www.theblisspages.com - red, religious, or rude: Salsa Christmas party '04

red, religious, or rude: Salsa Christmas party '04

This year's red, religious, or rude: Salsa Christmas party was as much fun as last year's, though not without its trials and tribulations, as you will hear.

There were delays on the train, so we left late, 'luckily' managing to find a parking space only a few yards from the White Hart Hotel.

Dashing in, we were too late for the warm-ups but just in time for the lesson. As I've only managed to get to a couple of lessons in the last few months (see my new house for the reasons why), I thought it best to go into the intermediate class.

The lesson was good - not too taxing whilst covering some new ground.

After the lesson came the free dancing, and I danced with quite a few people. Some of the outfits were red and rude, and at times, it was quite an effort to keep my mind on the dancing.

In keeping with the theme, I drank a bottle of Australian red wine, a Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet, with a little help from my friends.

I saw a girl hiding behind a curtain looking terrified. Correctly surmising that she was a beginner, I eventually persuaded her to dance. She was far better than she feared and I hope she enjoyed the dances we shared. I certainly did.

It was good to see that I hadn't totally forgotten how to dance following my three month hiatus. I must try to get there a little more regularly once the house is in a reasonable state.

Overall, I had a great time, and eventually we left full of bonhomie for the walk back to the car.

We saw the car next to us had been clamped, then noticed to our dismay and outrage that so had ours. Eventually, we found a small warning notice hidden under some scaffolding, and a man came up to us and smugly informed us that it would cost £110 to be released. I think it nothing less than legalised highway robbery.

The parking spaces were owned by the Nationwide Building Society, and we were parking outside working hours, but they had contracted some private outfit to keep 24/7 surveillance on the spaces. It seems they are raking in about £1,700 per day clamping unsuspecting motorists on just two parking spaces.

It put a damper on the evening, and by the time we got released, drove home and eventually parked four streets away from the house in Hove where I was staying, I was developing a migraine which was to persist for the whole of the next day, subsiding, luckily, in time for the wine tasting arranged for the evening - but that's a story for another page!

updated Tue 07 Dec '04   give feedback...

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: : © Mike Bliss 2009