When I wrote my first Letter from South America, John and I had just arrived in Lima and were looking forward to a nice, relaxing meal at the restaurant that we had found during a short walk to get some fresh air.

I am happy to report that our free evening lived up to hopes! We had been offered a complimentary drink in the bar, courtesy of the Management of the Hotel and had been told that it was imperative to savour a Pisco Sour, as this is THE drink to have in Peru. Well, what can I say? If it was churlish to refuse the first one, it was with alacrity that I accepted a second one! In fact, it is closer to the truth to say that I had asked the barman what he had put in to the cocktail and was promptly offered a masterclass how to make one! I now have in my repertoire 49 violin concertos, 200 pieces of chamber music and 2 cocktails - vodka martini and pisco sour!

So, it is probably obvious by now that John and I were making the most of our first night off and we continued our gastronomic pleasures in the restaurant, having ordered a delicious sounding chargrilled beef. It was absolutely delectable and the ambience in our restaurant was lovely and relaxing.

Replete from our cuisine, John and I felt tired (or was it the effects of the pisco sours?) and so we decided that an early night was a good idea. I watched the last 20 minutes of the James Bond film "Octopussy" in Spanish and, in my sleepy state, I marvelled at the rapid-fire Spanish that emanated from Roger Moore´s suave countenance and wondered idly if he does the Spanish Cryptic Crossword too?

I turned out my light at 10pm but was was woken less than an hour later by one of the scariest experiences that I have ever had in my life - the hotel was moving! Eeek! An earthquake! Or was it the pisco sours taking their revenge???! I had no idea but was really positive that my bed had been dancing around enough to waken me from my sleep of the dead. If I hadn´t been so tired, I think that the fright would have kept me awake for some time to come, but fatigue took priority and I slept soundly until 9.30 in the morning. It´s not often that I can sleep for 11 hours and I don´t suppose I will get the chance again for a while, so thankfully there were no other strange bumps in the night.

John and I spent a quiet morning and then met up for lunch with Herbert Ascher, the President of the Sociedad Filarmonica who present the concerts in Lima. He confirmed that there had indeed been a tremor during the night and that it was not my imagination. Apparently these tremors signify a warning of earthquakes which feels quite scary to one such as myself who is not used to dealing with these things on a day-to-day basis.

Back to lunch: what a wonderful lunch it was from all points of view! Mr Ascher is the most delightful man and I remember him from my previous visit to Lima, when he took Piers Lane and me to a wonderful restaurant for dinner. It was called La Rosa Nautica and is a beautiful restaurant, situated on stilts right over the sea. I asked Herbert if that was where we were going and was so happy when he replied affirmative, as the dinner that we had had before still remains fresh in my memory. Our lunch was every bit as fantastic - hors d´oeuvres of sea shells filled with sea bass ceviche, coquilles Saint-Jacques, octopus in olives and seafood salad followed by a main course of sea bass Florentine.

After such a fulsome meal, the only thing to do was to go and rest to make sure we would be full of energy for the evening performance...

Of which more anon....

Tasmin