Aquiles, Claire and their friend Ivan travelled to Bath on Thursday in time for the meal I was preparing for my friends Debbie and David. As per last time, we were all going to be staying at Colin's house for the duration of their visit. The meal was planned for 8 pm, and I knew that when I left work at 4 pm I would I would have to hurry in order to prepare everything in time.
Later whilst cooking, Aquiles phoned to say they had broken down and were in a garage having the engine looked at. About half an hour after that they phoned to say the garage had got the car going but they travelled until within 44 miles of Bath and had broken down again. This time they were awaiting the RAC. I said I would keep dinner simmering until they arrived.
Debbie and David arrived at 8 pm and everything was ready, (including marinating in Peruvian spices and roasting the chicken pieces for the following evening's picnic in the park). We decided to have a beer each whilst waiting for them to arrive and Colin showed Debbie and David all his birds, including the new ones being bred at the moment and by the time we were finishing the beer, the phone rang and Claire confirmed they had arrived in Bath and would be with us in ten minutes.
Fortunately the problem with the car was only some dirt in the carburetor, which once cleaned by the RAC man, completely solved the problem. They arrived at 8.30 and we had the most enjoyable evening. I had prepared a homemade soup with chicken and fresh vegetables which they enjoyed, and followed this with Turkey steaks that had been marinated and roasted in Caribbean style, using all fresh herbs, spices, chillis, lime juice etc. To accompany this I had made plain rice and an Italian potato dish tossed in garlic, olive oil and pesto. We enjoyed four bottles of Argentinian wine with the meal and it was a pleasant evening at table, lots of laughs and listening to andean music.
Next morning I had to go home and fetch Adam and take him to work, plus make sure Tristan was awake as he had found a temporary job for just two days. I decided to do the remainder of the shopping needed for the weekend whilst at the supermarket, including a dozen fresh croissants that were still warm from the oven. Back home I prepared breakfast in readiness and when they all got up we enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast with more music. Although they were planning to play music in town that day, they didn't seem in any hurry to leave.
Finally at 11.30 they left with their instruments and equipment, with me to follow later. I stopped at the supermarket where I had bought the Argentinian wine and bought another dozen bottles, then a quick dash home to feed and exercise the dog, where I was delighted to find 16 CDs had arrived from Stasha. These I took with me so that some could be played at Colin's house.
Back home I got busy preparing all the other things in readiness for the picnic that afternoon/evening. We were hungry too so one of the whole chickens being roasted ended up as lunch for all five of us, because the weather not being too brilliant in Bath (a mixture of sunshine and showers) they phoned to say they were on their way back. By the time they got to the house everything was ready and I was laying the table for lunch. They had seen Rosita in Bath, a young Peruvian girl musician, who very kindly sent me a CD of her band's music (Los Ninos de Los Andes) which I thought extremely kind and when we listened during lunch we all agreed the music was excellent.
We set out from the house at 4.15 as the highlight of the whole weekend was the opening night celebrations of Bath International Music Festival, with a free festival of international music in the park just in front of the Royal Crescent (the most expensive area of Bath). Because the weather had been uncertain that day, the early crowds had not materialised by the time we got there. Colin dropped us off along with all the picnic hampers, a good supply of umbrellas etc, at the entrance to the park and went to park the car. We did not expect to see him for at least half an hour and he surprised us by arriving about five minutes later - he had found a parking space in the park only a few metres from the point where he had dropped us off!
At this point only a scattering of people had got there before us and we had a choice of where to lay our blankets to sit and we chose a central position in front of the stage, about 8 metres back. We had an hour and a quarter to wait before the concerts began, and this was okay because the bands were taking their turn at sound-checking - thus giving us an idea of the treat in store for everyone later.
About quarter to six we saw the procession arrive - something a bit like a Brazilian carnival, complete with samba drums, and by this time crowds had arrived as well and although the weather was not as good as expected (the day before had been a heatwave with really hot sunshine), the sense of anticipation was fantastic, and people of all nationalities were spread across the park, families with children, some people had even brought their dogs!!!! I could see lots of others enjoying the picnics they had brought, so decided to organise ours. I had made enough to feed the 5000 - chicken cooked two different ways (roasted and Peruvian spicy), several Caribbean turkey steaks left from the day before, potato salads, crispy vegetable salads, rice, green salad etc which we all enjoyed. I had also taken four chilled bottles of wine and several soft drinks for us to enjoy throughout the evening.
We had just finished our meal when the rain came. Luckily we had brought several large umbrellas, knowing the forecast was rain, and we were huddled beneath them for a while until it stopped. The first band on stage were from Rajastan in India and were excellent. Everyone enjoyed their performance which lasted about 45 minutes and this was followed by a 30 piece fusion band called iO, which was also enjoyable although the music was quite slow. By the time this band finished, the rain came back with a vengeance and poured down for quite a long time. The whole park was a sea of umbrellas as everyone listened to the third band from Africa, who were absolutely brilliant. As this band were playing it was almost getting dark, so I decided to go for a walk with Colin to see what else was going on and we left Aquiles and the others to look after our things.
We set off down through the park, because another enormous stage was set up there and I wanted to see what kind of music was being played. It had rained so hard that the grass was very slippery - and you've guessed it - I was wearing those shoes again and suddenly my legs shot out from under me and I ended up with a noisy splash in a very muddy puddle of water which soaked me to the skin and my skirt was practically unrecognisable it was so covered in mud! It was quite funny really, especially Colin's reaction. We had a quick look at the stalls and I bought some earrings and a frog brooch, listened to the other band for a little bit and then went back to the others.
Colin went off to get coffee and came back with hot toffee waffles and mocha coffee (my favourite) after which we decided to pay a quick trip to the portable loos, and as we passed one marquee we were hailed by Alison from the Spanish Circle and we had a chat with her and her husband who offered us wine and we ended up having a couple of glasses of wine with them and chatting, before making our way back to the others. By now it was fully dark and more crowded in the area where we were, and Colin and I lost each other just trying to find the others. Eventually I found my way to near the front where I found Claire and we enjoyed the remainder of the concert which was a big Latin salsa band, who played until 10 pm.
Then two minutes after the music finished, Jonathan Dimbleby announced the finale event which was a massive fireworks display which was truly amazing, and lasted about 20 minutes. After this it was a mass exodus from the park as everyone left. We were lucky we did not have far to go to reach the car, although it took a long time to get out of the park because of the traffic. We got back to the house about 11.15 and we were all quite tired. We had a last cup of coffee and Colin put my clothes in the washing machine, including the dress I had worn the day before and we left it washing and went to bed.
Saturday morning I was supposed to be doing some outdoor painting for my friend Verna but when I woke up the weather looked appalling. I decided to phone her to see if she was still expecting me and she said we should leave it for another day as it was raining so hard. It was only when I woke up that I realised that those clothes in the machine were the only ones I had brought with me and I had nothing to wear! (Apart from the paint splattered skirt and top I usually wear whenever I do any painting). This meant switching the central heating on and drying my clothes on the radiators. Luckily the others were still sleeping and I was able to get dressed in the dried clothes before they made an appearance. I even had time to spend some time reading and replying to emails.
They got up about 10 o clock and I did a cooked breakfast for us. They had decided to go further than Bath or Bristol, and as I had more cooking to do for the evening I declined going with them, despite wanting to hear their sound with the addition of Ivan. After they left I prepared everything for the evening. I made the Thai chicken and chilli soup and prepared everything for the Peruvian spicy pork. By this time the weather had cleared up and the sun was shining so I decided to pop into town for a while and see if I could find Rosita - who had said in an email earlier that week that she would be playing near Tumi. I parked in the Podium as usual, and walked around the whole area in all the possible places looking for Rosita without success. I then decided to walk to the bottom of town in case she was playing somewhere else but there was no Andean music of any kind anywhere. I bought a new battery for my watch, saw a friend from work for a chat, got my phone recharged with more credit in a shop and then wandered back to Tumi an hour later but still no sign of Rosita, nor was she playing near Nationwide, another of her favourite spots for playing in Bath. I managed to find a tape called La Fiesta by Fernando Jiminez at Tumi who were selling off all their cassettes at a fraction of their usual price (although I realised later when I got home that I had this one already in my collection! - I did not recognise it because I did not have the cover on my CD copy at home!) I then phoned Ceri to check if she would be at home and she was, so I drove to their home and cuddled baby Jasmine for an hour. It is amazing how babies change when so young - just in the 6 days since I had last seen her she looked different and I could see that she had gained some weight. It was lovely to see her again and the next time will be in 4 days time when we take Justin, Ceri and the baby with us for a celebration meal at Marmaris (Turkish) restaurant - a favourite place of all of us.
Back home I cooked the Peruvian pork dish and decided to spend some time on the computer whilst awaiting their arrival back. At 6 pm they phoned to say they were just leaving Cardiff and would reach the house by about 7.30. By the time they arrived, I had finished all the cooking and was just putting the last things on the table. This proved yet another fun evening, listening to music and taking our time with the meal, and enjoying a few more bottles of wine with it. After eating, Ivan brought in the backing CDs of his own band's music and then sang a few songs to us which was really nice. Although he is from Ecuador his band plays mostly Mexican mariachi music which I don't really know much about. I did like his band's music though. I offered to buy his CD if he had any with him, but unfortunately he did not have any. He said he would not sell them though, he would give them to me instead! His 2nd CD is being released in two or three weeks, and once he gets them he is going to send me both his first and second CDs as gifts. I thought that was very kind. Knowing what a precarious living musicians eke out, I was fully prepared to buy them from him.
By this time I had told Aquiles that I had not been able to find Rosita during the daytime. To explain, Rosita is a young Peruvian girl who I have been in email contact with but not met before. Her most recent email had informed me she would be in Bath playing on 18th May, somewhere between Tumi and Nationwide. Not having met her before I was looking for someone playing panpipes and not having seen any female musicians playing panpipes in Bath before, I thought she would be easy to find. Aquiles said he knew her, had known her for about 3 or 4 years and that he thought there was a good chance she would still be in Bath and would I like to go into town and see if we could find her. I said yes so all of us with the exception of Colin decided to go - Colin said he would wait up for us as I did not want to carry my keys. We grabbed a bottle of wine, the corkscrew and some plastic glasses, so that we could share it with her if we had any luck finding her. Ivan drove us into town, we parked and first looked around the Tumi, Nationwide part of town and then when she was not there, continued further into the town and after a while we found her. She was ensconced in a shop doorway and had a young male friend with her, and both looked comfortable for the night. Aquiles introduced us and we stayed with her for about an hour, talking and sharing the wine. Rosita played her panpipes for us and also showed us her routine with the streamers.
I remembered then that I had seen her that day after all, not having known at that time that she did other things besides playing music, including juggling with fire etc. We all had fun - each of us having a try at the streamer routine but not succeeding very well. I kept teasing Aquiles that he was on his holidays (because he still had on his new shorts and short-sleeved shirt). He was feeling cold and to keep warm he and Claire were either racing back and forth from one pillar to the other, or seeing who could jump the most paving stones etc. I nearly died laughing when Aquiles sailed past us the first time saying 'who said chanchos don't fly!'
Rosita gave us all a polished stone for luck - mine being rose quartz. She told us how she travels the country from one end to the other, which although quite exciting in her case was also quite scary as she is being stalked by someone who has followed her even right up to Scotland. She came to England at the age of 9 where she was abandoned by her parents and has been a homeless person ever since. She is now probably about 19. The following day she was leaving for Bournemouth so I knew I would not see her again this time, but we are going to keep in touch and she will always let me know when she is coming to Bath. Next time I will probably invite her stay in my house. The only reason for not inviting her this time was because I was staying in Colin's house and not my own, plus I was a little wary about inviting her male friend, even though he seemed very nice. At least I knew she would be safe from the stalker, having him with her for company.
When we got back to the house, Colin did not hear us ringing the doorbell or tapping on the windows, so I held open the window while Claire climbed into the conservatory, so that she could tap on the window right next to where we had left him sitting. And sure enough, a very sleepy Colin looked out of the window. He had fallen asleep whilst watching the television. Once indoors again, we all decided to go to bed as they did not want to be too late leaving next morning.
I was up at 6 as usual and had a quick shower, leaving the house about twenty to seven. Luckily I had driven home to fetch Adam who was still sleeping in the armchair he had been sitting in the night before! His two friends who spent the evening with him were asleep on the two settees. I woke him up and fed the dog in case he had forgotten the night before, and although he looked distinctly hung over from drinking the evening before, he got ready for work and I gave him a lift.
As we approached the supermarket where he works, I could see Ann waiting on the corner, stopped and picked her up and explained that I could not stay with her long this time. I took Adam to work and it was only after he had gone inside that Ann noticed he had left his wallet on the seat. I could not make anyone see me by looking through the windows so eventually had to follow him in through the staff entrance and entrusted his wallet to one of his female colleagues who knows him well. I just hoped that Adam could look a bit livelier whilst working than he looked in the car! I then spent ten minutes with Ann before giving her a lift back to the corner. She was pleased as I gave her a C90 tape full of Andean music I had recorded for her and she lent me 3 photos taken at our Peruvian party in March, so that I could scan them for inclusion in my story of that event.
Back home I put on the music and started cooking breakfast, knocking on their doors as they had requested. They finally made an appearance about 9.15 and we had a last leisurely breakfast together, before they started on their journey home at 10.30, with the plan being they would play in London that day. Unfortunately very few people buy the CDs in Bath these days making it hardly worthwhile them coming all this way to play. This is the reason why we hardly get any Peruvian musicians playing in Bath these days. Even in Cardiff they only sold six CDs and then promptly spent the proceeds on new clothes!!!! I will probably see them again on my next visit to London, which could be in the latter part of June. Claire is going to confirm if there is anything on in London during the latter half of June which would be worth us going to see - a festival or something similar.
Back home in Timsbury, there was a message from Dante that his band Amaru III were playing that day, but unfortunately it was too late to be able to go there.
