colin and I meet up with loads of our mutual friends at a pub in the next village to Timsbury, as we do every year, and that should be fun as well. The next day, Christmas Day, Colin, Adam and I are going down to Weymouth for the day to his daughter Elizabeth. That will be fantastic as I love being with them. Her husband is the Vicar there and they have four children, the eldest eight, all of whom are delightful, especially the third one, Alice who is about five and the most delightful character imaginable, plus a new baby to enjoy cuddling who was born in September. Colin's ex wife and her husband will also be there and they are delightful too. We'll have lots to talk about as they too have been to Peru and we saw their holiday video. On Boxing Day it is a big family gathering of all my family at my sister Kathryn's house, which is when they will meet my son Justin's fiancée Ceri for the first time. He is getting married on Valentine's day.

Then on 28 December I am off to London again, and will stay four nights at Claire's flat. We are hoping that Colin will come as well on the 28th and stay over until the 29th so that we can both go to the classical concert in which Claire is performing, at the beautiful church of St Martin in the Fields, near Covent Garden. I'm not returning until New Year's Day because I'm staying on to celebrate New Year's Eve in London with Claire and Aquiles and maybe a few of their other Peruvian friends. That will be fantastic as I've never been in London on New Year's Eve before. Whilst with them I will be able to visit my ex husband Labu and his wife Rekah who live about 15 minutes walking distance from Claire's place, as well as enjoy looking around Brick Lane market which is brilliant, right in the middle of Bangla Town in the heart of the East End. I'll travel back home on New Year's Day and go back to work on the 3rd. Although the Christmas break from work won't be as restful as previously envisaged, it looks like it will be a lot of fun! My next "story" about the London visits will appear on these pages in the New Year. Happy Christmas and New Year to anyone who reads this.

Kausary at the Michael Tippett Centre.

The concert at the Michael Tippett Centre on Friday 7th December was most enjoyable. The Kausary band is led by Johnny Rodriguez, a very close friend, and the band on Friday consisted of seven musicians - four Peruvians and a Chilean - with two guest musicians from Italy and Venezuela.

Knowing they would be hungry after the performance I had a half day of holiday from work and cooked a couple of dishes that I knew would please them - one Peruvian and the other Brazilian - and just managed to get it all finished with half an hour to get ready before Colin came to fetch me at 6.40 as I wanted to arrive early and see the band before the performance.

At the Tippett Centre I could hear the band practicing as I went in and luckily I was allowed to go in and see them. I was delighted that Dante was also with them - it was his band’s music I first heard in September 1999 and from whom I bought the first two CDs of a collection which now exceeds 900. It was great to see all of them and I got busy taking photos even though at that point they were only practicing!

One by one a few of my friends arrived who I had told about the concert and soon enough the concert began and I really enjoyed it. As usual we had seats right at the front so it was easy to take more photos (which will appear on these pages later). The first half was almost exclusively Andean music and really fantastic to listen to. One lady got up to dance and I was dying to join her but didn’t quite have the courage then! During the interval Johnny introduced me to some of his other friends, including the two ladies who had traveled all the way up from Redruth to see them. Once the second half of the concert began I couldn’t sit still any longer and when the other lady got up to dance I decided to join her and we danced right until the end of the concert. A few others joined us as well. The whole performance was absolutely magic and I was very sorry indeed when it came to an end.

Afterwards it was quite a lengthy procedure packing up all the equipment and loading it into the two vehicles. Colin was taking my friends Ann and Benjamin home and was too tired to come back to the house and didn’t fancy eating so late, so once I ascertained there was room in one of the vehicles for me we said our goodnights, arranging to see each other again the following evening.

By the time everything was loaded it was getting pretty late and about 12.30 am when our cavalcade of four vehicles set off for Timsbury. Back at the house I put music on, sorted out drinks, glasses etc and put the oven on to heat up the food and thereafter we all had a really great time. With the friends who came back also, there were eleven of us and fortunately enough food which everyone seemed to enjoy. We enjoyed ourselves dancing as well and it was tremendous fun having them there, especially Dante who doesn’t come down this way very often and it was his first visit to my house. Marco the Chilean who used to play with Quimantu said that I am very well thought of by lots of Andean musicians and that even one member of Quimantu had commented that I was an excellent indirect promoter of their band! I felt quite chuffed at these comments.

By 5 am I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer so said my goodnights. The first two who went to bed in the spare room had a comfortable night and I left the others to manage on settees, armchairs, sun bed cushions and quilts and hoped they could manage okay, leaving the heating on all night to make sure they were warm enough.

I was most dismayed to be woken up by my son Adam at 7.30 in the morning after so little sleep to be told the bus hadn’t arrived and he needed a lift to work! I needed to get through to the kitchen to get my car keys and when I opened the lounge door it was to be met with a sea of bodies taking up every inch of floor space! One of them had wrapped himself up in a Peruvian blanket with Nazca designs and looked like an Inca mummy and I couldn’t help but laugh! I managed to get through and get my keys and then had to scrape all the ice off the screens of the car as I hadn’t covered it the previous night (not realizing I would need to drive so early!!!!). I managed to get Adam to work okay and was glad to get back and went straight back to bed, just to relax and listen to some quiet music until the others got up and once I heard the first ones stirring about an hour later I got up again.

Although they had planned to go back halfway to London before playing anywhere, no one was very motivated to get going so we all ended up having a leisurely breakfast and sitting around chatting and listening to music and it was only around midday that they started gathering their things ready to leave. As the sun was shining brightly by then, they decided they would play somewhere locally after all for two or three hours before traveling back and when they left me they said they would check there was a place to play and then phone me with their whereabouts. Sure enough half an hour later I received their call and said I would shortly be on my way to join them.

I decided to use the park and ride and was with them within an hour of their phone call and luckily there were places to sit where they were playing so I enjoyed another two and half hours of their beautiful music. Fortunately I had worn my heaviest poncho and was quite snug huddled under it while they played as once the sun disappeared it was a very cold day. Whilst listening I got chatting to a girl who was also at Friday’s concert - who works at Tumi - and she said she would do her best to get their music promoted by Tumi. I hope she succeeds as that would be a fantastic opportunity for them. Also during the concert itself on Friday it was a delight to see June who used to be my boss when I first started work at the University College over 12 years ago. She now works for Bath Festivals Box Office and is going to suggest them for inclusion in the 2003 International Music Festival in Bath (unfortunately it is too late for the 2002 festival). If anything comes of that I will be overwhelmed with delight. I just love it when I can be instrumental in bringing about something beneficial for my Andean friends. Only the previous week both Johnny and Aquiles were acting in a documentary film destined for German television, which came about because the promoters saw the article I had written about them.

The Kausary band are performing in a Peruvian restaurant in London on Sunday 23 December and I will be traveling up to see them as both Julio and Johnny invited me to stay with the family, all of whom are attending the event as well (Julio being Johnny’s father) and this will probably be the subject of my next story! Photos to accompany all stories will appear on these pages a bit later.
Kausary in London 23rd December.

The journey to London was pleasant and soon whizzed past with the help of music and a good book. At Paddington it was then an underground trip to Elephant and Castle and then a bus to East Dulwich where Johnny's family lives. I arrived there about midday and it was great to see them all again. I always feel immediately at home there. The two children (Johnny's son and his youngest brother, both aged about 8) were practicing a song they would play later that night, one of them on the guitar and the other on keyboard and they looked and sounded so cute, I just had to take photos of them. Later Johnny's Mum Flor gave me dancing lessons in the kitchen - the huayno - with the table pushed back out of the way. She produced a couple of flared embroidered skirts that we put on and we had fun dancing to huayno music, although I found the steps a bit difficult to master. Meanwhile various other of the band members were arriving including Marco who was at my house on the 7th, and Kieffer who I had not seen for over a year.

Then I helped Flor cook for us all before going out as we knew the meal would not start until about 10 pm. We ate about 4 pm and the band went off to the restaurant to get ready, taking the two young boys with them. I left with Sandra, Johnny's wife, his sister Tanya and Flor about 6.30 and we traveled into London by train which stopped at London Bridge from where it was just a short walk to Tito's, the Peruvian restaurant. We were there before 7.30 and having popped downstairs to see the band we then went upstairs and had a couple of drinks in the top bar until nearer the time everything would start.

When we went back downstairs afterwards I was delighted to see that Veronica had come as well - Johnny's friend from Cornwall who also came along to see them and stayed that night with me in Bath. After speaking Spanish all afternoon it was nice to revert into English and she sat next to me at a table from where we had a perfect view of the stage, with all Johnny’s family and a few friends on the same table as well. The band started playing at 9 pm and continued until about 10.30 with the meal starting at 10 pm. I enjoyed the starter best out of the food which was a seafood relleno. The main course was roast chicken Peruvian style with Peruvian salad and chips - nice but I love the Peruvian stews the best. The dessert was awful - a very sweet rice pudding that reminded me of school dinners when I was a kid!!!! A lot of other people must have thought the same as hardly anyone ate it. The band had an interval in the middle and that was when the two boys did their solo act - two songs - with Johnny's son playing guitar in the first one and flute in the second. They were absolutely adorable and everyone loved them.

Then the band played again and continued until midnight and up until then I enjoyed myself immensely. After that, however, the disco music started - really awful Latin music and it went on for hours. I got up and danced with the others to some numbers, mainly to keep awake as having been up since 5 am, by 2 o’clock I was struggling so hard to keep awake that it was impossible and I know I dozed off here and there. Luckily I managed to stay on my chair without falling off! Finally the disco finished about 3.30 and we got back to the house by just after 4 am, along with the whole band, who were going to continue playing all night. Much as I would have enjoyed that I simply couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and after a quick cup of coffee I went to bed where I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow as I don't remember more than just a few bars of the music!

Next day when I awoke the whole house was silent so I turned over and went back to sleep and it was about 10.30 am before I finally went downstairs and joined Flor for some coffee and breakfast before going on my way. I had allowed an hour and a half for the trip back to Paddington, and was all set to make my own way, with the bus stop just outside the house, but Johnny's Mum insisted they would give me a lift to Elephant and Castle from where I could get a direct underground train to Paddington. Unfortunately the traffic was horrendously busy, with traffic almost at a standstill - stop start, stop start - and on one occasion the cars in front stopped so suddenly that we couldn't stop in time and we hit the car in front. We didn't do any damage to the car but the car we bumped was damaged and I felt terrible that something so unfortunate happened while they were giving me a lift. We exchanged insurance details with the other driver and then continued on our way, but I was continuously worried, not realizing until then that Tanya was a learner driver only and didn't have a full license. I promised to telephone when I got back to Bath.

The traffic was still horrendous and more than half an hour before getting to Elephant and Castle I knew I had already missed my train, without the journey from there to Paddington. By the time I reached Paddington I was in time to get the one leaving an hour after the one I was booked on, which clearly stated on the announcement board 'no advance supersavers' so I knew it would be an anxious time until seen by the ticket inspector, with a high risk of having to pay for the fare again at the non-advance super-inflated prices. The train reached Reading without the ticket inspector appearing so I was just starting to relax when he appeared and looked at my ticket and then looked at me and did not look at all pleased. I had to practically grovel in order to get my ticket clipped and certainly heaved a big sigh of relief when he continued on his way!

Back at Bath Colin awaited me and it was then a hectic rush to get to Safeway supermarket so that I could do some last minute food and drink shopping before they closed for Christmas.
London again on New Year’s Eve.

On 28th December I went up to London again and spent a brilliant few days with Aquiles and Claire. I arrived in Covent Garden at 2 pm and as soon as I exited the station I could hear live Andean music and recognized by their style that it was Migracion, so I followed the sound and there Aquiles was awaiting me. We listened to a couple of songs and then I left my things with Polo and Aquiles took me off to China Town to one of his favorite restaurants where we had a late lunch. We then rejoined Polo until he finished playing and Claire joined us shortly afterwards and I went with her to the cafes above Covent Garden market while she had something to eat and then all of us walked around for a bit looking in shops until it was time to walk down to the beautiful church at St Martin in the Fields where she was performing in concert that night - a Vivaldi Four Seasons concert by candlelight. We were still a bit early so all went into the cafe in the crypt below the church.

A bit later Claire led us upstairs into the church and left us to find seats. Our mistake was trying to get into the central area and thus drawing attention to the fact that we had no tickets. The doorman would not let us pass so we went to the back of the church and found somewhere there and were waiting for it to start, with the church filling up really fast when the doorman reappeared and said we would have to leave if we couldn't produce tickets. He was really officious so I popped down to the front, spoke to a chap on the door between church and crypt who was happy to let us stay. Claire came up ready to go on, along with the other performers at this point but it was too late for her to do anything and it was too late to go back to the box office and buy tickets by this time because the church was already full. I was really disappointed when the doorman made all three of us leave. Aquiles and Polo weren't too worried as they were only there to give her support anyway, not much liking classical type music, but I felt sorry to be missing what looked like a quite magical performance.

We walked back to Covent Garden and then Polo gave us a lift to New Cross Gate where Aquiles lives, stopping on the way as he wanted to phone his family in Ecuador at a special cafe with telecommunications link at bargain prices. They left me to look after the van while they went into the cafe and I listened to music on my Walkman whilst I waited. Aquiles reappeared after half an hour as his phone card had run out on a call to Peru, but the Ecuadorian guy's phone card lasted at least a half hour longer, so it was quite a long wait. By the time we reached Aquiles’ flat it was getting on for 9 pm so we didn't have too long to wait for Claire. She phoned when the concert ended at 9.30 and said she would make her way to his place. We ordered an Indian takeaway meal for the three of us and she arrived just minutes before the food arrived. We then stayed there until ten past eleven when we set off on quite a long walk to the nearest underground station and traveled to Whitechapel which is a bit further than the Bethnal Green station where she lives but was a direct trip without changing anywhere. We had to get back while the tubes were still running as it was much more complicated going by bus. At the other end we had quite a long walk through quite eerie East End streets which quite frightened me to death and I was very relieved when we reached her home without incident. When we got in and put on the light the fuse went and we had no light anywhere in the house so the first half hour was spent isolating the problem in the fuse box and then repairing the broken fuse with wire. So it was pretty late by the time we got to sleep. I knew we were leaving at 7 in the morning so set the alarm on my phone for 6 am, so that I would have time for a shower before going out. When I switched off the light and moved back to my bed I forgot about my suitcase and fell over it, falling into bed a lot quicker than originally intended!

Next day I dressed up warmly before leaving the house, knowing the forecast was cold - trousers, three sweaters, a fleece jacket topped by a Bolivian jacket, hat, scarf, gloves, which was okay whilst on the move but not enough later. We travelled by underground to Portobello market, with me helping Claire with her half of the equipment up and down stairs - which proved disastrous at first as the whole thing tipped up where I wasn't holding my end evenly on the first flight of stairs - luckily we picked it all up without mishap.

We reached our spot at the market at about 8 am where we knew we had a two hour wait before Aquiles would join us. Although relieved to reach the spot before anyone else it was a cold wait. Claire had included two fold up stools with her equipment and she left me guarding everything whilst she went off and returned with hot bacon butties and hot chocolate drinks. It was great to be there seeing the market come to life all around me as normally by the time I get there everything is already in full swing. We were both feeling cold even with all the layers of clothing and had to keep taking it in turns to go walking to keep warm. All the while I was looking forward to the nearby pub opening at 11 o clock as I knew there was an internet room upstairs, and was mightily disappointed at 11 o clock to find it would be closed all day. Once Aquiles arrived just after 10 and they set up the equipment and started playing I listened for a little while and then decided to do a big tour of the market, partly to keep warm and also to buy thermal socks as mine weren't warm enough, plus a pair of leggings to put on under my trousers.

I was gone a couple of hours, enjoying browsing around, although with no success in finding leggings until almost at the end of the market when I found a stall selling some that were a horrible colour with an awful style one would never wear but were good enough to put on under trousers so I bought them. Whilst exploring the last few stalls at that end of Portobello road I also fell in love with a sheepskin jacket that was a really bargain price. I tried it on and although a roomy size everywhere else was a bit tight on the hips once the zip was done up, so I decided against it. I walked all the way back and rejoined the others and decided to make myself useful by selling their CDs for them and although feeling shy at doing this, Aquiles and I were laughing and joking between songs and I think our fun was infectious as quite a few people were buying. When he reached his target of 10 CDs sold (the most one can expect on such a cold day) we decided to reward ourselves with a Thai take-away meal.

We left Claire guarding the equipment and walked down to the Thai stall but the usual one wasn't there and we had to make do with another one instead which was serving much smaller portions which put Aquiles off. Finally we decided to just have mugs of Thai spicy soup instead and bought three to take back and enjoy all together. It was so delicious that I walked back twice more to get it again for us, the lady cooking it quite surprised to sell so many to the same person! I'm going to have a go at making it myself at home, after watching what went into it and memorizing the ingredients. Despite the bitter cold weather, people were enjoying their music and they sold a lot more CDs than they had expected to before we finally packed up the equipment just as it was starting to get dark - for Claire and me over eight hours since we had arrived!

It was then a fair walk, and two underground trips to reach Bethnal Green to offload the equipment and have a quick coffee before Claire and I walked to the nearest supermarket to get the necessary items so that Aquiles could cook for us that evening. He had decided to forego his usual night out with the boys and stay with us instead and he cooked Trout and a delicious potato dish to go with it which we enjoyed with some Argentinean wine and followed that with glasses of hot mulled wine as well as a selection of fantastic cheeses that the supermarket was selling off at great reduction after Christmas. All of us were too full to go out again so had a nice lazy evening watching the television. Aquiles ended up staying over as well. We had decided they would have a day off if the weather was bad and go first to Brick Lane market and then on to the Greenwich observatory.

Claire and I also had plans to have a bike ride around the park, but we woke up to a fine day, sunny even though cold, so the day off plans went out of the window as Aquiles decided they would play in Covent Garden instead. Being Sunday we were quite a bit later than usual and travelled here by underground, reaching Covent Garden around 11.15. Having ascertained there was an internet café, about 15 minutes walk away in the Strand, I went off to reply to all my messages - the nine read in Weymouth on the church computer on Christmas day plus a few others received since. By the time I replied to that lot it was starting to get dark when I left the internet cafe. I couldn’t get over how cheap the internet cafes are in London. I had paid only £2 for the hours spent there and that ticket was valid for a full 24 hours! One can get email and internet access there for only £5 per month as well. It costs that for just an hour in Bath.

Whilst walking back to Covent Garden I received a call from Claire to say they were starting their last show and that they would be packing up to go after that and by the time I reached them I was able to listen to their last few songs. No time to look around the market or sightsee in the area that day which was probably just as well as I had spent quite a bit the day before. Having thought about that sheepskin jacket for a few hours, I went back after the Thai soup snacks and tried it on again, managing to do the zip up with a struggle, and ended up buying it. It proved an excellent buy because even wearing it undone I was as warm as toast in it thereafter.

Towards the end of their last show Aquiles’ friends Polo and Carlos (of Kausary) arrived as he would be going out with them afterwards. Claire and I set off back to Bethnal Green with our half of the equipment (Aquiles putting his half into Polo’s van) and to make life easier we walked to the next underground station - Holborn - from where it was a direct trip to Bethnal Green, with only one lot of steps up and down each end to maneuver the equipment. Once home we had a cup of coffee and a slice of Christmas cake with it as we were starving after being out in the cold all day with no food other than the snacks on arrival at Covent Garden that morning. We then got ready and set off out again.

I had been invited to my ex husband’s house that evening, so we decided to walk to a Chinese restaurant on Bethnal Green road and had a nice meal there, continuing onward to Brick Lane and then into Whitechapel afterwards. Although Labu had mentioned eating there I didn’t want to count on it. On arrival it was nice to see him again - the last time being before I went to Peru - and especially nice to see his best friend Khali who had arrived that day from Algeria for a short holiday. Khali used to live in our house when Adam was a babe in arms so it was brilliant to see him again around 22 years later. I then got my camera ready and broke the news to Labu that he would be a Grandad soon (capturing his expression of amazement on film to show Justin later!!!!). He was thrilled, especially when I told him it was a grand-daughter we were awaiting, and Khali teased him saying he would call him ‘Grandad’ from then on. He is going to Bangladesh next week but will do his best to get back in time for the wedding on Valentine’s Day, hopefully bringing Rekah and Ryan with him as well, neither of whom had yet visited me in Bath. I know Rekah would enjoy a day out like that and it would be great for Ryan to see his half brothers. He absolutely adored Adam that year he spent living with them.

Although we were offered a meal there, we declined as we were so full of Chinese and after about an hour said our farewells and walked back to Claire’s flat, stopping to buy a bottle of wine on the way and we watched a film on TV until bedtime. We were both hoping that Aquiles would have a fair few drinks with his friends and not feel like working the next day and made tentative plans to go cycling in a nearby park in the morning.

Consequently we both groaned when the phone went at 9 am next morning as Aquiles wanted to work. Although still freezing cold the sun was shining and was set to continue all day. So after a quick cup of coffee and fruit juice we set off for Covent Garden again and got there about 10.15, where we had to wait for Aquiles to join us. Claire went off and got hot ciabbata bread stuffed with bacon and cheese for us and large cups of hot chocolate and it was fun to watch all the other street entertainment acts getting ready for another day of performing for the tourists. The sun was shining so brightly onto the area where we were waiting that it felt quite warm even though temperatures were still below freezing. Then we received a telephone call from Aquiles who had not managed to get out of the station as ticket inspectors were on the warpath. So I lent Claire my travel-card and waited while she went off to meet him at Charring Cross so that he could use my ticket to get out there. Once they arrived back, in no time they were playing their first show which I listened to all the way through, Aquiles choosing all my favorite songs to keep me there as he knew I would soon go wandering off again.

Later on I did explore the market and several shops on the periphery for a couple of hours and then rejoined them and stayed with them the rest of the day, listening while they played and chatting when they took a break. As it started to get dark Aquiles and I went off and paid half each for a bottle of Jack Daniels and some coca cola which proved an excellent winter warmer. The guy who reads palms arrived around the same time and as he was totally skint and dying for a cup of coffee I had my palm read which was quite good fun. Aquiles had his read as well while Claire did a solo performance to finish off their day’s play. The palmist had come complete with his own portable heater run off butane gas, which I found highly amusing. Polo joined us then and was going off with Aquiles for a drink with Claire and me joining him later. We had the daunting task of getting both halves of the equipment home to Bethnal Green in order not to be lumbered with it that night and set off with it on the two trolleys. Aquiles was worried that I would not be able to handle my half up and down the steps of the underground but I assured him I would stand at the top or bottom of the steps looking helpless and that I felt sure someone would help. This actually proved excellent in fact as there was no shortage of men, willing to help both of us maneuver our trolleys up and down flights of steps. The only awkward parts were the two of us lifting two trolleys into and off the train in the short length of time allowed at each station stop but we succeeded without mishap.

Once home we put everything away and spent 15 minutes getting changed and ready for the evening and were soon on our way back to rejoin Aquiles and Polo for a fun New Year’s eve together. Aquiles had phoned in the meantime to say they had moved on to Leicester Square and when we got there and found them we all went to a restaurant in China town and enjoyed a good meal together. It was very evident everywhere that the police were out in force as I’ve never seen so many policemen in my life, not just in Leicester Square but everywhere else we went in London that night.

Back outside we intended to walk through to Trafalgar Square next, although not to stay all evening after all as we had read the disappointing news in the newspaper that day that there would be no fireworks or music laid on. Before we even reached Leicester Square again however, Aquiles bumped into a friend of his, an older gentleman from Lima who was in his snack wagon “Umberto’s Snack Wagon” and we all piled into the van - me in the front and the other three got in the back and sat on upturned cool boxes which were all so close together that they looked like three sardines!!! They climbed back out again and Claire separated the boxes so that when they climbed back in they had a little more space. We were all undecided where to go, and decided to drive to a Peruvian restaurant first and see what was going on there. It took a while to find it but we eventually succeeded, parked nearby and went in, only to find that entrance was £30 each which included a three course meal. Had we not already been so full up with Chinese food we probably would have paid it and gone in, but Aquiles being friendly with the owners negotiated that we could get in without having the meal for £15 each if we came back about an hour later.

So we piled in the van again and set off to investigate a party that one of them had heard about. It was quite a long drive and both Claire and I could see there was no underground station anywhere near so we were not too keen to go in. We both still hankered after going to celebrate the New Year in at Trafalgar Square but unfortunately Aquiles did not want to once he knew no entertainment was laid on. So after discussion we decided to give the party a miss and return to the restaurant (from where Claire and I knew we could get home quite easily by train or bus if we wanted to later - she knew that Aquiles would be prepared to stay at the restaurant all night or as long as they were open at any rate).

Once inside, a couple of tables had been laid up for us at the side so that it looked as though we were part of the main gathering. We pooled our remaining money to buy beers but we knew the money would run out so had to make our beers last as long as possible. Once everyone had finished their meal, people were beginning to dance. All throughout the meal an Afro Cuban band were playing and I was dying to get up and dance to such hypnotic music so Aquiles and I ended up being among the first people on the dance floor, from where I spotted another good friend - Victor - with a few of his friends and waved out to him.

Soon enough it was midnight and everyone mingled throughout the restaurant, hugging and wishing each other a happy new year. I came across the main guy of the band who played at Sol Andino when we were there for the Peruvian Mother’s Day celebration in May. He asked me if I could remember him and I said yes - it would be impossible to forget such a bubbly person whose big heart was amply reflected in his big beaming smile. For the next three hours I danced a lot, mainly with Umberto - even when the band had finished the disco music was quite good, mostly Cuban/Salsa and later on even a Huayno dance, so the lessons I learned from Flor before Christmas were put to the test and I think I managed reasonably well.

By 3 o clock both Claire and I were really tired although Aquiles and his friends wanted to stay a fair bit longer. Umberto wanted to leave then as well so offered to take us home to Bethnal Green, and knowing we could get home safely without him Aquiles didn’t mind too much at us leaving him behind. The main doors of the restaurant were closed and locked and it was pretty obvious that the celebrations would continue all night. Back home we had a last cup of coffee before bed, both knowing we could sleep in as they definitely would not be working the next day.

We were up again about 10.30 and decided we would definitely go for that bike ride in the park, knowing that Aquiles would sleep for a few more hours yet. It was equally as cold as the preceding days so we dressed up warmly and set off for the park about 2 miles away. I was scooting along on Claire’s micro scooter and she rode the bike until we got to the park. Once there we swapped and I had a go at riding the bike - the first time I had ridden one for about 30 years. I soon got the hang of it though and the next hour or so was most enjoyable riding around the park, sometimes swapping so that we each had turns on the bike. We walked down to the lake and found that it was completely frozen over. Claire stepped on the ice and said it seemed quite thick - I didn’t dare step on it though as I knew it would never bear my weight!!! Even the canal was completely frozen over and we could see where a boat had gone through leaving a trail of broken ice in its wake. We finally ended up at a deer farm at the far end of the park, where people were feeding the deer. They looked really beautiful and I regretted leaving my camera back at the house.

We got back to the flat at 1.30, having worked up a big appetite out in the cold and whilst I packed my things ready for the journey home, Claire cooked a dish of pasta which we had with sliced garlic sausage in a spicy sauce which was really delicious. Then unfortunately it was time to go and she accompanied me to the underground station where I got my ticket to get back to Paddington. I had an hour to get there, having allowed for a less regular Sunday service of trains on New Year’s day, but they seemed as frequent as ever and I reached Paddington with 25 minutes to spare. My train home left on time and I was glad as we approached Reading that I was on the correctly booked train because the ticket inspector was the most officious experienced yet. There were a party of four Japanese on the train without tickets and he would not let them purchase the lower priced day tickets from him. They had a choice of either staying on the train and paying the inflated prices or getting off at Reading to buy cheaper ones and waiting for the next train to continue their journey. The price difference was so great that they all got off at Reading. I’m sure this was one occasion I would have had to pay again if I wasn’t on the right train! I arrived back in Bath on time where Colin was waiting to pick me up and take me home and we had lots to talk about to catch up on each other’s news. Back home I found that another six CDs had arrived from my friend in Yugoslavia so spent a very pleasant evening at home unpacking whilst listening to this lovely new music. Altogether it was the most fantastic Christmas and New Year break and I will look forward to my next trip to London which I hope will be around the end of January as I want to find time to explore Brick Lane market again and visit Rekah again next time. I also hope to visit London on 16th February and be present at the “I love Cuba Cabaret” at the Camden Centre, I had such a fantastic time there last year.