The Bristol Quay is part of the city center. "The Fountains" feed into the water of the quay and restaurants and bars line the water. The famous Pedro's bridge crosses the quay. Houseboats and ferry services occupy most of the dock space along the quay. It is a lovely area to walk on nice days and from across the river you get a beautiful view of the city.

Blaise Castle Estate

Sunday, January 27 - Ian and I had breakfast in bed and then caught the bus to Henbury to see the Blaise Castle Estate. The estate is a 650 acre park with fields, forests, a gorge and a castle. The Castle is actually a folly built in 1766. There is also an 18th century mill and an estate house which now acts as a museum. It was a beautiful day with lost of sunshine. There were lots of Brits enjoying the playground and the walking trails. Ian and I hiked around for awhile before having a picnic lunch. After lunch we did some more walking, had an ice cream and soaked up the sun. Just before heading home we strolled through the museum. It was wonderful to have some sun and a break from the city.

January flowers

Thursday 24 January,
Ian and I have made it back from our winter holiday across the pond and are starting to settle back into English living. We've had almost nothing but rain since we've gotten back but yesterday was dry and I took the opportunity to visit the Royal Fort. I walked around the grounds enjoying the landscape and gardens and to my surprise found some daffodils in bloom!

Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year

On Saturday Dec. 15, Ian and I visited the Bristol Museum to see an exhibition of amazing natural photography, the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year show. The picture were amazing and the show was really well put together. Each image was framed with wide white matting and a thin simple white frame, allowing the images to really have an impact without any distraction. Matted with the image was a quote from the photographers describing their aim and process (which was quite interesting for me). It was quite a nice exhibit and I plan on visiting it at least once more (yay for free museums!)

Light up Bristol

Dec. 17-21 Bristol Media and the West of England Design Forum came together to present a wonderful Christmas treat: Light up Bristol. The event is a week long light show projected onto the council house and the Bristol Cathedral with accompanying music and man made snow. Its really a magical event with everyone congregating on college green to watch the light patterns on the church and the animation shorts on the council house. The snow was a bit pathetic since there was only snow maker but the Brits seemed pretty excited about it.

A Tudor Christmas

Today I went to the Red Lodge, a home originally built in 1580. There are representations of Elizabethan, Stuart and Georgian style architecture and furnishings throughout the house including the "great oak room". It also boasts a re-creation Tudor knot garden. This weekend the Red Lodge featured Tudor style Christmas preparations. There was a jester, a sweets cook, a musician and a teacher all in Tudor fashion to explain different aspects of a Tudor Christmas. They also demonstrated weaving, frangipane decorating, music and making pomanders. It was quite a festive experience.

Bath Christmas Market

Dec. 2 - After getting a Christmas tree the night before, Ian and I decided to spend our Saturday at the Bath Christmas Market. We took the bus to Bath, a 50 minute ride and joined the throngs of people shopping in Bath. There was a merry-go-round in the center of town and nearby around the Abbey was a number of wooden stalls full of crafts, food, wine, decorations and other offerings. Ian and I perused the stalls then walked to the park to have lunch. As we were finishing lunch the rain started to pour so we hid under cover for a bit. Luckily, the rain thinned the crowds a bit and when it slowed we ventured out to make our purchases. Along with the stalls for the Christmas market we also visited the guildhall market, a church market, the national trust shop, the tourism shop and the roman bath gift shop. We picked up a few Christmas presents and then stopped in the Abbey (as the rain started again) for the Shoppers Carol Service). The Abbey is beautiful and it was fun to sing Christmas hymns even if the church was packed. After we went to see the shops in the bath bridge. We visited a gallery and saw a show of wood engravings. As we were heading to the bus station we found our bus (that saved us some walking). We went home and examined our wares. A nice little adventure outside Bristol.