Today we woke to our 2nd anniversary - pretty nice place for saying I love you! We both talked about how lucky we are to have found each other. We are truly blessed with each other, our families, friends, home and all of the wonderful things which fill our lives. We remembered how exactly 2 years ago, Fred and Emily were running around putting the finishing touches on our day, running out for pizza to feed the troops. How my brother Den and sister Laurie had flown out to share our happiness, how the ceremony had such meaning and how so many wonderful people were there to share and support us - we are blessed - YOU BET!!!!
We were sad to leave London, but very excited to get out of "The President". We ate our last continental breakfast, Jeff stole his last sausage from the hot buffet, and we took a taxi to the Paddington Train station to catch the 10:00 train to our next stop--Bristol. Bristol is a town of about 450,000 people on the shores of the River Avon about 6 miles from the sea. The train took us straight from London through the Western part of England. We were early so we caught the 9:00 train which had several stops including Bath. But more about Bath in a later post....
As soon as we got there, we felt more comfortable. First, the temperature was lower. Then, when we got to our hotel, the Ibis, we gave a sigh of relief. It was very modern and our room was comfortable, cool and had a soft queen bed. The TV was normal sized (not mini) and there was actual room to move around. We were so happy!! Then we asked where we could get some lunch and were directed to an area that had restaurants next to a river or inlet. We noticed boats taking people up and down the inlet. To get to the inlet we walked through a huge plaza with water features and children and families playing and walking.
After lunch we decided to take a tour on one of the boats and learn more about Bristol. Our pilot gave us the lowdown on the origins of the town and it was fun to be on the water. There were watercraft of every kind including lots of masted sailing ships and many small barges which were used as floating apartments.
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| Downtown Bristol, complete with construction |
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| The fountain across from our hotel |
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| The pedestrian bridge with the inexplicable horns??? |
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| Loading up for the boat ride |
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| One of many kinds of boats/ships we saw on our journey |
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| A six masted steamer now used as a museum |
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| Lots of ways to move on the water |
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| Jeff enjoys the tour |
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| When Bristol stopped being a seaport in the '70's they converted the dockside buildings into apartments for the rich |
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| Ancient bridge over the River Avon. It's name in Olde English is how Bristol got it's name |
Jeff here - After our boat tour, we realized we were down to 18
pounds and a few pence in cash. We decided to make a Bank our next stop
and that's when the fun (? ) started. Asking directions from a Brit
can be rather challenging, "Well luv ye goes down a piece and up the
hill, note the cobblestones, yew well pass the sight of where the old
Sk'll and bones sat for many a yer til it barned dwn to the ground in
'99, sum new partment sits there new....." Well it's hot and hillly and
we feel we are on the Bataan death march. We find one bank but no, we
need an account. We walked and walked and found a Barclay Bank. We get
in line and 45 minutes (no exaggeration) later, the teller agrees to
swipe my debit card but no luck and no money. I am starting to
formulate Plan A, B and C when Kat whips out her card and says try mine
and voila - we got's the money - pounds, pence and relief. It would
have been interesting to try to do 4 more weeks of Europe on 18 pounds.
After some research we found out that my card had not been turned on
for England!!
We walked back, maybe more like trudged,
and took our showers losing at least a pound, (weight, not cash) of
grime to the drain. We took our afternoon siesta and then treated
ourselves to a wonderful Tapa dinner complete with wine, dessert and
coffee. How nice a day to share with my sweetie!
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| Lovebirds |
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| Tapas Deluxe |
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