The Summer Ball on Saturday 18th August at Heythrop Park, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire was organised by Salsa Night, and this was the third Ball that they had put on, and the second that I had attended.
Heythrop Park is an 18th Century building set within spacious grounds, and is such an impressive venue. It is the best setting of any salsa event that I’ve ever been too, and seeing everyone dressed up in tuxedos, black suits or long dresses, in such fantastic surroundings, really is a sight to be seen.
We arrived around 1.30pm in order to make the best possible use of the venue, and had no problems checking in, despite the fact that we were early. We then parked up, unloaded our gear and made our way to our room to unpack.
We had taken a picnic with us too, and as we were now starving hungry, decided to tuck into our goodies. After eating we decided to go back into the main part of the hotel to see if any other salseros had arrived – but we seemed to be alone, apart from a wedding party that was milling around.
The organisers had negotiated a special rate for the rooms, which for us were all in the modern wing attached to the main house. There was the option of booking the posh rooms in the main house, but they cost an arm and a leg. The rooms in the modern wing are more akin to Premier Inn rooms, but they are all clean, comfortable and nicely decorated, with everything you could need including TV, tea and coffee making facilities and en-suite bathroom etc. It would have been nice to stay in the fancy rooms, but hey ho - maybe one year we will treat ourselves. The organiser did give us a sneak peak at one of these rooms though, and I have to say……..they are very impressive!
Sadly the weather was terrible, so we couldn’t walk around the grounds as we’d planned, so instead we opted for a wonder around the building and took plenty of photos of us lounging around on the posh furniture :o) Next on the agenda was a trip to the bar for a leisurely drink, but there were still no familiar faces around, and the bar was dead as a dodo………….where was everyone????
So rather than sit in the bar alone, and spend loads of money passing the time, as the bar prices are very high, we decided to return to our room for a while and drink a bottle of wine. In the lift/lobby area of each accommodation floor there are comfy sofas, chairs and tables, so on passing this area of our floor on the way back to our room we had a bright idea…………let’s sit out here by the window, rather than cooped up in our room. So we sat there and passed the time with our wine, strawberries and Latin Collective magazines :o) this is what Saturday afternoons are made for, me thinks!
Whilst we sat there the familiar salsa faces started to make their way to their rooms – things were looking up, and the party was soon to begin :o) We then returned to the bar, and although it was still really quiet in there, we decided to stay for a drink this time, before returning to our room to get ready for the Ball.
We made our way down to the Ballroom around 10pm and the class was just finishing. Mauricio Reyes of Latin Motion was the Guest Teacher and DJ for the night so we were guaranteed some good music. We danced the night away in our long dresses and had a great night.
I have one complaint though. Despite this being a Ball, and being clearly advertised as a Ball, still some people arrived very under-dressed! For me it spoils the whole look of the night, especially in such a grand setting, when some people turn up in jeans, whilst the rest of us are in black suits and long dresses. To be fair, this year the guys had made more of an effort than the girls, and most of them were in their tux’s or black suits. Many of the ladies though had made less effort, which surprised me. Most of us felt that if you call it a ‘Ball’ then there should be a dress code, otherwise just call it salsa night.
The dancefloor was fine, the music was good and the room didn’t get hot, so overall there were no other downsides to this night, other than the lack of dress code.
The dancing went on until 2am with Mauricio on the decks, and Wesley Prince doing a short DJ spot too. After the night came to an end, many of us moved the party to the bar. And when that closed too, moved to the comfy sofas in the main hotel lobby. We finally decided to call it a night around 5am!!
Next morning came around all too quickly for my liking, but the breakfast was well worth getting up for. After breakfast we checked out and a group of us decided to go for a walk around the grounds, as one of the guys reckoned that there was a small zoo a short walk from the main house……..yeah right, you're havin a 'giraffe'.
We walked for what seemed like an age, and eventually came to a field with three camels in it!!!!!!! Yep, he was right. Further on we found giraffes, zebras, a baboon, penguins, a one-winged pelican, a kangaroo and various other creatures. One of the keepers told us that this was a private zoo, and many of the animals there are used in TV. We watched the penguins being fed, much to our delight and this was a great little ending to what had been a fantastic trip to Heythrop Park.
It was a real shame about the weather as we’d planned to sit out in the grounds, which are beautiful, complete with mini mazes and patios. The last Ball I went to was last November so it was too cold to sit out, and sadly we were prevented from doing so again this time around – flippin rain!!!. Oh well, hopefully there will be more Salsa Balls at Heythrop Park, and it will just give me another excuse to go back and do it all again…….. sometime soon I hope.
www.salsanight.co.uk
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