Bristol and London

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Dale and I went on a lovely weekend away to Bristol, timing had it that we were there for the annual Hot air balloon festival. During the day there were the Red Arrow jet planes conducting aerobatic tricks right over our heads. Dale and I sat in the beer tent enjoying the hot, hot sun we cheered when we heard there were two kiwis flying in the team of nine.
On the city bus tour we went for a drive up the Clifton Suspension Bridge over the Avon Gorge I was so surprised to learn that back in the olden days a women jumped off the bridge and survived. Her huge olden day dress acted as a parachute and she landed softly onto mud. We enjoyed a coffee at the Boston Tea Party.

We wanted to go into the art museum as Banky was have an expedition, saw the line was over 5 hours long and changed our mind. It was so cool catching up with Adele one of my friends who studied with me at Rangi Ruru, seems the whole class is overseas.



My boss put Dale and I up in the Ritz for a night, WOW! I ended up surprising Dale and getting him to meet me in town after I had dropped our bags off. Because Dale had worked that day we had limited time to enjoy the experience so we opted for a KFC dinner so we could rush into our room and enjoy it. When we walked into our room there was a classical music playing, slipper’s by our bed and the sheets were turned back. What a relief to sleep in a bed after a week on an air bed I was so comfortable I didn’t want to leave.
Dale ordered a cooked breakfast and I got French toast, right on cue the food arrived on a trolley which converged into a table. The food was divine there was heaps of it as well and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to fit a three course lunch in later. After lunch our friends arrived to watch the rugby and get ready. Jemma and I did lots of posing photos and the boys were happy to watch the game. Lunch was amazing, even though I was full from breakfast there was no way lunch was going to waste.
I had the warm salad of tomatoes with lobster, basil dressing and goats cheese to start, the main was wild salmon roasted in coriander, crushed potato with fresh crab and pickles, fondant leaks and dill. Desert was yummy Armagnac crème caramel with poached Mirabelle and granny smith sorbet. There were friandises, coffee and tea to end.

After lunch we went to Buckingham Palace into the state rooms and places the royals entertain their guests. It was truly beautiful the furnishings and detail on the roof and walls were amazing. Jemma and I were wearing our beautiful dresses Dale and Kyle looked like our body guards as we walked back though the park.

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Photos

Jem, Kyle and us
They came up to our room to watch the rugby and get ready

Comments

[Ange]

Lots to catch up on
Hey I've just been catching up on your blog - I hadn't read anything since the proposal in Portugal. Looks like you've been having a great time and wow, the Ritz!!!! How cool is that?!