Random

There were a few pictures that I wanted to share that weren't really part of anything.

The mall by the hotel that we were staying at went all out decorating for Christmas. It was really pretty and we really enjoyed the lights and the decorations. Except for the Harvey Nichols window. I don't know what they were going for, but it creeped me out.

Aliens, maybe?
The Broadmead area of the mall had a German Christmas Market. Every city we visited during the Christmas season had some form of German Christmas market.
The Bristol one had a windmill with a rotating nativity over the sausage grill.

Cabot Circus also put up these giant deer everywhere. These things were huge. When I stood under one, the belly was at least 2 feet over my head.

Millie's Cookies. They were so good. I loved the raspberry white chocolate one. Gavin like the double chocolate.
Krispy Kreme just got to the UK. It was really interesting to see how it was doing since it was a little different than the US. One of the main draws to Krispy Kreme, at least for me, is getting them hot. I'm not sure they were even made at this store. Maybe they were in the back. Also, they were ridiculously expensive. it was a pound twenty for one glazed donut, which with the exchange rate while we were there, made it to be about $2.00 a donut. This place was popular, too. A few times, we saw the line out the door and around the corner.

One of the first posts I wrote when we got to England, I talked about how the escalators were on the wrong side. We eventually got used to it and the first one we stepped on in the US, we tried to go on the wrong side.

And finally, gas (or petrol, have you) was so expensive. At this Shell, it costs 123.9 pence or one pound 23 per liter. That's almost 5 pound per gallon. With the exchange rate, that's almost 8 dollars a gallon. When we had to fill up the rental cars, it often cost us 70-80 dollars for a small tank of gas.

Rocket Ballons

At the Christmas party, there were some rocket balloons. We must have really annoyed the wait staff with these because people would aim at other tables and people and usually the wait staff got caught in the cross fire. And it could possibly be that the balloons were getting stuck on the ceiling. Whenever someone would send one off, everyone would watch and either cheer or boo. A lot of people got hit with these.

Gavin's Work Christmas Party

On our last full day in Bristol, we were able to attend Gavin's work Christmas party. I had met a couple of Gavin's co-workers before, but it was fun to meet everyone else.

Everyone got a party hat and a Christmas cracker, which contained a crown.

This is Dave and Peter, the two I got to know the most.



My cracker contained a dinosaur which Peter kept trying to steak from me. He finally got it and was quite pleased with himself.

People started decorating Gavin with their hats.

Gavin and Jeff Sherwood

Gavin and Rhidian Morgan

Gavin and Derrick Yarbrough. (I love how Gavin's wearing his hat in all of these pictures)

This is the main group that Gavin worked with. Gavin, Peter, Dave, and Lorna.

Gavin and Carey
Gavin really enjoyed all of the people he worked with. He was very sad to have to say goodbye to all of the new friends that he made.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

We got to celebrate a British holiday!! It was actually a lot of fun.

We got to meet Wallace.

I have decided that Guy Fawks Day is the best. You celebrate with bon fires and fireworks. You make Guy Fauxes, or someone else if you prefer, and burn them in the bon fire, then watch fire works. How great is that?

We went to see the firework display at Bath University with a guy Gavin works with and his girlfriend. It was a very enjoyable evening. We had a great Italian meal in Bath, then hung out at the University until the fireworks started. Unfortunately, Bath University didn't have a bon fire.

There were fire dancers, though.

The fire works were a lot of fun, even though it was a small show.

Happy (late) Guy Fawks Day!!

Brandon Hill Nature Park.

A few weeks ago, I wasn't sure what to do during the day. It happens quite often. However, this day, I didn't feel like going anywhere because I was getting sick and we were heading on a trip the next day, but I didn't want to hang out at the hotel all day. I went for a walk around the city and ended up at the Brandon Hill Nature Park. It's one of the highest points in the city center and pretty close to the University of Bristol.

It was such a pretty autumn day. All of the trees were in color and the air had that nice autumn feel to it.

Over looking the harbor and the city.

Cabot Tower.

There is even a crop circle there.


On my way back to the hotel, I walked past the Bristol Cathedral and the Council Building.

Right across the street from our hotel is a place called Castle Park.

One thing I have learned about England is that every city has two things: A castle and a big cathedral. Although, I think this castle was actually a church.

Bristol is big on street art. The graffiti artist, Bansky, is from Bristol and there are a lot of his paintings around the city. I'm not sure who did this, but it had a sign by it that said "Only dead fish go with the flow".

A Day in the Life

We are staying at the Bristol Marriott City Centre hotel. It's a really nice place. Since we've been there so long, a lot of the staff knows us now and will stop and chat with us when they see us.

We have breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which is a traditional English breakfast. It includes eggs, baked beans, sausage, bacon (which is more like slices of ham), cooked mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and blood pudding. Gavin got brave one morning and tried the blood pudding. He was only able to get a small bite down.

Gavin takes off to work at the Ministry of Defense.

My days are a little more flexible. Sometimes I wander around the city, sometimes I go visit other cities, pretty much whatever I feel like that day. Gavin has said that it is "the fall of Tracy". However, sometimes I have to go do the laundry. The hotel doesn't have any washing machines, so I have to walk to a launderette. Since we are staying in the middle of the city, the launderette is about a 30 minute walk from the hotel.

Part of the walk includes going up a huge hill. It takes me about 15 minutes to get up it. I will never complain about having to take the laundry down three flights of stairs any more.

I usually stuff all of the dirty clothes into one of our suitcases and drag it with me.

One of the most annoying things about having to go to a launderette is how much it costs. It costs about 15 pounds, roughly 22-23 dollars each week. I really miss my washing machine at home.

The ironing board in the hotel is the weirdest I have ever seen. It doesn't have anywhere to put in water for steam and has a timer, like a kitchen timer, to turn it on.

One day, as I was getting ready, the fire alarm went off. After waiting a minute to see if it was going to turn itself off, I started walking down the stairs to get outside. This guy and I made it all the way down to the exit, but it had a lock at the top so we couldn't get out. We had to go back up the stairs and find another way outside.

In the executive lounge, the hotel will serve food in the evening. We will usually eat there for dinner.

Along with dinner, the lounge serves alcohol for the guests. One night I noticed they had a non-alcoholic beer and Gavin and I were curious to try. He made fun of me when I tried it because he felt my reaction was extreme. So, I made him tried it.

Trying it...



Thinking about it...

Not liking it...

Truly not liking it...

After dinner, sometimes we go to the hotel gym.

And to the pool, where Gavin swims like a dolphin.

while I hang out in the hot tub. It's going to be hard to give up the pool, hot tub, and steam room when we finally leave here.

And that is what a typical day looks like out here. :)