Cara and Rob's presi. She's got a license you know!
We have just spent a great weekend in Bristol. The occasion? Cara's 60th. birthday celebration. Cara had her birthday a week ago and this was the Bristol version of it as she and Rob live in the highlands of Scotland. Needless to say, some of the Highland friends came down too, turning it into a multicultural/national event. We had been looking forward to the weekend for literally months. Bristol is one of my favourite towns, reminding me in many ways of Goteborg. There was also the prospect of meeting old friends again who were expected at the party.
Trish and I went down on Friday. By train. And we were soon on the bus from Temple Meads station to our hotel. Now, apart from Carl, Hannah, Jan and Joel, I know only two other people from Bristol, Martin, who for years lived in Clifton and Sheelagh who I recently came into contact again after many years, through Facebook. Imagine my surprise when, halfway through our journey to the hotel, in the middle of the city centre, when Martin boarded our bus! This surprise was compounded a few hours later when Trish and I, sitting outside a restaurant in Millennium Square, were hailed from across the tables by Sheelagh. Small world.
On the Saturday we met up with Carl and son Joel, for coffee and beers before joining the revelers onboard the boat Cara had hired for her party, which took us, many attired in excellent fancy dress up the estuary to Avonmouth, complete with retro disco and buffet. There wasn't much room to dance but Rob did his best.
After the boat trip Martin and Sam, his partner, together with Grace, Trish and I, sloped off to find a decent pint of real ale, although in truth it turned out that only Martin, Grace and I were interested in the ale. We eventually turned up at a pub somewhere near the Arnolfini area where they had run out of said liquid. A trek across to the other side of The Mud Dock saw us at a hostelry the name of which escapes me, but where they sold the cunningly named brew pictured below.
We had a great weekend, it was marvelous to catch up with people not seen for a good few years and it was great to see Cara usher in her new decade with the vim and vigor of someone half her age.
