Bristol

Today has been fabulous. Michael called for us at about 10.30 (he came on one of those electric scooters, very handy for getting round town!)…and then we walked on a slightly circuitous route, with a historic guide as he is a historian and a teacher, pointing out the interesting buildings and telling us the stories behind them…ending up at Margaret’s place which is an apartment overlooking the river where we have visited and stayed a few times. On the way he had arranged that we met Kathryn,who is isolating but for the moment just has to keep her distance and she came in mask and we chatted and bonded and walked together for a while. SO good to see her, and it is killing her that she can’t join in all the fun. Anna was at Margaret’s and we then all walked a short way to the Pump House - a classy pub where we had lunch. Kate and Seamus were already there - Kate drove down from London and Seamus is at University in Manchester (he is exactly Jess’s age). So it was a lovely group, and we realised it was exactly the people who had been in Sydney after Tony’s terrible accident 20 years ago, almost to the day (it was November 18). Kate had brought Seamus then as he was a small baby, too young to leave. And I think it is the first time since then that we have seen the siblings all together - usually it is Kate in London, and the others in Bristol.

Anyway, it was a wonderful lunch, and we didn’t dwell on the anniversary of Tony’s death. They are such a lovely and interesting family, and we just get on so well….family bond. After lunch we went back to Margaret’s and chatted, and ate chocolate biscuits…then Michael said he’d better go back and look after Kathryn, get her food etc!! And Anna and Kate said that we should now go on to a pub they knew…we weren’t sure how the day was unfolding, but were happy to go along…that pub was full of a group, so we found another and settled in, and Seamus and a friend joined us (he had left after lunch to go to watch the football match as he avidly follows the Bristol team)..it was a draw so all was well…so the afternoon progressed into evening, and we were happy…we left that pub and walked to find somewhere where we could eat, even though we mostly didn’t want a meal after the big lunch, but we finally (it was Saturday night, and most potential places were full) found the perfect place.

It was a wine bar where you could also get small plates of tapas etc…just suited us perfectly. And it had an interesting system…bottles all lined up where you could select a wine and it would pour you a glass, and charge your card…hard to explain, but once we worked it out it was fun…Amr says to mention that the wines cost from £4.60 a glass to £15, but Felton Road was £5 more than that! So we had a wonderful chat and bond with Anna and Kate…first I was hoping that they weren’t on duty doing the family entertainment for the visiting relatives, but it certainly wasn’t that…we all have a lot of history and memories of happy visits and funny things and we had a wonderful and surprising day…

We found our way back to the hotel, and plan to meet for breakfast…with Michael too…Kate and Anna will return home in the afternoon…lovely times.Read more