Dance Related Video Clips

MODERN JIVE

A Typical Modern Jive Social Freestyle Evening. Lots of great dances from 8pm till 2am!



Workshop - Scarborough Weekend Oct - 2011
If memory serves me correctly the main part of the 1 hour workshop has finished. Jo & Mark are repeating the routine the dancers have just taught so that it can be practiced & put into the 'moves' memory bank!! There are a lot more moves than what you would learn in a typical weekly class. The group are mostly at an Intermediate level who know the basic beginner moves.


DANCE WORKSHOPS - GROUP

Grease (the film) dance routine 1 taught by Sheena. A fun workshop of 3 hours - we learnt 2 routines.

Modern Jive Intermediate Class - Smartdanceworks - 19th Feb 2011
Teacher Harry Cartwright with Viv showing some great variations that can be made to Beginner moves.

INFORMAL DEMO - March 20th 2011
This was a fun & informal demonstration of Modern Jive done to show how easy it is to put together a few moves. Modern Jive is very forgiving of 'mistakes' which can generally be made to look like you intended to do them. The secret for the 'lead' is never look surprised, go with what the follower does & for both of you ..... keep smiling & continue dancing!!




LINDY HOP
Below are a series of Lindy clips - don't be scared! Many of the wonderful clips below are of very high level dancers. I included them as they are just amazing to watch.
The clip directly below is one of my favourites - a competition showdown for who of the 5 couples is going to be 1st, 2nd & 3rd. They are all darned good as far as I'm concerned.


The Shim Sham demonstrated by Frankie Manning - a wonderful man I had the pleasure to meet many years ago. His enthusiasm for dance just shone out of him & is dancing was awesome - hope I'm still like that in my 80's!!


FUN STUFF
Here is a video clip of Tracey and the the girls doing their Thriller routine for the evening cabaret. Scarborough weekender Oct '10


SALSA
The gorgeous Rasa & Nicolai dancing some freestyle at The Cubana (Sheffield) - Saturday 26th Feb 2010.


Video clip of the 3 classes with some freestyle - The Cubana (Sheffield). Nicolai kindly did this demo specially for me & my reluctant memory cells!



WEST COAST SWING
When I saw this video clip i went a lovely shade of GREEN. Wonderful dancers - enjoy.


FUNNY STUFF

Evolution of Dance
Very clever, fun & seamlessly put together routine showing the evolution of dancing by comedian Judson Laipply.



This is an unbelievably cute clip of a toddler ballet dancer. In the words of Theresa McKeon "Oh for the love of God someone give this dancer a TAG point!" For info of an amazing teaching methodology called TAGteach visit www.tagteach.com

Things are Hotting Up - Feb 2011.

PHOTOS - Top left

- Caravan no.2 arrives!!! Top right - local goats off home for the night.

Bottom left - Elvis takes it easy whilst surveying his domain. Right - Portagem river pool. **

The river pool opens around June time & is just heaven on a hot day. Free, with views of Marvao castle, bar & cafe. An excellent recipe for a hot day.

** last 3 photos by Kim Willis

What a great start to the month - Mona (being the thoughtful, kind & considerate person that she is) sent me a series of photos showing the installation of my 'new' caravan. Despite a rather dramatic tyre blow out on the motorway bringing the caravan up from the Algarve Chris, Mick & friend successfully manouvered the caravan I'd bought off them into its new home in the olive orchard. So now there is space for 4 more dancers who'll have their own private comfy space.

Chatting with a teacher friend at a cafe about the joys of 'leading' & the challenges of dancing with someone who makes you feel like you are utterly redundant. ie they just do the moves irrespective of the fact that you exist - never mind the fact that you are the one who is 'leading'. He came up with a politer description of the one that came to my mind. His description cracked me up ..... "yes, you feel like you are about as much use as a one legged man in a butt kicking competition!" Just about sums it up I think. Luke another teacher friend came up with a more usable one for use in public teaching situations & more sensitive souls - "there can only be one driver". Very acceptable - thanks for that Luke.

Spring is in the air in Portugal. I asked how Elvis & Titch were doing (the two resident mousers at the farm). For a long time Titch was Elvis' adoring fan & besotted groupie. But I think with the effects of the warmer weather & all that .... the tables have turned and in Ben's words "Titch and Elvis: An oestrogen shock relationship. She was so a nice kitten and now she becomes a multiple personality. Every week a different cat. Elvis is in stress". You gotta laugh. Aaaaah. Poor Elvis bless him. I'm sure all will be ok soon when her hormones calm down again. Hormones have a lot to answer for don't they!

This month has been somewhat busy with lots of people being incredibly generous with their time & help.

Nicolai & Rasa spent the good part of a day with me doing Salsa in Leeds. It was great to spend some time with them & I sooooo hope they come to Portugal. Nicolai is just such a great teacher - I love his attitude to the people he is teaching & the way he teaches. He makes it sooo accessible & most important of all .... FUN. He takes all the stress out of learning. Rasa who is a gorgeous gal with buckets of enthusiasm & a pure delight has been shadowing Nicolai for a year & wants to teach - YEAH. With her attitude she is welcome to come over to Portugal for as long as she wants.

Sheena who runs Every Dance - what can I say? A star who has also been a huge help & incredibly generous with her time sharing her knowledge & experience. Not forgetting the fun Grease workshop when we learnt 2 routines (see the video on the videos post). I am really p**ed off that I wont be around in England when the Thriller workshop is on.

Nisha Lall - another star who is taking me through her teacher's course for Salsa (oh my goodness - have I got a lot of learning to do). Nisha is incredible & knows so much. I'm one lucky lady that she is teaching me. For the course another lady joined us - Lesley who is Roger Moore's wife!! Talk about coincidences. Some ladies I occassionally meet when walking the dogs told me about their friends Roger & Lesley Moore who teach dance. It is a small world.

This month we had the case of the unco-operative left foot at the Lindy Hop class when it came to doing Suzie Q's. That flippin move has always driven me batty. I was like a gone-wrong version of Rolf Harris doing his Jake The Peg song sketch. My left foot just wouldn't behave itself. Hannah said she could hear me laughing the whole way through the lesson.

Did 2 workshops (Beginner & Beginner Plus) - one on the Saturday & the other on the Sunday - both organised by Ceroc (Nottingham & Leeds). Thoroughly enjoyed them - excellent. BUT when I got to Sunday evenings class at Chesterfield I could barely remember any of it. Damn. The knowledge just packed its bags & went into ether space. So frustrating. I guess my brain cells are on strike again.

Taught my first group this month - they want me back & I don't think they were being polite bless 'em.

Things are really taking off like a rocket - it feels a bit unreal. I was expecting it to take 1 -2 years!! More people are booking their flights to come over & help which is great.

Teachers Tracey & Jatinder have booked their flights for 10th May. Roy Greenhalgh is doing his utmost to fit in a visit with his Stylz Jive staff. I heard that another recent lovely dancing friend is planning to come over 17th March for 6 days with another 2 to 3 dancing friends - that is 2 days after I arrive back in Portugal! YIKES. I Better get organised!

I'm Like ET - Ready for Home

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jan - 2011

Another exciting month with lots of developments.

Despite the wonderful time I'm having meeting so many delightful & friendly people and dancing my socks off ...... I'm really homesick for the first time in my life and ready for home. It doesn't help either when my friends in Portugal tell me things like "it was a warm & sunny 17 degrees today'" and "we sat outside in the sun for lunch yesterday". Me thinks they may have a slight malicious streak? Especially as we had one of the wettest winters on record for my first year in Portugal - 4 months of rain and not one day suitable for an outside lunch. Mona and Ben who are currently house sitting sent me some gorgeous photos they had taken & it really struck me just how lucky I was to live in such a special area.

I'm totally taken aback by the generosity of the dancing community. On a weekly basis I'm being offered help, teachers are giving me their time & experience, more dancers & teachers have booked their flights and I'm making the most wonderful friends through it all. It is quite extraordinary.

There were several 'firsts' this month:-

• I actually enjoyed a freestyle dance!!! Yeah & woopadeedooda!! I didn't have a false smile locked onto my face pretending that I wasn't in full throttle concentration mode. It was 100% genuine that I could truly dance with arms & legs working at the same time ....... what's more ..... I could even talk without everything coming to an abrupt stop. This is all thanks to Claire - she is just wonderful and one of the many people who have been absolute stars regards being supportive & so encouraging. A record was on that I loved to dance to and Claire just didn't give a hoot as to what happened. She just laughed & continued to dance no matter what. I had to learn to adjust my plans because she didn't always do what I had thought I'd led. So an excellent opportunity to practice the good etiquette of going with the flow of what happens - if a 'mistake' occurs just pick up as best you can & continue dancing. The other mantra that kept going through my head was "whatever happens, don't look surprised"!! Then people don't know that it wasn't what you had carefully planned!

• Learning the Beginners Moves was going quite well & for a daft moment I thought I'd have a go at the Intermediate Class. After a few seconds I thought "oh, my goodness" and nearly took off to my chair but Kirsty blocked that move & persuaded me to keep going! I'm so pleased she did. Thanks to her I stuck it out & survived to the end without imploding ....... or my brain bursting into flames when the system overloaded! Miracles do happen.

• First Tango lesson without resulting in the desire to throw myself off the nearest cliff. I had been well & truly put off by Tango when I did Ballroom. I found it a ridiculous dance at the time & wasn't into the dance style or the music which I found absolutely dire. So down & depressing. But things have changed a lot & Argentine Tango is so much better (in my humble opinion). The style is so much for interesting & the music more varied - even seen it done to more popular music with a Tango twist added. Much more to my liking. Can you tell I've been converted?

• Bought my first piece of equipment - an Ion Rocker something or other. It has a 12 hour lithium battery so will be great for dancing by the reservoir or demoing dance in the streets of Portugal.

• First African drumming lessons with Steve Rivers who is another highly skilled teacher. He has awesome skills at getting people to be totally uninhibited about having a go at something that is totally out of their comfort zone. Fun, VERY LOUD, & very challenging for my left & right brain co-ordination skills. My theory is that doing the drumming will help my ability to hear rhythms and improve my co-ordination. One can but live in hope eh?

• Contacted Portugal News which is a newspaper for Brits living in Portugal. It is nicknamed The Algarve News where we live in mid rural Portugal as the main content focus is for those living in The South - as if the rest of Portugal doesn't exist! But that is a bit unfair & lets face it most things DO actually happen down there or Lisbon. When I've been in touch before the person I spoke to was very friendly & helpful so they have lots of brownie points in my book. Anyway, I thought I'd get in touch regards writing an article or doing a press release. I was gobsmacked when I got a reply the same day saying yes. Must be a quiet week in the news. Not that I'm complaining. So I'd better get some info on how to do a Press Release.

• Booked a 1 to 1 lesson with Sue Freeman - it was wonderful to be able to spend some time with Sue & have the opportunity to chat with her a bit. In the classes she is of course very busy so there isn't much chance. Sue, being the amazing & patient person she is, actually got me to hear 'the 1' of a phrase of music. We did an exercise where I had to pass over a plastic lid on the 1. This sort of thing normally freaks me out & scares me to death (bad memories of music at school). So when I was able to do it much to my amazement (& Sue's I think) I had tears rolling down my face. I was so delighted & over the moon as it is something that has always eluded me. I used to feel so stupid at my lack of being able to hear or understand what I was supposed to be listening for. Crap teacher at school (I now realise) but at the time it can really effect how you perceive yourself & your potential abilities.

• My first Blues lesson was with a teacher who is second in command to a Bishop somewhere in the country. He also happens to be a DJ who specialises in Blues music. Still not sure if it was a wind up or not. Anyway, I enjoyed the lesson & he was happy to do a potted version of the lesson for me on video which was great. It kind of amused me the thought of him seeing to his parishioners & then saying "won't be around this evening. Off to do a spot of Blues Djing & teaching".

Several things happened on this Blues evening. I was introduced to Cheryl who is a Le Roc Federation. examiner. I introduced myself to her & did a bit of 'Dancing In Portugal' promoting. Then to my absolute horror she suggested I dance with her as a 'lead'. I confess ........ I totally wimped out! I would have been SO embarrassed. It still feels like I can't remember a thing when on the dance floor. So Cheryl led me & it was a really slow track which seemed to go on forever. I always find dancing to slower music so challenging but it is getting easier.

• First 'stranger' books! Earlier in the week I met a delightful lady called Pam who came up to me, introduced herself and said "I'd like to help". There are some people you meet who you just know in an instant that they are going to be someone you are going to get on with & become good friends. What was amazing was that after a few chats & email exchanges ....... 10 days later she booked her flight to come over with her daughter. WOW. I was impressed.

All in all a packed month with a Musicality workshop by Steve Lambert thrown in for good measure. Don't ask me why but my blonde brain thought the workshop was going to be quite different to what it actually was. Somehow I assumed it was going to be more 'theory' based & more about actually understanding music. But in fact it was very practical. One of the things that hit home was to be more aware of 'how' you dance to each track according to the genre. In other words if you have a particular style of dancing don't do that to everything. Steve gave an example of someone who is a VERY good dancer who likes dancing to @*^^ type music & it looks great. BUT the guy dances like that to everything & it just doesn't look right when the track has a Salsa or other influence of music. Hence, once you are more experienced it is a good idea to change certain things like your frame, you hip / arm / head movements etc. Obvious really!! Steve said that observers should be able to tell what genre of music you are Modern Jiving to even if they can't hear the track of music.

PHOTOS - Top two photos courtesy of Kim Willis (Marvao area). Bottom photo - taking 5 dogs & 2 sheep for a walk down the lane!

Christmas Meltdown - Dec 2010

Well a lot happened this month - understatement of the year!

My new dance experience of the month was definitely Kizomba. I thought I was going to a Salsa lesson at the beginning of the social dance evening. WRONG ..... and if I'm honest I would have bottled out of going to the class if I'd known it was Kizomba ....... I'd seen the video clips!! It definitely is not the dance to start learning if you suffer from shyness or inhibitions. I'm so glad I had a go. It was fascinating to watch the dancers afterwards - it is a dance style where there is such variation in how people individualise the dance to their own personality & the music. I had several very enjoyable dances & the other great plus was that I got chatting to Luke Stephenson.

As usual one of my card was at the ready for networking & Luke duly received one of them. But after dancing with him I did wonder if he would get in touch. It was still early days for my Salsa dancing & until now I have only ever done New York style which is quite different to Cuban style. I didn't have a clue & felt I floundered somewhat. To his credit though Luke still contacted me by email saying he would like to help me with my dance quest. I fell about laughing though when he apologised for only being able to offer at the most 2 weeks as he did have paid work he had to do!! You gotta chuckle - here is someone who is offering to help a stranger & he is apologising that he can't do more. Quite frankly any help is much appreciated. Next thing I hear from Luke & he tells me has booked his flight to Portugal for shortly after his return from Cuba. WOW. He is the first guest teacher to commit by actually booking a flight. Luke's enthusiasm is just wonderful ......... the next email also made me chuckle "can I teach every day? This is just my sort of person. With an attitude like that my quest will be sooooooo easy.

Learning the lead role during the month of December was rather painful for me. My brain & body were really struggling with integrating the information. Hence, I took the Total Immersion approach to learning the lead and went to beginner classes 2 - 5 times per week. I could genuinely make my excuses regards my lack of ability & say I'd only been learning the lead for 3 weeks .... but just ommit the fact that I had in fact done 9 classes! Towards the end of December I started to freestyle a bit and got a bit more confident about asking people to dance. There were several women who were so encouraging, supportive & kind. They would ask me to dance & say "come on Yolande, you need to practice". They helped me when I got stuck, reminded me of the bits I'd forgotten, gave me helpful & constructive feedback. The most important thing was they smiled & kept going no matter what - we had a lot of fun & a lot of laughs. I shall be eternally grateful to them. It was Ivy's infectious smile & encouragement that kept me going when my courage failed me.

This month saw me back at Lindy Hop classes with one of my all time favourite teachers Sue Freeman. Attending her classes is such good value - a laughter therapy session and dance class all rolled into one. As soon as I walked in Sue said "Oh, it is the chicken lady" & then carried on with the class much to everyone's bemusement. They didn't know that I used to sell eggs from my happy hens to her demo for the intermediate class. Learning from Sue is such a pleasure - she is a highly skilled teacher with regards to how she engages the class, relaxes people & encourages them. Sue has some great one liners & breaks the moves down into doable moves in the classes so it is all good fun. But she doesn't pull any punches. At the end of the day you have to get on with it, bite the bullet and practice at a freestyle. You can attend classes for ages but need to get to freestyles to really get it together & be able to Lindy.

December 18th saw me in Warrington visiting my friend Jane the night before my Zumba Instructor training day. We had a great evening chatting, eating, drinking wine & watching pre-recorded Strictly Come Dancing. All well and good until the snow really started falling & I started to wonder if I was going to be able to get to the venue in the morning. Needless to say I didn't sleep well & with bleary eyes set off in the early hours of the morning.

The 1 hour Zumba class at 8.45 am was something I am glad to say I survived with a modicum of dignity. Only just mind you. The Zumba Trainer was unreal - being so lively, blond, slim & fit (for 3 days on the trot!) should not be classified as human. It is obscene if the truth be known - a bit like the people who like to go to the gym before work in the morning. Which gene did they inherit that totally didn't enter the shopping basket when my mother made me? Anyway, I made it to the end of the day & learnt many things including how to recognise the difference between Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia & Reggaeton music. So I was a happy bunny all in all.

Towards the end of December I braved the Somerset snow & made it to the Xmas Meltdown 3 day holiday organised by Holiday Rock. Arrived rather frazzled to find myself extremely exasperated at the ridiculous situation of there only being one room key for 2 of us who were sharing a room at The Webbington Hotel. At first it seemed like it was just Stroppy Receptionist Syndrome but sadly it wasn't just that. Their 'system' could not cope with issuing more that one room card thingy. How ludicrous is that? The grumpy old women programme will be interviewing me soon ...... I was seriously unimpressed & struggled not to have a hormonal response. Why? I had the dogs with me again which made it a right pain in the proverbial having to walk to the other end of the labyrinth of corridors to leave the keys at the desk for Gill so she wasn't locked out of the room when I was out walking the dogs. It was darned hard work as I must have done about 9 'costume' changes at least in a day. The slush & muddy conditions meant that I couldn't go out in dance gear to give the mutley crew a walk & pee break. So one minute people saw me in dance gear & the next in my wellies & scruffs.

But all in all it was well worth it. Gill my room mate was great and the 'holiday' was so good. Lots of good dancers & teachers, fun classes & people giving me their details wanting to help.

New Years Eve was spent on the sofa with the dogs & me flatly refusing to go anywhere. My limbs were on strike. It was soooooo good not to be vertical!!

PHOTOS - Xmas Meltdown 3 day holiday organised by Holiday Rock

White Rabbit On The Motorway

PHOTOS - Weekender organised by Rock Bottoms in Torquay.

Lots of great classes, excellent teachers & fun friendly people.

Nov - 2010

I gave myself a few weeks of dancing as a follower and concentrated purely on improving my follower skills - in other words trying to NOT assume what the guy was going to do & focus on being aware of the lead signals & feeling the lead. It was rewarding when guys said things like "you are so easy to dance with - you go where I lead you". "You smile & keep going no matter what". My efforts were noted which makes it all worth while. I was picking up tips that I wish I'd learnt years ago.

Then it was a case of having to bite the bullet and decide 'tonight is the night' for attending the Beginner's class as a 'lead'. "Your life is never going to be the same again Yolande". My face must have been a picture my first night. It was really daunting having to switch roles & I felt like a white rabbit stuck in the middle of a 10 lane motorway ......... scared witless. My co-ordination went totally out of the window. I had a choice of either getting my feet or arms to do the move. They flatly refused to move at the same time. If someone spoke to me whilst doing battle with my lack of brain & limb co-operation then everything totally ground to a halt! I had to stop, politely explain that conversations were not possible at this moment in time and then carry on.

This was also the month when I had my first module of the Le Roc Federation course with Roy Greenhalgh. Someone suggested that the course might help me fast track to learning both the lead & follower roles of Modern Jive. Lets face it I needed all the help I could get my hands on. Also, it might be a good idea to have a piece of paper saying I could teach if I ever needed it on Portugal (I am a qualified teacher - Certificate of Education but if asked in Portugal may need something specific to dance). At only £180 it seemed worth it. I hope Roy has a LOT of patience as well as being a good teacher. I felt totally overwhelmed by what I had taken on to do & my brain went to mush. Not a reflection of his teaching - just me thinking "Oh sh_t" & panicking. I guess I should have maybe got more experience before taking on his course but what the heck.

Elsa who was my first Helpxer lived nearby & after seeing Roy for part one of the course I called in to see her. Being the lovely person she is Elsa offered to get a group together for me to practice on. In for a penny in for a pound - I said "ok, that sounds like a great idea".

This was also the month of starting to seriously network. Even at the local post office in Sheffield when we had all the snow. I got chatting to the girl behind the counter - she has a brother who runs a morning radio station programme ..... in Portugal!! He is always looking for people willing to come on the show & chat. Now THAT I can do - what a fantastic opportunity to talk about my quest.

My first new dance experience of the month was Rueda (a salsa style barn dance with a caller) - such unbelievable fun. Priceless. Rod Lawson the teacher has such a great attitude. I really liked the way he put people at ease. At the beginning he got people to move to music to warm up. Then he asked if people had walked or driven to the class. His point being that if you had moved to the music & had learnt the skills of walking & driving you were more than capable of learning dancing skills.

The group of dancers were a very friendly bunch. At times things seemed somewhat chaotic as those who didn't know what to do went spectacularly wrong but no one minded in the least. I laughed my way through the class. The 'raw' beginners group were helped by the more experienced dancers who had come along to help Rod.

Where is that 48 hour day, 10 day week, 5 week month, 14 month year? I'm like a kid in a sweetie shop whilst here in England. There are so many choices for places to go for dancing. I would love to do more Rueda but simply do not have more spare evenings. Wednesdays clash with Lindy Hop. I need more time.

During Novemember the snow & ice came like I have never seen in my life before in England - it seriously hampered being able to get out & about. So there was no dancing for nearly 2 weeks. What a pain that was just when I'd got going.

Moving Mum to Her New Flat v. Dancing?

October 2010
The very first job I had to deal with once back in England was organising my mum's move to her lovely new flat. They say moving house is one of life's top stress inducers. I think brownie points should be awarded for doing this task twice in 5 years. It is bad enough when it is all your own accumulated detritus to pack, sort, organise and agonise over regards what to throw away. But when it is some else's - urgh! Mum was no help whatsoever - treats the whole episode a bit like the queen - her staff do it all for her & things just miraculously happen without her having to be bothered with it all.

So there wasn't much happening on the 'dance quest' front until the end of October. Started Modern Jive classes again & got thoroughly hooked. Then of course there was The Scarborough weekender organised by Easy Dance which was huge fun. Met a friendly gang of dancers & teachers who added themselves to the 'interested in Dancing in Portugal' list (hence, the weekend was great for networking), danced lots and in between workshops rushed out & walked the Mutley Crew (dogs). Exhausting but worth it as I wouldn't have been able to attend the weekender if they hadn't come with me.

Strange but once I started dancing again it was so much more fun that sorting out all of mum's boxes in the garage! Odd eh?

** PHOTOS - Top 3 Scarborough Weekender with a photo underneath of a street in Castelo de Vide. The street is a LOT steeper than it looks & the elderly lady on the left hand side was negotiating walking down the bit where there was no wall to support. Not easy when the surface is cobbled as well. I watched with baited breath from my B & B window.

2,214 kms later.

End of Sept 2010 - There was a two week turnaround time for me after the Islantilla holiday to get ready for setting off to England. For the first time in my life I was driving 1,500 miles through Portugal, Spain & France on my own(ish) ..... I had 3 active & energetic dogs with me so I did have them for back up, protection & moral support. If I said I was sh_tting bricks at the thought of traveling that distance it was an understatement. What if my sat nav died on me & I ended up in Italy? I guess the wine & pasta would be nice but I would definitely miss the ferry!

With my heart in my mouth, Mona & Ben's cheery waves & assurances that everything would be ok ..... I set off. And what fun I had.

My plan was to enjoy the journey & log it in my set of life experiences & achievements. Not stress about it (ha ha), take my time & learn something along the way. I wanted to avoid hotels etc & make the journey as cheap as possible by sleeping in my van. The dogs had plenty of space (my van is more like a dog hotel!) & I had a ledge. Yes, you read correctly ... a ledge. It is functional, comfortable & practical but there is no space for sitting upright to drink wine & read. But a happy oversight resolved that problem for me (more about that later).

First stop over was with another Helpx host who was Mr. Hospitality himself. My plan was to meet one or two other Helpx hosts for the chat & simply park up on their drive way. I was a tad wary of being in my van just parked up randomly somewhere.

Sat Nav actually took me to a dot in the middle of no-where which wasn't a great start to my adventure. I just kept on going & eventually got to the town where I was supposed to be. BUT I didn't speak Spanish so in my best Portuguesey Englishey Spanish I accosted the nearest person who looked ok (he was walking a dog on a lead so that gave him some credibility). I had a vague address & Mr. H's name & figured that he must be known locally. Mr. Dog Walker said it was close by (I think) & so I followed but then got twitchty as I had left my passport & money in the van. Mr DW assured me & not to worry as he was the local Policeman Chief!! He was also rather pissed & it totally escaped him that being with me wasn't exactly protecting my passport & van. Mr. DW then proceeded to pop into various shops asking if they knew where Mr. H lived - go figure. Eventually someone did, we found him thank goodness & Mr.H escorted me back to the van explaining that getting to his place was going to be a challenge because of various road works & narrow streets. Great.

Mr. H is definitely one of life's more interesting characters & insisted on cooking me a meal & that I could have a spare room. He gave me a grand tour of the 15 Century palace that he bought & is lovingly renovating, slowly but surely with the bits & pieces he recovers from his daily searches at the local skips. His building has the most spectacular original door that is straight out of a Harry Potter book. It is HUGE with a smaller door set inside it for us regular mortals to use. On a full size billiard table in the restaurant-to-be are all the treasures he has found whilst checking out UK charity shops. A lesson learnt as to the bargains & treasures that can be found if you are persistent. I had planned for an early night but it was not to be. Mr. H likes a good debate & discussion. I had to keep my wits about me - he is someone you don't want on the opposing debate team!

But I had obviously made an impression & he later emailed to say his mate Antonio was interested in my Dancing in Portugal quest.

After a long day driving I got onto a campsite for my next over night stay. I felt I deserved a glass of El Vinho but couldn't find my bottle opener. Well, to be honest I didn't look THAT hard. I'd spotted some friendly campers nearby who had a comfy looking caravan. "Maybe if I go over with my bottle of wine, explain my predicament they might let me sit inside for a while whilst we all partake?" And that is indeed what happened. A very pleasant & comfortable evening was had by all & ...... wait for it ........ the other guests were Lindy Hop dancers & would be passing my way on their travels through Portugal in April 2011. Now there's a happy coincidence. Addresses duly swopped.

The "I can't find my bottle opener" trick was successfully repeated for the next few nights as I happily trundled along the roads to Calais. Arriving in Dover & then having to negotiate UK traffic was 'pants' as they say. Drove for several hours & then pulled up for a sleep in a service station. My lesson learnt there was that you do indeed get a fine if you overstay the 2 hour parking time limit & drive off. Luckily I did find out that it was better to pay the excessive parking fee rather than get the fine. Welcome back to the UK. xx