I was planning to take Mrs Dom and a couple of friends down to the London Barrio Fiesta again, but a couple of things turned up which threw a spanner in the works and led me to abandon the idea altogether. We have been invited to a Christening/Baptism on Saturday 19th, and I have to travel to my next work Venue on Sunday 20th, for the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells. So I decided that we will definitively attend the Manchester Barrio Fiesta in Heaton Park on the 30th of August instead. It is a lot nearer, cheaper to get to, free car parking (I hope), and basically, seen one Barrio Fiesta... Seen them all.... But Mrs Dom, understandably, does like this sort of stuff... So, guys, if any of you goes to Heaton Park this summer, let us know , so that we can sit down together some where for a natter and a beer, leaving ther women to enjoy the noisy entertainment at their leisure...
That's reachable by train for me, my car is still dead not been mobile for over 18 months now I will give this strong consideration as it's only 1:40 each way on the train for me.
Honda Accord 2.0 Litre ES Auto. This actual one. She developed a problem cutting out at random on sunny days, garage could not figure it out, I worked out eventually that it was a known problem with the main relay, which when the car gets to the age mine is it tends to develop a problem of cutting out when the relay is a little bit hot on hotter days (even on milder winter days). Anyway I got the Honda dealer to order me the part and the new relay looked ok, I fitted it as electrical things are easy for me (usually) got it fitted and and the engine turned over once coughed and died, engine still turns over but no ignition, I suspect I have blown the ECU so I kind of gave up on her. Thing is I love that car and don't really want anything else, it's immaculate in every other respect, it died in the middle of winter and I had to start walking to work, after a month or two I realised that I generally did not actually need a car and at that time with the exchange rate down in the low 60's I was under huge pressure trying to support the kids so the huge savings in insurance, petrol, road tax and maintenance meant that I just let it sit there. She also needed some other work done to replace a porous sump that was going to be about 300 to 400 but I kind of lost the will to live when I thought I had blown the ECU.
I had a ECU go on a Pug I had a few years back, cost around £800, this particular one packed in because water got into it. Its sort of good you don't need a car anymore, quite a saving I bet. I was looking at the Barrio Fiesta the other day and talking to the girlfriend about it (she didn't seem overly impressed), its only 20 minutes away from me so I may consider going unless work raises its ugly head or the Mrs doesn't want to bother.
Tim....... They say that it won't bother them............ but the truth is very different........ Your life won't be worth living if you don't take her....
Elsa and I will make the effort to attend the Manc Barrio Fiesta, in fact we've booked time off already.
I sent her some you tube links showing last years festivities and she didn't seem to bubble with enthusiasm but I'm pretty sure she would enjoy it especially if the weather is on our side. I will certainly be bringing the subject up again, seems a waste not to go when we live so close.
We went last year. My wife hated it. She said the food was crap and the so called entertainment was just people trying to sell stuff. Everywhere you went people were shoving flyers at us to get us to buy a condo in Manila. Just too much of that really. I know some people have contacts allover the place, and it's probably a good excuse to meet up if that's the case, but we certainly won't be bothering with it again. But then, we do quite enjoy being a couple of miserable gits
Don't hold back Graham, tell it how it is I liked that , lets see if anyone here at BF will defend the Barrio Fiesta.
One good thing about it is it's free, so if you are local you can always go home if you want without it being too much of an effort. Certainly a better option than taking a machine gun to the large groups of people on stage talking about their businesses. If you've ever been to a rock festival, I guess it's like going to one of those and then finding out there are no bands on.
[QUOTE="Maharg, post: If you've ever been to a rock festival, I guess it's like going to one of those and then finding out there are no bands on.[/QUOTE] Very nicely put.
We did attend a few Fiestas in the last 6/7 years, and really it is all down to what one expects and gets. Personally, I am quite happy just to sit on my camping chair, watch some of the cheesy entertainment, talk to some aquaintances and let Mrs Dom roam around looking for whatever friend she can find, have a long natter in Klingon with. The mood is always happy, very noisy, always someone trying to flog you a dead horse, in this case some dubious condo deal, but one can soon tell them one ain't interested. Someone from the Embassy is always at hand, if you have any queeries. The food isn't too bad, a bit pricey in London, but on the whole quite ok. The tent sari-sari stores that spring up in those events, sometime do carry some stock which is not always available in your local asian store, so it is usually worth having a peek, just in case... looks like that someone not too happy with the move to Apps Farm, decided to stage a barrio Fiesta in the old venue.... If I had realized in time, I would have probably gone to this one... http://myhhm.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/HOunslow-Summer-Festival-poster-new.jpg Heaton Park is just handy for us this year, as the day after we will be off to Eye-tie-ly for about 10 days...
I intend to go to Heaton Park if it fits in with our plans, I can then at least slag it off if I find it is a load of crap, I cant do that unless I go and see for myself
Well, I made a snap decision yesterday and went to the Barrio Fiesta at Heaton Park with the loved one. We only hung around for an hour but it wasn't a bad outing really as there was a good band playing at the time and most people seemed to be enjoying themselves. I didn't come across any canvassers which was nice and there was a pleasant lady giving free cup cakes away. Get together like this are so dependent on the weather, that's the only problem. Although the missus wasn't bouncing off the wall with enthusiasm she said she enjoyed herself, and after all Heaton Park is only a few miles from where we live, We will certainly go again next year, especially if the weather is kind. I'm hoping Dom has a few photos to show us of the event, I did take some on my phone but I'm not in a position to download them at the moment because I'm away from home. Leaving the missus behind for the first time since she got here isn't a good feeling but I'm 100% certain she will manage on her own without any problems.
