London to Bristol (Day 185)
Sometimes it can get very confusing travelling from one place to another, however all good fun and today we were in two of my favourite cities, from London to Bristol.
I woke up. Where the heck was I? I couldn’t even remember what country I was in. New Zealand? Australia? Ah – we are staying with our son George and his girlfriend Laura…but where do they live? My foggy mind started to clear. Oh yes, I am in London.
I opened my eyes to see bare brick, peeled off wallpaper and removal boxes stacked. George and Laura had bought the top half of a house, in fact, they completed the conveyancing the day we sold our home and purchased our little pad in Bristol – 2nd November 2017. Luckily, as they have the freehold, and now have planning permission, they are converting the roof into another bedroom, ensuite and small study. The whole place is being gutted and revamped. Again, luckily a pair of Architects bought downstairs and they are stripping the whole of their flat, so the two couples are sharing builders etc.
We eventually got ourselves going, helped to pack a few boxes and pulled up the remainder of the lounge flooring. George, who had got himself moving quicker than us, had already cycled to his work, picked up some table tops with Laura’s Dad and returned. We organised a chain gang and filled Laura’s Dad’s car to the brim of kitchen and floor remnants for him and George to take to the dump. A good job is done.
Later, changing out of our dusty clothes into something a bit more respectable, we walked down to Kudu Café, a South African café which had recently been opened. Fortunately, there was a table in the back garden under two beautiful Japanese Maples, giving us a slight dappled shade from the wonderful sun and clear blue sky. What a glorious day – great if anyone was getting married – don’t you think?
The waitress appeared so we put our drink order in, flat white coffees. I informed her that we were quite connoisseurs of flat whites and have been drinking and testing them all around the world. They came up trumps – very nice coffee and our brunch later were delicious too. Back to George and Laura’s pad, quick packing up and off to the bus to Victoria Coach Station.
Ah – London. I love it – I love the quirkiness of the city – the architecture, the greenery and the people. Weird and wonderful. On our journey we passed a lady with huge curly bright red hair and matching trousers, Ladies singing, men in their bright yellow tunics praying. As we got off the bus, a man was playing his Saxophone against a small version of Big Ben. There was a towering narrow triangular building like a long dart striking up into the sky; it was so thin that we couldn’t think that most of the top had much use, however as we walked around, it was like an illusion and fanned out, much bigger than we expected.
The four of us were all going down to Bristol, George and Laura coincidentally were off to a party there and we were going to see John, catch up on paperwork and visit Tim’s Mum. Balloons and snacks were bought and onto the Mega-bus for our 3 hours trip at only £7.50 each. Bargain!
A comfy journey down, creeping through London then onto the motorway, we chatted about Christmas, planning to be all together in South America – but where? Such a large continent with so many beautiful places. I did come up with Paraty in Brazil with its Portuguese architecture, stunning white beaches and tropical rainforest…open to other suggestions.
Arriving in Bristol, waved farewell to George and Laura, we’ll see them in the morning and John picked us up. He’s got the car working again, had to buy a new battery. He dropped us off at our Airbnb. I wonder how many we have stayed in now.
What a lovely place. Paul and his four-year-old son Ted greeted us warmly, a cup of tea and chat later, Ted ended up sitting on Tim’s lap playing with his marble run. Tim is so good with children. He is like the pied piper, but with no menace, just love and fun. Kate, the wife and Mum returned from a party and after more chatting, they showed us to our room.
We are staying in their loft conversion. Wow – a much bigger room, airy and white with large sliding doors to a Juliet balcony overlooking Bristol and a very tastefully decorated ensuite. I had chosen well. As we were chatting a few hot air balloons drifted by. Bristol is renowned for them and once a year, I think in August, there are about 150 balloons all flying together. What an amazing sight that must be.
We walked back to John’s and he had a delicious meal waiting for us. A lovely evening chilling eating chilli, and a bit of sorting the paperwork out. Back to the Airbnb straight to bed. One of the Velux windows above the bed was open, so Tim stood on the bed to shut it. Suddenly the bed started to roll and Tim nearly collapsed onto of me, we both collapsed with laughter. The bed is on big rollers and we realised that it could be rolled into the eaves to make a huge space in the bedroom. Kate is a Yoga Teacher so we imagine she runs classes up here. What a lovely space to exercise in. The brakes of the bed wheels were turned on, and off to slumberland. I wonder if I remember where I am in the morning.
