Mel & Emil had been booked to teach at the Liverpool Salsa Festival, so we decided to head up to Salsology on the Friday night and stay over.
So, Mel, Emil and I left just after 7pm and made our way up the M6.
Traffic was good and we got to the Etap in Manchester, allowing plenty of time to get ready before we made the short drive over to Prestwich.
Got to the Longfield Suite, home of Salsology, and set our CD stall up just before the end of the classes.
The night was good, and Emil didn't get much of a break from dancing all night! Salsology performed their new show at around midnight, which is definitely one of my favourites now! We stayed until the end of the night, dropped by the 24 hour Tesco, and went back to the hotel feeling completely shattered!!
Struggled to wake up on the Saturday, missed breakfast, then eventually drove over to liverpool in time for Mel and Emil's midday class teaching styling for leaders & followers. Following that, they taught a Bachata class as cover, after which the late night seemed to be catching up with them a little. No time for rest, though, as an hour later they had to cover another class, this time Cha Cha. All the classes were busy, but the partioning of the hall caused a slight problem when it came to playing the music for each class - cue attempted battles of volume, with an increasingly stressed Mike Parr keeping everything in check.
Once the final class was finished, we collected orders and headed to Ragga's, a West indian takeaway about 5 minutes drive from the venue.
Got back to the venue and started on the food. Angel Ortiz and his colleague weren't around to get theirs so we ate that too (sorry, but it was good!)
We didn't have a hotel room, so hadn't planned on staying for the evening party but changed our mind and had to pop round to Guys hotel and borrow the bathroom so we could all get changed.
The evening ball was busy, and a lot of people there had made a good effort to dress up for the occasion. The shows were delayed a little, but eventually went ahead to a very busy room! Dancing resumed just after 11pm, and we hung out for a while. Sizzla and Simon Taylor had turned up for the evening and were doing the DD (you'll have to ask them about that!), and we eventually left shortly after midnight.
Thursday
We had a workshop arranged with Joel and Ana Masacote from Boston, USA, so I left work early as Joel and Ana's train was due in at 4:40pm. Met them at the train station and we drove round to Bushwackers, not the Australian chain, but a nice place near where Mel works. We met her, then went in and got a table. Ate there and chatted about future plans, then went home to get changed.
Got to the Custard Factory Dance Studio, where the workshop was to be held, just before 8pm. There was a decent turnout, but studio based Salsa classes always seem difficult to run in Birmingham. Everyone who attended, though, really enjoyed it!
Once that was finished, we headed to Jongleurs to finish the evening off, aided by a few Rum and Cokes for our guests!
Friday
Mel cooked breakfast for Joel and Ana, before we dropped them at New St Station for their train back to London, then popped back home to get packed before heading to East Midlands Airport for our flight to Belfast - Mel had been booked for a weekend of workshops and Private lessons, and I was due to DJ on the Saturday night.
We got picked up at the other end by David Hynes (Nusalsa), and stopped at the local Chinese takeaway on the way back to his place. Had our food, a quick drink and got changed before we went to the nearby Fitness First gym for Mels first workshop of the weekend.
Once that was done, we briefly went back to David's, freshened up, then headed into the city centre to meet up with some friends for a few drinks.
Mel and I left before midnight (the previous nights antics catching up with us). David let us drive his car back, so Mel got into the drivers seat of his Astra VXR, switched on the Sport button, and promptly wheelspun away with him watching!!!
Saturday
Woke up late, and David dropped Mel and I at a place where we could get breakfast while he went and set up the venue to be used for the workshops. We ate, then I decided that we could walk, in the rain, to the venue. 10 minutes later and we were lost so David came and found us and drove us to the venue.
Spent the afternoon doing the workshops (I also spent a little time working on a couple of Salsa remixes and edits that I'm doing at the moment), then a few of us went for dinner at a local Italian - great food there!!!
Popped back to Davids to get changed then left for La Tasca. Got to the Odyssey complex, and they'd had a horse show on that day so parking was very limited. After queueing for a short while, we managed to get a spot in the main car park and carried the equipment across and up to la Tasca. Set up, had a drink, and left a playlist on for the first half an hour wheil people arrived.
Then, it was time for me to take control for the next 3 hours or so. The night rocked (of course!!!), and I got a few compliments on my set, which always tops a night off nicely.
Sunday
Woke up with a slight hangover and we went for breakfast with David, then it was time for me to be dropped to the airport. We were both due to fly back on the Monday morning, but I had a job interview first thing so had booked myself a flight for the Sunday afternoon.
I left Mel with the first of her Private lessons that afternoon and headed to Belfast International airport, and home. Looking forward to going back there as we always have a great time in Belfast!
Friday
After last years near-disaster, where we missed our flights as a result of Mel's hair appointment, but then subsequently managed to fly later that night, we decided not to take a chance and made Mel get her hair done the night before. We needed to leave at around 10am, as we were flying from Liverpool. Mel saw this as space for something and promptly booked herself in for a beauty appt, which ran a lttle over and we ended up leaving nearly an hour late!! We arrived just in time, met up with Ellis, Emile, Helen, and Cedric, then boarded our Wizz-Air flight to Katowice.
Landed, picked up the hire car (A minibus as there were 7 of us), the all-important (after last year) Sat-Nav, and we were on our way to Wieliczka. The journey was ok, despite a few roadworks, and after picking up our passes we dropped everyone at their hotels, then it was just Mel, Cat, and myself…. And yes, we got lost trying to find our hotel!!!
It took us about an hour to find it, checked in at about 10pm, quick freshen-up, then over to the Salt Mine (they stop the lift between 11pm and 2am). We caught the last lift down and met up with the others, along with a few of the guys from New Swing Sextet, just outside the main ballroom.
There's only one brand of beer available at this event as a result of sponsorship, so we all drank 'Desperado', a larger then normal bottle of beer with a shot of tequila in it, which can be quite lethal!! Had a few, watched the shows, then the band were on for a surprise gig which went down really well!
We ended up leaving at around 2:30am, very tired!!
Saturday
Bit of an early start today, as Mel's class was at 10am. It was raining, and the venue for Mel's class was scross the town from the Salt Mine, but she still had a great turnout and everyone was really eager to learn.
Once the class was finished, Mel and Cat were driven back to the hotel, and I took Ellis to find the venue for the Intermediate workshops, then headed to the hotel, where I found Mel and Cat hanging out with the guys from New Swing Sextet in the hotel dining room. C at was teaching them a few Cumbrian phrases, and trying to explain the delights of t he Cumberland Sausage!! The hotel we were in was a bit away from the main town, so was difficult to get anywhere without a car. So, we suggested taking the band into Krakow for dinner that evening!
Met them in the lobby at 3pm, and followed the Satnav directions to the Kryjowka Music Club in central Krakow. The place was a basement restaurant with exposed brick and loads of nooks and crannies. We ate well!! :-)
A couple of hours later, we left the restaurant and walked back to the car to find a parking ticket, then drove back to Wieliczka with what sounded like a rowdy football team in the back of the bus!!
Had a quick nap, then got ready for the evening party!
We bumped into the band again in the lobby, and they invited us to ride to the venue in their Limo. Bit of a squeeze but we all got in!
The Desperados we're flowing from the moment we got in the venue, then we watched the shows, with the highlight for me being Jazzy and Amy, and Tamambo and Ania's performances. The band were on at around 1am and played a great couple of sets. The party went on until 5am, then we left with the band back to the hotel. I had an interesting discussion with Henry Knowles walking back to the lift about DJ's mixing Salsa music ;-)
Got to the hotel around 5:30am and they wouldn't open the bar, so we all soon headed to our rooms!
Sunday
Woke up at 1pm feeling a little rough, had lunch in the hotel, then drove Mel and Cat to their workshop venue. Mel was teaching a spins class and had a great turnout of over 80.
Back to the hotel, packed most of our stuff, then drove into Wieliczka to find somewhere to eat. The place was deserted and everywhere was closed!! After a while walking round, we eventually stumbled across what must have been the only eaterie that was open in the whole town. Food was good!!
We then freshened up at the hotel and headed for the final party of our trip, which this time was held in one of the other hotels where a lot of the teachers had been booked into. Did a couple of interviews while we were there, then left at around 2am.
Monday
Picked everyone up from their various hotels (minus Emile, as he decided to stay a few days and take a 28 hour coach trip back to the UK), and started our journey to the airport at 8am, as there were roadworks on the way. We passed them with plenty of time to spare and followed the Satnav directions to where we thought the airport was, but upon arriving at our destination, was obviously not!!
We managed to find a Service Station, and asked for directions, with about 50 minutes left before check-in was due to close. They told us the airport was about an hour away. Cue driving at breakneck speed along the highway, arriving at the airport with about 15 minutes to spare to find our flight was delayed by an hour!!!
