Tu mama te dijo un día que no te desesperaras, que esperaras tranquilito que la máquina llegara /Anda y pégate

The flight was supposed to arrive at about 10:00 AM so I got there at 09:30 to be sure I wouldn't miss them. I met up with tour manager Giovanni, and we talked and drank cappuccino. He figured they would need an hour to collect all the baggage and instruments. But two hours later still no band. Now we were getting nervous.

We knew for a fact that they had all left on the plane from Havana, but we couldn't get anyone to give us the information about whether they had gotten on the plane from Madrid. We assumed they were stuck in Madrid, but none of the band had a functioning mobile phone, so we couldn't call them and the airport representatives said they couldn't give out any information about travelers.

Al fin llegaron

Fortunately after about five hours of frantically trying to locate the band, just when we were preparing to leave the airport, we heard that they would be landing on the next flight from Madrid. Apparently their flight from Havana had arrived late, so they had been rescheduled on a later flight but hadn't been able to let us know.

Finally I saw the blond-tipped heads of the Mayores coming through the arrivals door. So far so good, the band was finally here, but now we found out that the keyboard didn't arrive. So we all sat around in the airport for another hour waiting to see if the keyboard would show up anywhere. It didn't, so finally we all climbed into the bus and headed for the hotel.

Waiting at the airport for the keyboard that never arrived

For most of the band members this was their first trip outside Cuba and they were crazy for the Italian cars and motorcycles. When sports cars and motorcycles whizzed past the bus, they would look out the window mouthing various exclamations. Everyone agreed that the Italian motorcycle drivers are nuts, driving too fast and weaving in and out of traffic.

We arrived at a small hotel on the outskirts of Milan, and nearly all the rooms were occupied by the band with only a few regular tourists in the hotel. Despite the long trip, los Mayores didn't rest much. Once they got settled in they were more interested in checking out the local shops and looking for internet cafés than sleeping. Los Mayores unpacked and then hit the streets to investigate the neighborhood.

June 28-29, 2007 - La Feria

The next morning started early as Pepe woke the hotel up at 6:00 AM yelling that he was starving for breakfast. I think most people decided to skip breakfast to get some much needed sleep. Since the Sudamericando Festival cancelled all concerts, the guys had two days off to rest before their first concert in Luxembourg. How did they put those days to use?

Over the past few years I have come to learn that the main pastime of Cubans on tour is shopping. They are always looking for new clothes that they can wear in concerts and for presents for family and friends back home. Salsa Mayor were no exception. The guys spent their days off in Milan checking out local shops and flea markets.

Los Mayores at la feria

I ended up in role of "tour guide" due to my familiarity with European metros. So I led a group of guys into the Milan shopping district where they found all manner of shoes and clothes that they liked. Of couse they found things they liked, it's Milan! But most of the prices were Milanese as well. The secret is to have the patience to find the bargain stores.

While most of the muchachos were shopping, a few of the more cultured Mayores also took some time to visit il Duomo and other cultural sights. I would have liked to go see DaVinci's "Last Supper" but apparently they recommend that you book a viewing because the line is so long. I'll save that for another trip.

Ricardito shows the guys his new jeans

And thus we spent two days in Milan, shopping and eating pizza and pasta resting up for the first trip of the tour: 12 hours from Milan to Luxembourg>

Click here to continue to June 30, 2007 - The European Premier of Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor!