Angela's Andean Adventures.
Cuba
Fiesta London Feb 2001.
Andean and Cuban Fun in London 24th/25th February 2001.
This was another weekend I'd been looking forward to, having seen the
programme of acts featuring in the I Love Cuba Cabaret Fiesta at Camden
Centre in London on 24 February. I booked and paid for my train tickets and
was due to leave on the train from Bath at 8.27 on Saturday morning. Johnny
and Sandra Rodriguez had purchased three tickets for us and I was staying at
their house overnight.
Friday after work was busy with one thing or another, plus I had to get
the shopping done as I wouldn't be home at the weekend and I had just got
through the door and started to put the shopping away Friday evening when
the phone went and it was Johnny. During the course of conversation he asked
me what I had planned for that evening and when I said that Colin and I were
going to the Bear and Swan at Chew Magna he said "Can we join you?" At this
I was delighted because it meant they weren't far away! As it happened they
had gone to Weston Super Mare that day because the weekend weather forecast
down here was the best in the country and the band had decided to play in
Bristol on Saturday. For a moment or two my brain went into a tailspin
imagining them down here and me up in London but once I ascertained there
was room in the car for me as well I knew there was no way I'd be on that
train leaving Bath in the morning!!!
I gave them directions how to find their way from Weston Super Mare to
Timsbury and said to make their way over immediately and that I would cook
something for us prior to us all going out. I threw a curry together really
fast and tidied up (a continual process in my house with sons as untidy as
mine) and by the time it was ready and they hadn't arrived I phoned to see
where they were and they had got lost, ended up in Bristol, consulted a map
and were on their way from Bristol. So I told them how to get to Chelwood
roundabout and said I would meet them there. I was just approaching the
roundabout when they phoned to say they were at Chelwood House, so I caught
up with them a few minutes later. We were all overjoyed to see each other
again and they followed my car back to the house where we shared the meal
along with some San Miguels I'd included in the shopping. Colin arrived but
didn't stay for the meal because he was feeling very tired and once he saw I
was occupied for the evening asked if I'd mind him not staying and that he
would see me Sunday evening when he picked me up at Bath station.
After the meal, we phoned Benjamin to see if he would meet us at the same
pub as last time and he was delighted at the prospect of us all meeting up
for a drink together once more. I asked him to bring his guitar and charango
and persuaded the band to take their flutes and panpipes with them which
they did. We arrived at the pub at 10.30 and it was quite busy so they
didn't start playing until about 11.15 - although a few minutes after
arriving the landlord came over beaming with delight, asked if they'd
brought the panpipes as well this time and was thrilled when we said yes. We
had a lovely evening there and they played music until 1.30. I took several
photos, chatted with them in Spanish, and even managed two games of pool as
the table was alongside us. Another great evening which Benjamin enjoyed as
much as I did. We took him to his home afterwards and then back at my house
I opened some wine and we were chatting and listening to music until around
4 am.
I then left them to it in the lounge and said I'd wake them around 7 am.
Unfortunately I forgot to tell Johnny that one of the armchairs reclined
completely horizontal and when I came down in the morning I realised he had
slept on the floor - luckily I had given him a double quilt so he'd wrapped
himself up in it. (Last time they came down he had my son's bed who'd gone
to stay with his cousin) so of course the other two bagged the two settees
and he had nowhere to sleep. I felt very guilty that I'd forgotten to tell
him!
We had breakfast and were soon on our way to Bristol where they would be
playing for the day. We unloaded the equipment in the usual spot, left
Carlos and Julio to set it up and went to park the car. I had three
sweatshirts and a jacket on but still felt very cold walking back from the
car and their spot was in the shade and I was wondering how I'd survive a
long day in such cold. Luckily there was a 4th poncho in the car so Johnny
gave me the keys and I went back to get it and with that on as well I felt
warm enough. I listened to them playing all day long apart from a couple of
hours early on while they were still setting the equipment up when I
disappeared to walk to Stokes Croft to the nearest internet cafe.
Near us a young girl was distributing leaflets and she was really
enjoying Kausary's music and when the band took a break she came over and
made our acquaintance - she was Stephanie from Luxembourg and we were all
chatting together and when she told us that she was going to South America
for the first time in the autumn on a back packing holiday covering all the
Andean countries I was really interested - and so was she when I told her
about my forthcoming trip so we exchanged addresses so that we can let each
other know how we get on. She came over to chat several times throughout the
day and we will definitely be keeping in touch well before either of us go
on our trips!
Later in the day, by the time the equipment was packed up and stowed in
the car, we were all really hungry so went to my favourite Thai take-away
for a meal and then we had to get to London as quickly as possible and
didn't even get on the motorway until around 7 pm, with the Cuba Cabaret due
to begin at 8.30. It was a very fast drive down the motorway, listening to
my favourite andean music all the way, and we were working out the best way
to get to Camden Centre to benefit everyone. Johnny had already spoken to
his wife on the phone (who had the three tickets) and Sandra decided to make
her way over to Camden Centre and would await me on the door with my ticket
so I could get in, and that she would leave Johnny's ticket at the house
because it was necessary to unload all the equipment first. I asked Johnny
if he could stop at a Services near London so that I could change - which he
did and it took me only five minutes to get all the warm gear off and into a
party dress and high-heeled shoes for the evening and all three of them were
surprised that I could get ready so quickly! Johnny said he would drop me at
Hammersmith where I could get a direct underground train to Kings Cross,
while he took all the equipment home and unloaded it and would get to us as
soon as he could. That was an easy journey for me as a train was on the
platform just as I got there and it took about half an hour to get to Kings
Cross and I arrived at Camden Centre at 9.40 where Sandra awaited me.
It was great to see her again and we went in and she assured me I had
only missed the comedy part of the cabaret and the musical half was due to
start after the interval, so we had time to get half a dozen bottles of
Cuban beer and find floor space to sit as all seats were long since taken.
We were lucky to find floor space near the door with a good view of the
stage. The commentator started talking before bringing on the first musical
act and we were hoping he would chat for ages to give Johnny time to get
there. A cheque for £10,000 was presented to the Cuban Ambassador who gave a
little speech, and the first act was a famous Cuban violinist (I think his
name is Omar Puente) and John Williams came onto the stage after that and
said he would begin with a Paraguayan song - the last one written byAugustin
Barrios before his death - and would follow it with a Peruvian cueca - and
Sandra and I were hoping like mad that Johnny would get there in time for it
and sure enough just as he was starting to play the cueca he walked through
the door and with him were Carlos and Julio!!! They hadn't bought advance
tickets and it was touch and go whether there were any left and luckily
there was. We were really pleased that they came along too, especially me as
I knew I now had dancing partners for the salsa later on.
The remainder of the musical cabaret was absolutely fantastic. No one
knew in advance which musicians John Williams would include in his show and
he brought on some wonderful ones. The first guest I think was someone
called David Eldridge who did two solo guitar pieces and then two more in
duet with John Williams. Then a third guest whose name I have forgotten,
again two solos and two more songs with all three playing. Then the Cuban
violinist joined them and when he announced his fourth and final guest I was
overjoyed with amazement and delight because it was Mauricio Venegas of
Quimantu - one of my favourite singers and an excellent musician who I
actually met in May 2000. That last part was the best of all and when they
all played the song dedicated to Che Guevara with Mauricio's beautiful voice
singing, it was a very emotional climax to a wonderful cabaret performance
and incredible to be part of such an appreciative audience.
Afterwards we went to the bar to get more drinks as there was another
interval, to remove all the seats from the dance floor as the big salsa band
were on next - Merengada - who were providing the music for dancing. By the
time we got back with the drinks the band were just about to play and
instantly the floor was crowded with dancers and I barely had time to take a
sip of beer when Julio had me out on the dance floor and from then on it was
so hectic I don't know where I got the energy from to keep up! I was able to
put six weeks of salsa classes into practice which with a partner who could
lead made such a difference and I managed to dance really fast salsa without
any problem, enjoying myself immensely in the process! For the first time I
danced merengue as well - really fast and again I somehow managed to get the
hang of it with such a good dance partner and we kept dancing until we were
both shattered with exhaustion. I had about two minutes rest and a few gulps
of beer and then Carlos got me up on the dance-floor and he was an even
faster dancer than Julio. It was such fun and I'll never know where I got
the energy from but between those two partners I hardly stopped for breath
all night until the band finished at 1.30 and was so tired I fell asleep in
the car on the way to the house.
Although it was almost 2.30 am when we got to the house, Julio's wife
Flor (Johnny's Mum) had waited up for us and I immediately felt so at home
in their house; it was incredible how easily they made me feel just like one
of the family. As it was so late we all went to sleep fairly soon, with Flor
showing me to the room they'd allocated for me to sleep in (their daughter
who was at university) and I slept really well after such a fun-filled
energetic Saturday.
Next day I met the rest of the family at breakfast - Julio's other two
children, a daughter aged 10 and the youngest - a boy - aged seven, and
Johnny's son aged six who remembered me from the Peruvian restaurant a few
weeks earlier and felt enough at ease with me to come onto my lap for a
while whilst we had breakfast. Two of Flor's Peruvian friends came on a
visit and the kitchen was packed with all of us and we had a nice breakfast
and I was able to keep up in the Spanish conversation and really enjoyed
having this chance to practice spoken Spanish before going to Peru and
delighted to be understood as I know my pronunciation leaves a lot to be
desired at times! They kept me included in the conversation continuously and
I really enjoyed being with such a warm and friendly group of people.
After breakfast we all went into Johnny's studio and I looked through
photo albums of their family home in Peru while Julio played videos of
Johnny's previous band who reached stardom in Italy ten years ago, with
their first song No. 1 in the Italian hit parade for six months and the
second song reaching No. 2. They were on a tour which lasted about nine
months, travelling by limo with body guards all the way, travelling all
through Europe, even as far as Yugoslavia, and this was captured in video
clips throughout and it was great for me to see all this. We also watched
another video with live performances of some of my favourite Bolivian bands
(what with two videos watched at Benjamin's house the previous sunday -
Rumillajta's televised performance on 11 August 1990 and Inti Illimani live
at the Colston Hall in Bristol in 1984 - I've been really lucky with what
I've seen on a TV screen lately!)
Johnny comes from Trujillo in Northern Peru and it was great to see lots
of photos of the family home - the farm where he grew up. Both his parents
were teachers in Peru before coming to live in England five years ago - and
on the photos I could see the track leading into the mountains where he
would take the animals to graze, like a shepherd, as a boy, the wonderful
view into the high mountains from the house, the orchards where they grow
their fruit - all of which was of tremendous interest to me. Other members
of the family live not far away on the coast (where the men fish in reed
boats with long pointed fronts, said to be the precursors of surfers long
before surf boards were invented). He showed me some photos of the disaster
when El Ni–o struck with the waters several feet deep where the street used
to be - Johnny went to help and carried children on his shoulders through
deep water to safety. On photos I saw his uncle's house completely destroyed
and the family on a piece of high ground where they had hurried with what
few possessions they could carry with them to safety when El Ni–o struck.
Johnny and Sandra are going home to Peru at the end of March for almost a
month and Johnny is going to arrange for me to include Trujillo and the
nearby coast on my intinerary whilst in Peru this summer. I can fly to
Trujillo for about 50 dollars where I will be met at the airport and will go
and spend a few days in his family home which will be another different and
fantastic part of my quest to see what life is like in Peru and from there I
will be able to visit the coast and see those fishermen as well - the
beaches look fantastic. This first visit now includes time spent in both
South and North Peru, as well as in Lima and Cusco - all within families -
even the week when I'm in Bolivia for the Fiesta de Gran Poder a very good
Bolivian friend is arranging for me to stay with some of his famous musician
friends whilst I'm in La Paz.
Johnny also let me hear two of the songs from his forthcoming new CD
which were wonderful. He also gave me two C90 cassettes on which he had
copied four of his favourite andean music cassettes and asked me to choose
more for him to record for me! All this time, Flor popped in and out to join
in the conversation, but quietly in the background was cooking a meal and
halfway through the afternoon called us all to the table where we all
enjoyed a really delicious meal with wine, and one of the friends who was at
the breakfast table stayed to lunch as well and it was excellent. The food
was wonderful and they explained how to make it and wrote down its name so
that I could check to see if it's in my cookery book and would provide the
recipe if not. (I've already checked and it is!)
At 5 'o clock I had to go as it was a long way to Paddington and my train
was leaving at 6.30. They told me to come back to stay again really soon and
Johnny drove me to Elephant and Castle where I could take a direct
underground train to Paddington which only took about 15 minutes once I was
in the tube. I got to Paddington in plenty of time to catch my train, which
was delayed leaving Paddington due to technical problems. I was just glad we
didn't have to change to another train as I had my reserved seat by the
window and the train was so packed there were people standing and I may not
have got a seat in a hurried exodus to another train! I arrived back at Bath
at 9 pm and a whole crowd of people with their assorted baggage were waiting
to get off ... and the door wouldn't open! We all had to do a mad dash down
the length of the carriage to get to the next door - hoping the train
wouldn't pull out again before we got there!!!!
It had been another fantastic weekend in London and will be followed by a
day out there shortly to meet Claire for Portabello market and lunch at a
Colombian restaurant near London Bridge, who I didn't manage to see on this
occasion after all due to the day in Bristol and late arrival in London on
Saturday. I will also hopefully have a day in London on 9 April so that I
can go with her to the airport to meet the plane as Aquiles comes back from
Peru that day. Having gone to London to say goodbye in January, it will be
nice to be there to welcome him back in April! Photos taken at the weekend
will be added within the next few days once they have been developed.
My next andean-related weekend takes place in Paris in three weeks time
and will feature in another story at the end of March. Also before going on
holiday to Peru at the end of March, Johnny has promised to bring the band
down again for another weekend with me, hopefully with enough notice for
Benjamin to join us for the Peruvian meal I will cook (in advance) for us
all before going out on the Saturday night. I'm going to pore through my
Peruvian cookery book and produce something really special for their next
visit, including Cerviche for starters - a popular Peruvian favourite of raw
fish which 'cooks' itself in lemon juice and seasonings. Also coming shortly
will be a selection of Peruvian recipes - believe me, for anyone who likes
tasty and/or spicy food, it is well worth the effort of obtaining the
spices! The ones you need to get started are rocoto paste and aji amarillo
paste - other spices are all available here. I get mine from Spiceworlds in
the USA - the address is
www.spiceworlds.com- at Spiceworlds you will receive an excellent
personal service from Chef Enrique!
London 10 March.
Since writing the above story I went to London again on 10th March and
had a really enjoyable day out there. Colin and I took the 8.27 from Bath
arriving London at 10.15 where first of all we went to the market at
Portabello. I was very happy to find immediately on arrival there a
brilliant Peruvian band - Tarpuy -who I'd not actually met before but had
heard their music as I have their 'Best of Tarpuy' CD. I was happy to see
there were two different ones available for sale and bought them even before
listening to one song. I asked if they would be playing for a while and they
said yes, as long as it didn't rain.
Colin and I did a small tour of some of the market stalls and I bought
another nice velvet blouse but he'd had enough after a short while and was
happy to go back and listen to Tarpuy a bit more. We'd passed another andean
band - Santiago - but they were taking a break as we went by so we didn't
hear them on this occasion. It started raining before we got back to the
band so when we got there they were huddled under an enormous umbrella with
their equipment, which was a bit disappointing as I'd planned to take a
picture of them as well as listen a bit more to their music.
However we had a nice chat with them instead which made up for it and it
soon became apparent that they were good friends of Dante, Carlos, Johnny
etc and even friends in Bath (Oswaldo and Benjamin). All members of Tarpuy
were from Cusco and they knew Dante from school days. When I mentioned I
lived at Bath they said they'd be going there next weekend to visit their
friend Oswaldo as well as play in both Bath and Wells and would let me know
for sure by telephone so that I could see them too. When I mentioned my
forthcoming holiday to Peru and the fact I was learning Spanish in readiness
they all immediately switched into Spanish and I was able to keep up okay. I
just love it whenever I get the chance to practise it. Colin told them I've
started writing articles on andean bands for AIMA and they were interested
so maybe they will be the subject of my next article - that's something we
can discuss next week when they are in Bath.
At midday we had to go - Colin to go to Twickenham to see the rugby game
between Bath and Harlequins and me to meet Claire at London Bridge. We got
on the same underground train but he got off first to get a connection to
Earls Court and then Richmond. We arranged to meet up again at 6.45 at
Elephant and Castle, the intention being to dine at Sol Andino, the Peruvian
restaurant there.
It was nice to see Claire again and we went straightaway to a nearby
Colombian restaurant for our lunch which was very nice. The food was very
different to the Peruvian or Mexican dishes I'm used to - I tried Ceviche
for the first time which in this case was a spicy version made with prawns,
followed by a seafood stew which was again quite spicy and was served up
with rice, saute potatoes, corn fritters, salad and fried plantains.
Normally I like dessert as well but there was so much in the main course
that I couldn't even finish that! For once I opted for soft drinks rather
than alcohol because of the wonderful fruit juices on offer. I had two large
passionfruit juices and Claire opted for kiwi juice.
Afterwards, feeling more than a little full, we set off for Waterloo,
having decided we'd see if we could find any andean bands playing anywhere.
At Waterloo I had a quick peek at Eurostar's station to familiarise myself
with its whereabouts and try to find leaflets with prices on weekend or
longer excursions to Paris but leaflets available only went up to 22 March.
We then wandered into the Royal Festival Hall to see what events were
planned in forthcoming weeks, and listened for a while to a free classical
recital and I had a look for andean CDs at Faringdons who have a little shop
in the foyer. I noticed a good latin band are on at the Royal Festival Hall
on 5 April as part of a Latin Fiesta, so all being well I may revisit London
that day for that if Colin is willing to accompany me.
From there we walked across the bridge to get to an underground station
on the other side. In the process we saw the London Eye which reminded me I
haven't been on it yet - maybe next time!! We then went to Covent Garden - a
place I always love to visit as there is always so much going on there -
musicians galore and other interesting street entertainment, although on
this occasion no andean music. Claire said we could look at Leicester Square
and we walked as it wasn't far. Again lots of music and other acts and it's
a good thing that Claire is more observant than me because she said "Oh
look, there's an andean band getting their equipment ready over there - do
you see anyone you recognise?" And when I looked I was delighted to
recognise Julio and then Carlos and their Ecuadorian friend Marcelo. I was
so thrilled to see them when I wasn't expecting to, especially when Johnny
arrived a few minutes later. Claire and I stayed with them all the rest of
the afternoon. They played several times, taking turns with other musicians,
and in between we chatted with them. Normally they don't play in London
preferring to go outside the city on Saturdays but that day they'd been to
Cambridge and it rained, then somewhere else where it also rained and
finally decided Leicester Square was the best chance of making up some lost
time and they hadn't long arrived when we came upon them.
At 6.30 I had to go - reluctantly - in order to meet up with Colin again
at Elephant and Castle. Although I had my mobile phone with me, he hasn't
got one so there was no way of getting in touch with him to suggest a change
of plan. Which meant going to Elephant and Castle to meet him and then try
to persuade him. We went to Charing Cross station so that I'd have a direct
ride to him, and Claire then went in a different direction as she was going
to see her brother perform in a concert near Waterloo at 7.30. It had been a
lovely day spent together which we both hope to repeat soon. I was about 10
minutes late arriving at Elephant and Castle which although not much, Colin
had arrived half an hour early and was very hungry and not keen to defer
eating but agreed to come back with me to Leicester Square and listen to the
band a while before eating somewhere else. There are so many different
nationality restaurants in and around Leicester Square, Covent Garden and
Soho so we knew that wouldn't be a problem.
So when I arrived back again with Colin as well the band were surprised
to see me again and told us that while I'd been gone Dante had phoned to
tell them about a Bolivian party at Wimbledon to which they hoped to go and
wondered if we'd like to go with them. I was all for it but unfortunately
Colin wasn't keen as he knew it would mean a late departure from London and
he wanted to get back at a reasonable hour. Johnny even offered to put us
both up overnight but he preferred to go back rather than stay out
overnight, so although I was disappointed I reconciled myself, remembering
that just seeing them at all that day when I wasn't expecting to was already
a bonus. So we stayed to listen for about half hour and then had to go
anyway if we were going to have time to eat before catching our 10.30 train
back. As we left Carlos said the following week he was throwing a party for
his wife's birthday and invited us and said he'd phone with the details. If
that is next Saturday unfortunately we won't be able to go as we've already
booked and paid for an event organised by the Spanish Circle in Bath of a
Spanish meal and flamenco dancing at the new Spanish restaurant in Bath.
After saying good-bye to the band we set off for Soho as one of my
favourite restaurants - a Malayan/Singaporean one - is situated not far from
Piccadilly Circus. Unfortunately when we got there the restaurant was full
with people waiting for tables so we had to give up on that idea and went
into a nearly Indian restaurant instead as there was no time left to look
for anything else if we were to eat and then travel to Paddington by 10.30.
As it was we had a rush on to get there in time and boarded the train only
10 minutes before it left. I listened to my two new CDs all the way home and
really enjoyed them.
It was another fantastic day out in London which I will be repeating on
Saturday 31 Mars. On that occasion Colin and I will be together all day so
will be able to spend more time at the market with the musicians and we will
go to the Peruvian restaurant for lunch, as well as nearby shops selling
andean food and ingredients so that I can stock up on supplies. I also
noticed a big shop called The Rain Forest in Soho which looks worth a visit,
plus I've seen a Cuban restaurant advertised that would be worth trying.
There is always something new and different to do during a day in London - I
love going there and go as often as I can. |
