PLEASE LOOK AT THE NEXT ARTICLE FOR THE VERSION IN ENGLISH
Mi recien visita en Suiza fue muy divertiendo. La vacacion ha comenza con musica andino en vivo la noche antes de mi viaje a Londres. Alguien ha hecho contacto conmigo, buscando un musico andino a tocar a una reunion de cumpleanos. Escribaba a varios amigos y el primero quien ha respondido - Juan Carlos - fue reservaba a tocar.
Juan Carlos ha viajado de Londres en el dia de la reunion y Colin lo ha recogi de la estacion de bus. En mi regresa del trabajo estuve corriendo porque necessitaba llegando a la reunion antes del medico para distribuir mis cosas peruanas alrededor de la sala - de alpaca etc, posters, tela andina y varios recuerdos. Fue la cumpleanos de un medico - sus 60 anos - alguien quien ha vivo 9 anos en Peru en los 1980s, trabajando como medico y misionero - aun aprendiendo quechua por mejor comunicacion con los campesinos viviendo mas alto que Cusco. Sus dos ninos fue nacie en Peru tambien. Colin y Juan Carlos y yo estuvimos al otro lado de la ensena hasta el momento de producir la musica en vivo de Juan Carlos.
Recibimos una buena comida con vinos tintos y blancos, y durante la comida escuchibimos la linda musica de Carlos Zapata que traido para la ocasion. Prestaba un poncho a Juan Carlos (uno que compraba en Tilcara, no lejos de su hogar original en Salta, Argentina) y tambien un sombrero ceremoniale de Peru - Juan Carlos aparece muy guapo en este traje con su pelo largo tambien!
Cuando su musica ha comenza el medico fue lleno de placer a esta sorpreza y a este punto su secretario ha introduco el medico a Colin y yo - tenibimos mucho conversacion sobre un favorito sujet - PERU! Toda la gente han divertido mucho escuchiendo la linda musica acoustica de Juan Carlos y despues sus CDs estuven distruibido alredeor de la sala y Juan Carlos fue muy contenta a recibir un extra 240 dolares por viendiendo algunos CDs - en adicion a su pago por el concierto. Colin se divertio mucho tambien y regressabamos a la casa alredor de la media noche.
El dia siguente estuve viajando a Londres a quedar una noche con Aquiles y Toti antes del viaje al Suiza. Juan Carlos ha reservaba su paisaje del bus en el mismo bus que yo, saliendo de Bath a las doce. El viaje fue largo - 4 horas por razones del trafico - y a Londres fuimos en diferentes direcciones porque teniba que encontrar Toti y Aquiles en el centro a Piccadilly Circus. Por fin los encontraba, estuven comprando regalos para la familia en Suiza. Regressando a la casa fue una noche tranquila, tomando cena y mirando un poco de televisor y yo diciendo a Aquiles, por favor arreglar tu maleta y ahorrar tiempo en la manana!!!
La gente sur america no piensan mucho a la hora, no como los ingleses. Aquiles especialmente queda todos hasta el ultimo momento! Estuve un poco ansiosa que llegaramos tarde al aeropuerto y en la manana necessiba ayudar mucho a Aquiles a estar listo a viajar. Necessiba esperando la llegada de Ivan tambien - dos razones por ansiedad - pero felizmente al momento que Ivan ha llego, Aquiles fue listo y salibimos de la casa a este punto.
Al primero un bus a Liverpool Street y despues un tren express hasta el aeropuerto de Stansted - un poco caro a 50 dolares ida y vuelta, pero un viaje de solo 45 minutos en lugar de casi 2 horas por bus - menos riesgo de llegando tarde. En esta menera llegabamos al aeropuerto exactamente a la hora, 2 horas antes del vuelo saliendo - y estuve tranquila, sabiendo que los dos horas necessita porque este aeropuerto es grande y siempre hay mucha gente saliendo en muchos vuelos de la linea Easyjet. Justo antes de embarqueando, comprabamos un litro de Jack Daniels. Ivan fue lleno de felicidad porque fue su primera visita a Europa desde llegando de Ecuador, hace 8 anos. Preguntaba a Aquiles porque llama Ivan ‘el chato’ y cuando explicaba realisiba que es porque Ivan es chicuito, muy chicuito. Aquiles tiene nombres para todas sus queridos - lo mia es la ballena porque de mi temano!!!!
El vuelo fue bueno pero un poco tarde saliendo y al otro lado en Suiza mas demorra esperando las maletas - entonces una hora se fue antes de saliendo en el aeropuerta donde Carlos y su hermana Nancy nos esperaba. Nancy ha llego de Espana una hora antes de nosotros. Con 4 maletas no fue espacia en el carro por un viaje a su casa y Nancy y yo esperabamos en el aeropuerta con un sandwich y cerveza mientras Carlos llevaba Ivan y Aquiles a la casa y regressaba para nosotros.
La primera noche fue muy buena. Yo cocinaba para nosotros - un caserola enorma de sopa con pollo y verduras - un favorito de Aquiles. Un amigo de Carlos ha llego - Marco quien es de Lima pero vivaba en Suiza mas que 20 anos. Estuvimos tomando vasos de Jack Daniels, escuchiendo musica y divertiendo mucho. No puedo quedar abierta toda la noche como ellos - a la una la manana fui a mi cama a dormir! Los otros se divertiban toda la noche, tomando una y media botellas de cognac de Carlos antes de dormiendo!!
El proximo dia fue occupado - porque fue el dia de la reunion del cumpleanos de Carlos - la razon que estuvimos en su casa! Desayuno fue tarde porque han dormio tarde y temprano en la tarde fuimos a un supermercado en Allemagne para comprando mucha comida y mucho vino, cerveza etc. Donde Carlos vive estan fronteras de tres paises - Francia, Suiza y Allemagne - su casa en un pueblo al lado france de la frontera (Village Neuf) - traversiendo un puente a Allemagne (Weil am Rhein) y Basel en Suiza al otro lado de la frontera. La comida en Francia y Suiza es muy caro pero en los supermercados de Allemagne fue una sorpreza a realisar como barato fue las cuestas.
Nuevamente a la casa Nancy y yo estuvimos cocinando varios platos a traer a la sala en Basel en la tarde. Yo cocinaba Adobo de Chancho, mi receta de Puno, con Nancy notando el metodo y ingredientes. (Para mi un placer a ensenar un plato peruano a una peruana - en recienes anos fue yo aprendiendo eses platos!!!) Carlos se fue con Ivan y Aquiles a la sala para ensayos de sonida de la musica y para decorando la sala. Cuando regressaban a recogernos Nancy y yo estuvimos todavia cocinando y necessiba terminar en la cocina de la sala. Despues fue una reunion muy muy buena. La reunion fue tambien un evento cultural con otras nationalidades - del Turco, Chile, Italia, Allemagne, Francia, Suiza quien ha traido platos de tus paises y aun hecho algo como una danza tipical como contribucion cultural. Un amigo turco ha hecho una presentation sobre Los Incas con la historia y con fotos que fue muy interesante - fue una sorpreza para Carlos quien no realizaba - y fue dificile a encontrar musica a acompagnar la presentacion porque hemos traido solo musica bailable - por fin usaba musica de Alborada que es fusion de musica india del sur y norte america. En adicion a toda la comida fue tambien un barbacoa grill lleno de anticuchos, Marco ha presentaba un exhibition de sus pinturas - muy lindas pinturas de vistas peruanas y tambien abstraticos. La mejoridad de sus pinturas fue en un otro exhibition en el centro de Basel y Marco ha prometo que durante la visita iremos a ver sus otras pinturas. Ivan es un musico de mariacha mexicana y la gente disfrutaba mucho su concierto. Despues de las presentaciones fue mucha musica y bailando y todos han divertio mucho.
Estuve mirando adelante la llegada de Nano (Alfredo) el hermano de Aquiles que no encontraba antes quien estuve viajando de Freiburg en Allemagne. Aquiles dice que Nano no habla mucho pero fue la contra al encuentro luego. Una de las razones que la familia Justiniani me gusta es que estoy como su madre - el mismo temano, la misma personalidad y aun un poco similar en las caras (excepto por los ojos orientales, negros). Cuando Nano ha llego ha vista esa similaridad instantaneo y dabame un abrazo muy fuerte y diga que fue una placer enorma a encontrarme finalmente despues de sabiendo de mi de muchos miembros de su familia en los anos anteriores! Hablabamos mucho en la noche, bailando juntos mucho tambien y cuando Carlos fue bailando con su gateau de cumpleanos, Nano me poniba con sus herma nos que estaria en los fotos. Estuve muy felice con su entusiasmo y muy contenta a conocerlo - fue una sorpreza como tanto esta como Aquiles - un mas joven y mucho mas delgado edicion!!!
La sola problema para mi fue la reunion enduraba toda la noche y es muy dificil a no dormir porque tengo habitude de me llevanta cada manana a las cinco. Mucha gente se fue alrededor de las dos la manana pero algunos quedaban, bailando el resto de la noche hasta la las siete Aquiles ha termino la musica y diga que fue la hora para limpiendo la sala. Estuve dormiendo en mi celia hasta este punto!! Con mucha gente limpiendo fue solo un poco mas de una hora y la sala fue perfecta a quedar. No fue posible para Carlos a conducir, pero su hermano Nano ha viste esta posibilidad y llevaba nosotros a la casa en dos viajes, felizmente Nancy y yo en el primero viaje - estuve muy contenta a caer en mi cama y dormir!!!
Nos llevantaban muy tarde el sabado y la oportunidad fue perdido para visitando alfuera mientras Carlos no fue trabajando. Nuestro desayuno fue a las seis la tarde y dijo que luego cocinaria para nosotros - mas sopa porque este plato fue si popular jueves. A las nueve queran salir nuevamente a una discoteca pero yo digo no fue posible para mi a quedar tarde dos noches y que quiere quedar en la casa escuchiendo musica andino y leyendo mi libro - pero que voy preparar la sopa por su vuelta. El dia siguente Aquiles dijo que han tomo mucho whisky que fue muy caro, mas que 400 dolares entre ellos - estuve contenta que no fui porque no fue posible para mi a gastar dinero como asi.
Domingo ninguna person ha durmio mucho. Fue necessario a limpiar un poco la casa y arreglarla antes de una visita por almuerzo de los hijos de Carlos. Nancy y yo tenibimos cuartos para dormiendo pero Aquiles, Ivan y Marco cuando con nosotros fue dormiendo abajo en la sala. En la noche ha llego mucha niebla y fue muy linda alfuera con las casas en estilo alpino, sus shutters y los arboles lleno de niebla.
En la tarde quieran ir a una sauna y piscina en Allemagne pero yo quedaba en la casa nuevamente porque no ha traido traje para banar y no teniba confianza sobre mi temano tambien porque del non exito de mi regimen antes!!! Estuve bien contenta en la casa escuchiendo mi musica y leyendo mi libro. Carlos regressaba a la casa despues de llevandolos y fue a tomar un bano. Casi tres horas despues cuando regressaba abajo dija que ha dormio en el bano y estuvimos tarde a recoger sus hermanos. Fui con el porque el plano fue a ir y comer en restaurante. Al piscina Ivan y Aquiles fue alfuera sufriendo del frio - su hermano teniba mucho mas razon esperandonos adentro!!!!
Fuimos a un restaurante turco a comer y luego regressabamos a la casa a mirar peliculas en DVD en la televisor, retirando no tarde porque en la manana un taxi va venir a llevar Nancy al aeropuerto por su vuelo a Barcelona. Carlos se fue a trabajo antes de uno de nosotros se llevantando!
El taxi ha llego y fuimos con Nancy porque tenibimos el plano a quedar todo el dia en Basel. El clima en Suiza es mas frio que Inglaterra y llevaba muchas ropas, dos faldas, dos chumpas, pantalones y botas, aun un sombrero en alpaca, gantes etc. Fuimos al aeropuerto al primero en el taxi y antes de saliendo pediba al chauffeur a regresaar y llevarnos al aeropuerto el dia siguente. Despues de la salida de Nancy fuimos a tomar el bus para el centro de Basel.
Hace todavia frio pero con mucha sol y cielos azules, lo mejor clima desde llegando en Suiza. En la cuidad nuestro primero prioridad fue buscando un restaurante a comer bueno para todos - Aquiles quiere comida china pero yo preferiba la idea de comida suiza. Despues de un rato hechimos un compromiso, yo tomando un plato suizo a llevar y ellos tomando hamburgesas como snacks hasta encontrando un restaurante chine. Preguntando el numero del tram saliendo al centro alguien dice numero 8 - fuimos en el 8 hasta el fin de la linea - y no centro - pero realisando que fuimos en la contra direccion quedabamos en el tram y regresaba hasta llegando en el centro - fue como un mini excursion a ver un poco de la ciudad! Pero aun con mucho buscando no encontrabamos un restaurante chine y fui en otro restaurante a comer cosas en la tarde - yo tomando gateau en chocolate y helados suizas por abrobando, ellos eligiendo sopas.
A este punto Aquiles ha realizo que no ha traido el numero de telefono de Carlos que fue en su cellular que ha quedo en la casa! Fue necessario a ir a Roche Pharmaceutical donde Carlos trabaja. Felizmente no fue lejos; encontraba que tram ira y fuimos - llegando a Roche que occupa una lugar el temano de un pueblo con muchos edificios grandes. Pero Carlos esta bien conocido y fue posible a encontrar que edificio donde trabajo y quedar un mensaje en su voicemail y esperar en Recepcion y Carlos nos encontraba alli despues de quinze minutos. Tiene que trabajor varios horas mas y dababa un cellular a Aquiles que podrimos quedar en contacto. Tiene que terminar sus trabajos antes de viajando a Berlin el dia siguente y Brazil al fin de la semana.
Regressabamos al centro en tren y un poco luego, por fin, encontraba un restaurante chine al lado del rio Rheim. Fui adentro y cenaba muy bueno. Mientras alla, Carlos ha hecho contacto con Marco y despues de comiendo fui a encontrarlo en el centro. Al primero fuimos a tomar un refresco juntos y despues fui a ver sus pinturas y Marco me acompagaba para explicando sus pinturas abstractas - estuve muy impresionada pero especialmente con las vistas peruanas. Despues fuimos a una sala de juegos y pasaba bastantes horas jugando Pool Americano (billiards), tomando turnos a jugar, el ganador quedando a cada vez. Estuve contento a ganar cuatros veces, aun una vez contra Marco quien ganaba lo mas a menuda. Su estilo de jugando fue muy macho - con un mano, el cue a 45 degrados de la meza. Carlos ha llego a las dos la manana pero ninguna hombre quiere ir a la casa todavia - fuimos a un club por dos mas horas, tomando cervezas y hablando mucho. Con cuatros hombres para protegerme sentiba bien comoda alla!
Llegabamos a la casa a las cuatro la manana y estuve contenta que no reservaba nuestros vuelos en la manana! El taxi va venir a la una y media - bastante tiempo a arreglar las maletas y quedar la casa de Carlos en una limpia condicion. El primero panico fue con el taxi no ha llego - en Francia tiene que esperar al fuera de la casa y estuve esperando alli con mi maleta mientras Aquiles y Ivan estuven todavia arreglando suyas. Teniba el numero de una otra compania de taxi pero ninguna persona contestaba cuando Aquiles llamaba. No tenibos ninguna idea como llegar al aeropuerto si el taxi no llegara; solo sabemos que fue necessario a tomar el autopista y que el aeropuerto fue alfuera de Basel la ciudad. Fue un alivio enorma cuando el taxi ha llego por fin con 20 minutos de tardanza! Un gran alivio a llegar al aeropuerto, bien a la hora y no mas ansiedad porque el aeropuerto no esta grande. Tenibimos tiempo a buscar en las tiendas por regalos a traer - chocolate suiza que es muy rico y otros recuerdos. Comida y bebidas fue muy caro en el aeropuerto - un coca cola simple en botella fue 5 dolares/euros y compartibimos solo uno! En el avion Ivan tomaba la celia cerca de la ventana porque quiere mirar y filmar el momento de subiendo en el aire. Y poniendo los ultimas euros de nuestras bolsillas fue bastante por un sandwich y bebida para cada uno. Llegabamos a Stansted a las cinco la tarde y a las seis y media estuvimos en Londres. Dicimos adios a Liverpool Street, ellos a regressar a sus casas, yo hasta Victoria por mi bus a Bath - una larga distancia porque no llegaba a Victoria hasta las ocho y cuarto, justo en tiempo por el bus saliendo por Bath.
Llegaba a la casa de Colin a las doce la noche - a ver niebla en Inglaterra tambien - Colin vive en una lugar alta y cuando hay niebla siempre hay niebla en su jardin. Colin fue contenta tambien con toda el queso que traido de Suiza para el - se gusta mucho el queso y los quesos de Suiza como su chocolate esta muy muy ricos. Mi proximo viaje es 10 de marzo, 3 noches en mi favorita ciudad con mar - en Weymouth - donde ire con mi amiga Ann y el hotel es plein en friente del mar. Los tres fines de semanas estaren occupadas tambien - visitas a Londres por tren el 18 y 25 de marzo y un otro fin de semana en Weymouth - esta vez con carpa - al 31 de marzo hasta 3 de abril. Estoy esperando que Carlos va mandar fotos que sacaban en su digital camera y lo de Aquiles ... que luego puedeis ver en estas paginas.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
A visit to Switzerland, February 2006
HAY UNA VERSION EN ESPAGNOL ANTES DE ESTA VERSION
My recent visit to Switzerland was very enjoyable. My holiday started nicely with some live andean music the evening before I was due to travel to London. Someone had made contact with me to request my help in finding an Andean musician willing to play at a birthday party and I wrote to four to see if they would be willing to visit Bath and play at this event. All four responded in the affirmative but as Juan Carlos - Condori - was the first to respond he was the one they decided to book.
Juan Carlos travelled by bus from London on the day of the party and Colin collected him from the station on my behalf. Then when I got home from work it was a mad dash to get ready and get to the party which took place in the village of Rode, outside Bath, because we needed to arrive before the birthday boy - a Doctor who was celebrating his 60th. His secretary and other doctors in the practice had organised Juan Carlos as a surprise part of the party because in his youth he lived and worked for many years high in the Andes mountains above Cusco, as both a doctor and a missionary, even learning the native language quechua to better communicate with his patients there. On arrival at the party we had to hang up all the Peruvian things I had lent them for the occasion - alpaca hangings, a Peruvian flag, other wall hangings, woven tapestries, several posters etc etc, plus little fluffy llamas to go on all the tables. Colin, Juan Carlos and I were hidden behind the curtain on the stage so that the doctor knew nothing until they decided to produce the music.
We were well looked after while the meal went on, served a delicious meal backstage along with red and white wine, and it was really enjoyable for me because all the while there was andean music playing in the background - a CD I had given them of Carlos Zapata’s beautiful instrumental music. I had lent Juan Carlos a poncho (purchased in Tilcara, very close to where he comes from in Salta, Northern Argentina!) and also persuaded him to wear a beaded ceremonial hat with long tassels. He looked really good in it too with his long flowing shiny black hair.
When the live music started, the doctor was amazed and delighted. His secretary introduced me to him at this point and both of us having been to Peru there was no shortage of conversation. In fact we both expressed the sentiment that we wished we had more time to chat in more detail! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Juan Carlos’ music which began mostly acoustic with him playing charango and panpipes, sometimes the flutes, and a little later he added his sound system and he even sang now and again. I was very impressed and especially enjoyed the acoustic part of his show. Afterwards at my request his CDs were distributed and this resulted in some being sold and more contributions offered which added a further £120 to add to what he had already been paid. He was very pleased because a friend from Chile was arriving a couple of days later and he had plans to take her to Scotland and the money earned that evening would be jolly useful. Colin enjoyed the evening as much as I did and we eventually got home around midnight.
Next day I was travelling to London to spend one night there before the journey to Switzerland. At my request Juan Carlos had booked himself on the same bus departing at 12 noon from Bath to London so we had each other for company on the long trip. Departures from Bath seem to take forever to reach London because of all the stops along the way. We eventually reached London at 4 pm, later than scheduled due to delays en route, and here Juan and I parted company as I was due to meet Aquiles and Toti at Piccadilly Circus. I eventually reached them around 5 pm - they were doing last minute shopping for gifts to take to Switzerland - and then we made our way back to the flat. We spent a quiet evening there, enjoying a meal and watching a bit of television, with me urging Aquiles to pack his suitcase to save time the next morning!
South Americans are very laid back and always leave everything until the last minute whereas I am the opposite and always arrive ahead of time rather than late. I was slightly anxious that we would be late getting to the airport because of this so did everything possible next morning to get Aquiles organised. We had to await the arrival of Ivan as well - another laid back South American - so double anxiety that either he or Aquiles would make us late! As it happened Aquiles was just about ready when Ivan rang the doorbell, so I suggested we leave then rather than bring him in and he agreed.
Then it was a bus to Liverpool Street as we had agreed to get the Stansted Express train to the airport to save time. Although more expensive I felt it was well worth the extra cost to get there more quickly, with less risk of arriving late. The cost of tickets on the train is £15 each way, but with a saving if buying an open return, the total cost being £25 per person with departures every 15 minutes and a journey time of only 45 minutes compared to nearly two hours on the bus.
Consequently we arrived at the airport exactly on time, the stipulated two hours before departure, much to my relief. The whole two hours are always needed because there are such long queues at check-in. Once through we just had time to look in the duty free shops and shared the cost of a litre of Jack Daniels to take with us. Ivan was really excited and happy, this being his first visit to Europe since arriving in England 8 years previously, so was eagerly recording everything with his digital camcorder. I asked Aquiles why he called him El Chato instead of Ivan and learned El chato means ‘the dwarf’ - his nickname because he is so short! Aquiles has nicknames for everyone - mine is the whale (la ballena) because of my size!
We boarded our flight more or less on time but then there was a delay for some unknown reason so it was a late take-off - this is always my favourite part of flying and I think Ivan enjoyed it too after I told him to relax and enjoy the experience as he was extremely nervous about flying. Our luggage was a bit late arriving at the other end so we were nearly an hour late by the time we emerged where Carlos and his sister Nancy were awaiting us. Nancy had been due to arrive from Barcelona just after us but our lateness meant she arrived first. As you can image, with four of us and all our luggage there was no way Carlos could take us all in one trip. So Nancy and I agreed to wait while he took Aquiles and Ivan back to the house first. We emerged onto the Swiss side of the airport and enjoyed baguette sandwiches and a beer until Carlos returned about 45 minutes later.
We spent a very enjoyable evening thereafter. I cooked that first night - an enormous tureen of chicken and vegetable soup which is one of Aquiles’ favourites. Carlos’s friend Marco arrived and he was good fun to be with too. Later we opened the bottle of Jack Daniels and enjoyed that although I couldn’t stay up as late as they did. By 1 am I was really tired and said goodnight, but they kept going most of the night, drinking a bottle of Carlos’s special brandy once the Jack Daniels had run out!
Next day was a busy one as this was the day of Carlos’s birthday party, the reason we were in Switzerland with him at all. Breakfast was late due to them sleeping late so it was early afternoon before we drove into nearby Germany to buy loads of food and drink for the party in the evening. Where Carlos lives is right on three frontiers - France, Switzerland and Germany - his house being just on the French side in Village Neuf. It was just a matter of crossing a bridge and we were in Germany (Weil am Rhein) and of course, Basel in Switzerland was very close too. Food shopping in France and Switzerland is very expensive these days - it used to be cheaper in France but since the Euro prices have risen dramatically. However I was amazed at how inexpensive things were in German supermarkets and although Carlos spent a fair bit of money he got a lot of food and drink, sufficient to cater for 45 people.
Then back at the house Nancy and I got busy to cook dishes to take with us that evening. I made a huge saucepan full of Peruvian spicy pork and Nancy watched me make it to learn the recipe. I felt quite chuffed showing a Peruvian how to make a Peruvian dish as you can imagine as a few years ago it was the other way round with me eager to learn! Whilst we were busy there, Carlos had taken Ivan and Aquiles to the party venue as they had sound checking to do and hall decor to be organised. When they came back for us it was a rush to get to the venue, far the other side of Basel, and we arrived after most of the other guests. We still hadn’t finished cooking so the first hour we were really busy in the kitchen there getting things ready.
After that we really enjoyed the party which was also a cultural event, a bringing together of several nationalities, who brought their culture to the event and some did a little act to enhance the evening’s enjoyment. One I enjoyed immensely was also a surprise to Carlos and was organised by one of the Turkish colleagues from his work - a slide show presentation all about the history of the Incas. There was a mad scrabble to find some appropriate Peruvian music to accompany it as we had only brought dance music. We eventually had to settle for Alborada which is a fusion of south and north american indian music which accompanied it quite nicely. The other guests had brought food contributions too - Turkish, Chilean, Italian, Swiss, German, French etc, so there was plenty to eat as the evening wore on. There was even a huge grill, like an indoor barbeque, with kebabs cooking away nicely. An Italian girl gave a nice dance presentation and one of the Turkish guests gave an interesting talk in English. Marco is an artist and had a small exhibition of his paintings there and I was really really impressed at the Peruvian scenes. He had an exhibition in the centre with mostly his abstract paintings that he promised I would also see during our visit. He has an excellent style, especially his way of portraying things like llamas or the inca stonework. Ivan was the highlight of the evening - although Ecuadorian he is a Mexican mariachi musician and his lovely singing went down really well with all the guests. Another Turkish guest took charge of the music and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and a good time was had by all.
I was especially looking forward to the arrival of Nano (Alfredo), Aquiles’ younger brother and the only one I had not previously met. He was travelling by train from Freiburg and I was looking forward to meeting him. Aquiles said he was quite shy and not very talkative but he proved to be the opposite when he arrived a bit later and we were introduced. One of the reasons that the Justiniani family have taken me into their hearts is the fact that I remind them of their mother in Peru. We are the same build and have similar personalities and if you take away the high cheek bones and the dark eyes we even resemble each other a bit facially. When we were introduced Nano immediately could see this and gave me the biggest hug and said it was fantastic to finally meet me having heard so much about me over the past few years from every member of his family. We spent a lot of time chatting during the evening and he got me up to dance frequently, pulled me into the family circle when Carlos was dancing with his birthday cake, so that I would feature in all the family photos. I was really touched by his enthusiasm and so enjoyed getting to know him. I was also amazed at how much he resembles Aquiles - at 29 he is a younger and much slimmer edition!!! They all resemble their Mum quite a lot.
The only problem for me was that the party lasted all night until the next morning, and I always have a problem staying awake late because of being so used to getting up at 5 o clock in the mornings. Most of the guests went home around 2 am, but a contingent stayed on and we were dancing and enjoying until around 7 am, although I fell asleep on my chair long before that. I only awoke when suddenly Aquiles extinguished the music and said ‘Right now it is time to clean up!’ He soon had everyone busily sweeping and cleaning, washing up and getting rid of the rubbish and bottles, so that around an hour or so later the hall looked perfect with newly washed floors. We had so many things to take back with us that it meant two journeys and both Nancy and I were thoroughly relieved to be in the first car load going back. Carlos had had a lot to drink so was unable to drive us but luckily Nano had foreseen this possibility and abstained from drinking himself and thus was able to drive us home. I fell into bed with enormous relief when we got there!
We didn’t wake up until about tea time on Saturday which meant we had lost the opportunity whilst Carlos wasn’t working to do any sightseeing. We had our breakfast about 6 pm and I said I would cook again for us a bit later. About 9 pm they were all ready to start partying again and decided to go to a disco and I said No way could I stay up late another night and that I would be happy to stay behind, listen to andean music and enjoy my book. I said I would cook another tureen of soup for them to come back to. I knew that it would be another all nighter had I gone with them and as they all enjoy drinking spirits whenever they get together it would be expensive too. Later when Aquiles said the drinks bill had exceeded 290 euros on top of entrance fees to the disco, snacks during the evening etc, I was even more glad I had stayed behind as I would definitely have run out of money if I had had to pay a share of that!!! I quite happily listened to andean music until about 2 am until I felt tired enough for sleep.
On Sunday no one had much sleep, just a few hours as Carlos woke us all up again because his two children were coming on a visit in the early afternoon, which meant tidying up the place considerably before their arrival! I was sorry not to have had the chance to say goodbye to Nano the night before and missed seeing him in the morning too because Carlos had driven him to thetrain station before I woke up, for his journey back to Freiburg. But there is a good chance he might visit England in the next couple of months if he can successfully get a visa and he will definitely visit Bath when he does. Nancy and I had bedrooms to sleep in but Ivan and Aquiles slept downstairs, and Marco as well whenever he was with us. It was nice to meet the children who stayed a couple of hours and Nancy and I prepared lunch for us all while they were there. Overnight it had snowed and it looked a winter wonderland outside, with the lovely alpine style houses and their decorative shutters, conifer trees heavily laden with snow.
In the early evening they all decided to go for a sauna and swim at a health club in Germany but again I decided to stay behind as I hadn’t brought swimwear and even if I had I would not have felt comfortable putting on swimwear in front of them (not having succeeded on the diet I started a few weeks earlier!!!). Again, I enjoyed relaxing with my book and some andean music. Carlos came back after dropping them off and went upstairs to have a bath and do some work. It turned out he fell asleep in the bath and no work got done and when he woke up we were later than we should have been in going to fetch them back. I went with him as the plan was to go and get something to eat afterwards. When we got there Ivan and Aquiles were freezing, having waited outside for us. Nancy had had more sense and stayed inside!!! We then set off and ended up at a Turkish restaurant where we all tucked into kebabs with chips and salad and several cold drinks. Everyone had had enough of alcohol after so much drinking in the previous nights and poor Aquiles was suffering a bit with his foot which always plays up when he over indulges. Back at the house later we watched a couple of good DVD films on the television and nobody went to bed too late as we were all pretty tired and we had to get up early next morning as Nancy had to get to the airport to get back to Barcelona and Carlos had booked a taxi to get us there. Carlos had to be back at work and was out of the house even before any of us woke up.
The taxi arrived a bit early but luckily we were ready and all four of us headed to the airport to see her off. On arrival I asked the driver if he would come the following day to collect us and take us to the airport and he made a note of it. We had all dressed warmly for a whole day out in Switzerland - I had on a thermal vest and long johns as well as two skirts and lots of petticoats, warm sweater, thick cardigan and fur-lined fleecy coat plus hat scarf and gloves, knowing we would be out all day into the evening. After Nancy went through to departures we made our way outside and soon found a bus which would take us to the city centre.
It was still cold and crisp weather but very sunny with blue skies, the best weather since our arrival. In town our first priority was to look for a place to eat and as usual Aquiles wanted to look for a Chinese restaurant whereas my preference was to eat something Swiss. We eventually compromised in that I would look for something Swiss in one of the Migros supermarkets where hot food is served to take away and he and Ivan had hamburgers to keep them going while I enjoyed some creamy peppered pork and fried potatoes. Then we set off to find the city centre and hopefully a Chinese restaurant. We decided to take the tram having been told to take the number 8. Like in London one has to buy the ticket before boarding and I did so, hoping the 3 franc option was sufficient. Aquiles and Ivan decided to not buy tickets but that was the only time they did so when I pointed out the notice saying that anyone travelling without a ticket would have to pay an instant 100 franc fine!!!! We stayed on the tram until the end of the line, only then realising we had got the 8 travelling in the opposite direction to the city centre!!! We stayed on it though and a few minutes later it headed back - about 8 stops later Aquiles said ‘Let’s get off here’ and I said ‘No, not here, as it’s the very stop where we got on the tram in the first place!!!!” Half a dozen stops further on we got off right in the city centre and thence began our search for a Chinese restaurant. We enjoyed the shops and when we all got hungry again, we went into a Manor supermarket which had a fantastic buffet style restaurant, where Ivan and Aquiles enjoyed bowls of soup, still hoping to find that Chinese restaurant. I had some delicious chocolate gateau and pistachio ice-cream and followed this up with some draught local beer. We relaxed there an hour as Aquiles was limping due to his swollen foot and we knew we would be walking around Basel for hours yet. It was while sitting at the table that Aquiles realised he had left his mobile phone at home and without it did not know the number of his brother who he was supposed to ring as regards meeting up when he finished work later. We realised the only way we could get in touch with him was to make our way to Roche Pharmaceutical and speak to him. Luckily we did not have too far to travel to get there, another tram taking us all the way to the enormous Roche buildings which covered the area of a small village! Carlos has a really high powered job there and as soon as we asked for him at one of the reception areas the guy immediately knew who he was. At that point Carlos wasn’t in his office so we left a voicemail message that we were waiting for him in the reception area of the building where his office was. About 15 minutes later he came down and saw us and he lent Aquiles his mobile so that we could keep in touch with him saying he still had a few more hours work to do as he was flying to Berlin early the following morning and then to Brazil for 10 days three days later.
We made our way back and then finally, around 7 pm found the Chinese restaurant they had been searching for all day and enjoyed a really nice dinner there. Meanwhile because Carlos was so busy at work he had got in touch with Marco who came and met us about 8.30 and took us to see all the paintings in his exhibition which were really impressive - there were more Peruvian scenes in addition to the enormous abstract paintings, all beautifully framed and spotlighted, around the walls of a huge coffee lounge and bar. We had a coffee together and Marco took me round and explained all the meanings behind the abstracts. After that we all went to a games parlour and hired the balls to play Pool and we ended up playing Pool with the winner staying on and the rest of us taking turns to play singles until Carlos finally joined us about 2 o clock in the morning! I managed to win about four of the games much to my delight. Marco was the best player and won the most, which was amazing as his technique of playing pool is one handed with the pool cue at a 45 degree angle to the table surface. I was really impressed at this macho way of playing. It was a lovely way to spend our last night in Switzerland.
I thought we would head off homeward then but Aquiles said ‘It’s our last night, we don’t want to go home yet!’ So we ended up at a late drinking bar in Germany for a couple more hours as I did not want to be the one to spoil their fun and it was too far for Carlos to take me home and then come back again, especially as he had to be up so early the next day. There were several ladies of dubious reputation in the club who tried to chat up my four male companions and I found it all highly amusing watching them try to extricate themselves. They in turn were also highly amused at how much I was enjoying their predicaments!!!!
We finally got home around 4.30 am, with me feeling jolly glad I had booked afternoon departures for our flights homeward! Our taxi wasn’t coming until 1.30 which meant there was plenty of time to get packed and ready and leave Carlos’s house in a clean and tidy state before leaving. The first panic was non arrival of the taxi. In France you have to wait outside and after 15 minutes I was getting really anxious as we had no idea what name of taxi company it was. And although I had the number of another taxi firm, several anxious calls were not answered. And I had no idea how we could get to the airport if it didn’t arrive. You can imagine my relief when it did arrive 20 minutes later, although we still had an anxious time getting all our luggage in the boot. In France even hand luggage is forbidden in the taxi itself and if we had not managed to get everything in the boot he would have driven off and left us. Luckily we managed it. I was so relieved when we reached the airport, still in plenty of time, it being a smaller airport and not so crowded with check in queues. We had time to do some duty free shopping - in my case Swiss chocolate to take home for family members - and they stocked up on cigarettes and alcohol. We waited until we got on the plane before having anything to eat as everything was so expensive at the airport - I paid four and a half euros for one small bottle of coke which we all shared, three times more expensive than Easyjet prices! On board we let Ivan have the window seat as he was eager to watch the take off, and we pooled the last of our euros which yielded just enough for a sandwich and drink each during the flight which was uneventful and about 5 pm landed safely at Stansted and by 5.45 we were on the Stansted express taking us back to London. At Liverpool Street we said our goodbyes as we were headed in different directions, and I said I would see them again on 18 March when I am going to London for the day by train with Ann and then again the weekend of 25-26 March which is another London visit to celebrate Aquiles birthday. The journey by bus from Liverpool Street to Victoria was almost an hour with me not having a clue where we were and hoping I would get off the bus in the right place! I was glad I had allowed plenty of time when booking the bus ticket to Bath as I finally reached the coach station with only 15 minutes to spare before its departure. I finally reached Bath at 11.45 where Colin met me at the station, with only a few hours sleep until having to get up for work next day. It had snowed that day in England too and we had to defrost my car and change positions so that Colin wouldn’t have to wake up so early next morning. And Colin was really pleased with the four different Swiss cheeses I had brought back for him. All this took time and it was 1 o clock in the morning before I got to sleep. It was a great holiday though, with lots of laughs which is always the case with Aquiles, and I look forward to the next little trip which is a 3-night break in a sea front hotel at Weymouth with my friend Ann from 10th to 13th March. Hopefully at some point Carlos will send me copies of all the excellent photos taken on their digital cameras during the visit.
My recent visit to Switzerland was very enjoyable. My holiday started nicely with some live andean music the evening before I was due to travel to London. Someone had made contact with me to request my help in finding an Andean musician willing to play at a birthday party and I wrote to four to see if they would be willing to visit Bath and play at this event. All four responded in the affirmative but as Juan Carlos - Condori - was the first to respond he was the one they decided to book.
Juan Carlos travelled by bus from London on the day of the party and Colin collected him from the station on my behalf. Then when I got home from work it was a mad dash to get ready and get to the party which took place in the village of Rode, outside Bath, because we needed to arrive before the birthday boy - a Doctor who was celebrating his 60th. His secretary and other doctors in the practice had organised Juan Carlos as a surprise part of the party because in his youth he lived and worked for many years high in the Andes mountains above Cusco, as both a doctor and a missionary, even learning the native language quechua to better communicate with his patients there. On arrival at the party we had to hang up all the Peruvian things I had lent them for the occasion - alpaca hangings, a Peruvian flag, other wall hangings, woven tapestries, several posters etc etc, plus little fluffy llamas to go on all the tables. Colin, Juan Carlos and I were hidden behind the curtain on the stage so that the doctor knew nothing until they decided to produce the music.
We were well looked after while the meal went on, served a delicious meal backstage along with red and white wine, and it was really enjoyable for me because all the while there was andean music playing in the background - a CD I had given them of Carlos Zapata’s beautiful instrumental music. I had lent Juan Carlos a poncho (purchased in Tilcara, very close to where he comes from in Salta, Northern Argentina!) and also persuaded him to wear a beaded ceremonial hat with long tassels. He looked really good in it too with his long flowing shiny black hair.
When the live music started, the doctor was amazed and delighted. His secretary introduced me to him at this point and both of us having been to Peru there was no shortage of conversation. In fact we both expressed the sentiment that we wished we had more time to chat in more detail! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Juan Carlos’ music which began mostly acoustic with him playing charango and panpipes, sometimes the flutes, and a little later he added his sound system and he even sang now and again. I was very impressed and especially enjoyed the acoustic part of his show. Afterwards at my request his CDs were distributed and this resulted in some being sold and more contributions offered which added a further £120 to add to what he had already been paid. He was very pleased because a friend from Chile was arriving a couple of days later and he had plans to take her to Scotland and the money earned that evening would be jolly useful. Colin enjoyed the evening as much as I did and we eventually got home around midnight.
Next day I was travelling to London to spend one night there before the journey to Switzerland. At my request Juan Carlos had booked himself on the same bus departing at 12 noon from Bath to London so we had each other for company on the long trip. Departures from Bath seem to take forever to reach London because of all the stops along the way. We eventually reached London at 4 pm, later than scheduled due to delays en route, and here Juan and I parted company as I was due to meet Aquiles and Toti at Piccadilly Circus. I eventually reached them around 5 pm - they were doing last minute shopping for gifts to take to Switzerland - and then we made our way back to the flat. We spent a quiet evening there, enjoying a meal and watching a bit of television, with me urging Aquiles to pack his suitcase to save time the next morning!
South Americans are very laid back and always leave everything until the last minute whereas I am the opposite and always arrive ahead of time rather than late. I was slightly anxious that we would be late getting to the airport because of this so did everything possible next morning to get Aquiles organised. We had to await the arrival of Ivan as well - another laid back South American - so double anxiety that either he or Aquiles would make us late! As it happened Aquiles was just about ready when Ivan rang the doorbell, so I suggested we leave then rather than bring him in and he agreed.
Then it was a bus to Liverpool Street as we had agreed to get the Stansted Express train to the airport to save time. Although more expensive I felt it was well worth the extra cost to get there more quickly, with less risk of arriving late. The cost of tickets on the train is £15 each way, but with a saving if buying an open return, the total cost being £25 per person with departures every 15 minutes and a journey time of only 45 minutes compared to nearly two hours on the bus.
Consequently we arrived at the airport exactly on time, the stipulated two hours before departure, much to my relief. The whole two hours are always needed because there are such long queues at check-in. Once through we just had time to look in the duty free shops and shared the cost of a litre of Jack Daniels to take with us. Ivan was really excited and happy, this being his first visit to Europe since arriving in England 8 years previously, so was eagerly recording everything with his digital camcorder. I asked Aquiles why he called him El Chato instead of Ivan and learned El chato means ‘the dwarf’ - his nickname because he is so short! Aquiles has nicknames for everyone - mine is the whale (la ballena) because of my size!
We boarded our flight more or less on time but then there was a delay for some unknown reason so it was a late take-off - this is always my favourite part of flying and I think Ivan enjoyed it too after I told him to relax and enjoy the experience as he was extremely nervous about flying. Our luggage was a bit late arriving at the other end so we were nearly an hour late by the time we emerged where Carlos and his sister Nancy were awaiting us. Nancy had been due to arrive from Barcelona just after us but our lateness meant she arrived first. As you can image, with four of us and all our luggage there was no way Carlos could take us all in one trip. So Nancy and I agreed to wait while he took Aquiles and Ivan back to the house first. We emerged onto the Swiss side of the airport and enjoyed baguette sandwiches and a beer until Carlos returned about 45 minutes later.
We spent a very enjoyable evening thereafter. I cooked that first night - an enormous tureen of chicken and vegetable soup which is one of Aquiles’ favourites. Carlos’s friend Marco arrived and he was good fun to be with too. Later we opened the bottle of Jack Daniels and enjoyed that although I couldn’t stay up as late as they did. By 1 am I was really tired and said goodnight, but they kept going most of the night, drinking a bottle of Carlos’s special brandy once the Jack Daniels had run out!
Next day was a busy one as this was the day of Carlos’s birthday party, the reason we were in Switzerland with him at all. Breakfast was late due to them sleeping late so it was early afternoon before we drove into nearby Germany to buy loads of food and drink for the party in the evening. Where Carlos lives is right on three frontiers - France, Switzerland and Germany - his house being just on the French side in Village Neuf. It was just a matter of crossing a bridge and we were in Germany (Weil am Rhein) and of course, Basel in Switzerland was very close too. Food shopping in France and Switzerland is very expensive these days - it used to be cheaper in France but since the Euro prices have risen dramatically. However I was amazed at how inexpensive things were in German supermarkets and although Carlos spent a fair bit of money he got a lot of food and drink, sufficient to cater for 45 people.
Then back at the house Nancy and I got busy to cook dishes to take with us that evening. I made a huge saucepan full of Peruvian spicy pork and Nancy watched me make it to learn the recipe. I felt quite chuffed showing a Peruvian how to make a Peruvian dish as you can imagine as a few years ago it was the other way round with me eager to learn! Whilst we were busy there, Carlos had taken Ivan and Aquiles to the party venue as they had sound checking to do and hall decor to be organised. When they came back for us it was a rush to get to the venue, far the other side of Basel, and we arrived after most of the other guests. We still hadn’t finished cooking so the first hour we were really busy in the kitchen there getting things ready.
After that we really enjoyed the party which was also a cultural event, a bringing together of several nationalities, who brought their culture to the event and some did a little act to enhance the evening’s enjoyment. One I enjoyed immensely was also a surprise to Carlos and was organised by one of the Turkish colleagues from his work - a slide show presentation all about the history of the Incas. There was a mad scrabble to find some appropriate Peruvian music to accompany it as we had only brought dance music. We eventually had to settle for Alborada which is a fusion of south and north american indian music which accompanied it quite nicely. The other guests had brought food contributions too - Turkish, Chilean, Italian, Swiss, German, French etc, so there was plenty to eat as the evening wore on. There was even a huge grill, like an indoor barbeque, with kebabs cooking away nicely. An Italian girl gave a nice dance presentation and one of the Turkish guests gave an interesting talk in English. Marco is an artist and had a small exhibition of his paintings there and I was really really impressed at the Peruvian scenes. He had an exhibition in the centre with mostly his abstract paintings that he promised I would also see during our visit. He has an excellent style, especially his way of portraying things like llamas or the inca stonework. Ivan was the highlight of the evening - although Ecuadorian he is a Mexican mariachi musician and his lovely singing went down really well with all the guests. Another Turkish guest took charge of the music and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and a good time was had by all.
I was especially looking forward to the arrival of Nano (Alfredo), Aquiles’ younger brother and the only one I had not previously met. He was travelling by train from Freiburg and I was looking forward to meeting him. Aquiles said he was quite shy and not very talkative but he proved to be the opposite when he arrived a bit later and we were introduced. One of the reasons that the Justiniani family have taken me into their hearts is the fact that I remind them of their mother in Peru. We are the same build and have similar personalities and if you take away the high cheek bones and the dark eyes we even resemble each other a bit facially. When we were introduced Nano immediately could see this and gave me the biggest hug and said it was fantastic to finally meet me having heard so much about me over the past few years from every member of his family. We spent a lot of time chatting during the evening and he got me up to dance frequently, pulled me into the family circle when Carlos was dancing with his birthday cake, so that I would feature in all the family photos. I was really touched by his enthusiasm and so enjoyed getting to know him. I was also amazed at how much he resembles Aquiles - at 29 he is a younger and much slimmer edition!!! They all resemble their Mum quite a lot.
The only problem for me was that the party lasted all night until the next morning, and I always have a problem staying awake late because of being so used to getting up at 5 o clock in the mornings. Most of the guests went home around 2 am, but a contingent stayed on and we were dancing and enjoying until around 7 am, although I fell asleep on my chair long before that. I only awoke when suddenly Aquiles extinguished the music and said ‘Right now it is time to clean up!’ He soon had everyone busily sweeping and cleaning, washing up and getting rid of the rubbish and bottles, so that around an hour or so later the hall looked perfect with newly washed floors. We had so many things to take back with us that it meant two journeys and both Nancy and I were thoroughly relieved to be in the first car load going back. Carlos had had a lot to drink so was unable to drive us but luckily Nano had foreseen this possibility and abstained from drinking himself and thus was able to drive us home. I fell into bed with enormous relief when we got there!
We didn’t wake up until about tea time on Saturday which meant we had lost the opportunity whilst Carlos wasn’t working to do any sightseeing. We had our breakfast about 6 pm and I said I would cook again for us a bit later. About 9 pm they were all ready to start partying again and decided to go to a disco and I said No way could I stay up late another night and that I would be happy to stay behind, listen to andean music and enjoy my book. I said I would cook another tureen of soup for them to come back to. I knew that it would be another all nighter had I gone with them and as they all enjoy drinking spirits whenever they get together it would be expensive too. Later when Aquiles said the drinks bill had exceeded 290 euros on top of entrance fees to the disco, snacks during the evening etc, I was even more glad I had stayed behind as I would definitely have run out of money if I had had to pay a share of that!!! I quite happily listened to andean music until about 2 am until I felt tired enough for sleep.
On Sunday no one had much sleep, just a few hours as Carlos woke us all up again because his two children were coming on a visit in the early afternoon, which meant tidying up the place considerably before their arrival! I was sorry not to have had the chance to say goodbye to Nano the night before and missed seeing him in the morning too because Carlos had driven him to thetrain station before I woke up, for his journey back to Freiburg. But there is a good chance he might visit England in the next couple of months if he can successfully get a visa and he will definitely visit Bath when he does. Nancy and I had bedrooms to sleep in but Ivan and Aquiles slept downstairs, and Marco as well whenever he was with us. It was nice to meet the children who stayed a couple of hours and Nancy and I prepared lunch for us all while they were there. Overnight it had snowed and it looked a winter wonderland outside, with the lovely alpine style houses and their decorative shutters, conifer trees heavily laden with snow.
In the early evening they all decided to go for a sauna and swim at a health club in Germany but again I decided to stay behind as I hadn’t brought swimwear and even if I had I would not have felt comfortable putting on swimwear in front of them (not having succeeded on the diet I started a few weeks earlier!!!). Again, I enjoyed relaxing with my book and some andean music. Carlos came back after dropping them off and went upstairs to have a bath and do some work. It turned out he fell asleep in the bath and no work got done and when he woke up we were later than we should have been in going to fetch them back. I went with him as the plan was to go and get something to eat afterwards. When we got there Ivan and Aquiles were freezing, having waited outside for us. Nancy had had more sense and stayed inside!!! We then set off and ended up at a Turkish restaurant where we all tucked into kebabs with chips and salad and several cold drinks. Everyone had had enough of alcohol after so much drinking in the previous nights and poor Aquiles was suffering a bit with his foot which always plays up when he over indulges. Back at the house later we watched a couple of good DVD films on the television and nobody went to bed too late as we were all pretty tired and we had to get up early next morning as Nancy had to get to the airport to get back to Barcelona and Carlos had booked a taxi to get us there. Carlos had to be back at work and was out of the house even before any of us woke up.
The taxi arrived a bit early but luckily we were ready and all four of us headed to the airport to see her off. On arrival I asked the driver if he would come the following day to collect us and take us to the airport and he made a note of it. We had all dressed warmly for a whole day out in Switzerland - I had on a thermal vest and long johns as well as two skirts and lots of petticoats, warm sweater, thick cardigan and fur-lined fleecy coat plus hat scarf and gloves, knowing we would be out all day into the evening. After Nancy went through to departures we made our way outside and soon found a bus which would take us to the city centre.
It was still cold and crisp weather but very sunny with blue skies, the best weather since our arrival. In town our first priority was to look for a place to eat and as usual Aquiles wanted to look for a Chinese restaurant whereas my preference was to eat something Swiss. We eventually compromised in that I would look for something Swiss in one of the Migros supermarkets where hot food is served to take away and he and Ivan had hamburgers to keep them going while I enjoyed some creamy peppered pork and fried potatoes. Then we set off to find the city centre and hopefully a Chinese restaurant. We decided to take the tram having been told to take the number 8. Like in London one has to buy the ticket before boarding and I did so, hoping the 3 franc option was sufficient. Aquiles and Ivan decided to not buy tickets but that was the only time they did so when I pointed out the notice saying that anyone travelling without a ticket would have to pay an instant 100 franc fine!!!! We stayed on the tram until the end of the line, only then realising we had got the 8 travelling in the opposite direction to the city centre!!! We stayed on it though and a few minutes later it headed back - about 8 stops later Aquiles said ‘Let’s get off here’ and I said ‘No, not here, as it’s the very stop where we got on the tram in the first place!!!!” Half a dozen stops further on we got off right in the city centre and thence began our search for a Chinese restaurant. We enjoyed the shops and when we all got hungry again, we went into a Manor supermarket which had a fantastic buffet style restaurant, where Ivan and Aquiles enjoyed bowls of soup, still hoping to find that Chinese restaurant. I had some delicious chocolate gateau and pistachio ice-cream and followed this up with some draught local beer. We relaxed there an hour as Aquiles was limping due to his swollen foot and we knew we would be walking around Basel for hours yet. It was while sitting at the table that Aquiles realised he had left his mobile phone at home and without it did not know the number of his brother who he was supposed to ring as regards meeting up when he finished work later. We realised the only way we could get in touch with him was to make our way to Roche Pharmaceutical and speak to him. Luckily we did not have too far to travel to get there, another tram taking us all the way to the enormous Roche buildings which covered the area of a small village! Carlos has a really high powered job there and as soon as we asked for him at one of the reception areas the guy immediately knew who he was. At that point Carlos wasn’t in his office so we left a voicemail message that we were waiting for him in the reception area of the building where his office was. About 15 minutes later he came down and saw us and he lent Aquiles his mobile so that we could keep in touch with him saying he still had a few more hours work to do as he was flying to Berlin early the following morning and then to Brazil for 10 days three days later.
We made our way back and then finally, around 7 pm found the Chinese restaurant they had been searching for all day and enjoyed a really nice dinner there. Meanwhile because Carlos was so busy at work he had got in touch with Marco who came and met us about 8.30 and took us to see all the paintings in his exhibition which were really impressive - there were more Peruvian scenes in addition to the enormous abstract paintings, all beautifully framed and spotlighted, around the walls of a huge coffee lounge and bar. We had a coffee together and Marco took me round and explained all the meanings behind the abstracts. After that we all went to a games parlour and hired the balls to play Pool and we ended up playing Pool with the winner staying on and the rest of us taking turns to play singles until Carlos finally joined us about 2 o clock in the morning! I managed to win about four of the games much to my delight. Marco was the best player and won the most, which was amazing as his technique of playing pool is one handed with the pool cue at a 45 degree angle to the table surface. I was really impressed at this macho way of playing. It was a lovely way to spend our last night in Switzerland.
I thought we would head off homeward then but Aquiles said ‘It’s our last night, we don’t want to go home yet!’ So we ended up at a late drinking bar in Germany for a couple more hours as I did not want to be the one to spoil their fun and it was too far for Carlos to take me home and then come back again, especially as he had to be up so early the next day. There were several ladies of dubious reputation in the club who tried to chat up my four male companions and I found it all highly amusing watching them try to extricate themselves. They in turn were also highly amused at how much I was enjoying their predicaments!!!!
We finally got home around 4.30 am, with me feeling jolly glad I had booked afternoon departures for our flights homeward! Our taxi wasn’t coming until 1.30 which meant there was plenty of time to get packed and ready and leave Carlos’s house in a clean and tidy state before leaving. The first panic was non arrival of the taxi. In France you have to wait outside and after 15 minutes I was getting really anxious as we had no idea what name of taxi company it was. And although I had the number of another taxi firm, several anxious calls were not answered. And I had no idea how we could get to the airport if it didn’t arrive. You can imagine my relief when it did arrive 20 minutes later, although we still had an anxious time getting all our luggage in the boot. In France even hand luggage is forbidden in the taxi itself and if we had not managed to get everything in the boot he would have driven off and left us. Luckily we managed it. I was so relieved when we reached the airport, still in plenty of time, it being a smaller airport and not so crowded with check in queues. We had time to do some duty free shopping - in my case Swiss chocolate to take home for family members - and they stocked up on cigarettes and alcohol. We waited until we got on the plane before having anything to eat as everything was so expensive at the airport - I paid four and a half euros for one small bottle of coke which we all shared, three times more expensive than Easyjet prices! On board we let Ivan have the window seat as he was eager to watch the take off, and we pooled the last of our euros which yielded just enough for a sandwich and drink each during the flight which was uneventful and about 5 pm landed safely at Stansted and by 5.45 we were on the Stansted express taking us back to London. At Liverpool Street we said our goodbyes as we were headed in different directions, and I said I would see them again on 18 March when I am going to London for the day by train with Ann and then again the weekend of 25-26 March which is another London visit to celebrate Aquiles birthday. The journey by bus from Liverpool Street to Victoria was almost an hour with me not having a clue where we were and hoping I would get off the bus in the right place! I was glad I had allowed plenty of time when booking the bus ticket to Bath as I finally reached the coach station with only 15 minutes to spare before its departure. I finally reached Bath at 11.45 where Colin met me at the station, with only a few hours sleep until having to get up for work next day. It had snowed that day in England too and we had to defrost my car and change positions so that Colin wouldn’t have to wake up so early next morning. And Colin was really pleased with the four different Swiss cheeses I had brought back for him. All this took time and it was 1 o clock in the morning before I got to sleep. It was a great holiday though, with lots of laughs which is always the case with Aquiles, and I look forward to the next little trip which is a 3-night break in a sea front hotel at Weymouth with my friend Ann from 10th to 13th March. Hopefully at some point Carlos will send me copies of all the excellent photos taken on their digital cameras during the visit.
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