Day 15: Day trip to Bath

Months ago, when S and I were planning these few days in Bristol/Bath, we trying to decide where to stay.  We scoured websites and consulted friends/colleagues we know who had visited both cities.  Everyone had an opinion, and they general fell along these lines: if you like cities and activity, stay in Bristol.  If you like history and genteel stuff, stay in Bath.  We chose Bristol as our home base, but planned a day in Bath.  I'm glad to say that we chose wisely.  Very wisely.

We planned to spend the day in Bath.  From Temple Meads Station (the main train station in Bristol), the trip to Bath was about 15 minutes and three stops along the Great Western Railway, one of about a gazillion things that Isambard Kingdom Brunel is responsible for in these parts.  The train was fast and comfortable, and the Temple Meads station is beautiful on the outside.

Once in Bath, the whole town is super walkable.  We had 4 points on our agenda: Roman Baths Museum, Herschel Museum, shopping, and hanging out along the river.  After a quick lunch of handpies, our first destination was the Roman Baths.  The facilities and exhibition were terrific.  The excavation was thorough, the galleries informative, and the whole experience was remarkable.  Each guest got a free audio tour guide, which was not only done in multiple languages for the international guests, but also had a separate track of recordings for kids.  S and I could listen to academic-y bits about the Baths, and H could listen to the same basic information, presented to her by one of a half-dozen different characters who were representative of people at the Baths.  She got her own valuable experience that was customized for her.  S and I even got to listen to her experience at times!  

After we were done with the Baths, we wandered across town, which is truly beautiful:

... until we got to the Herschel Museum.  William Herschel was a musician an amateur astronomer credited with discover Uranus (tee-hee).  For many years, he lived with his sister Caroline (also a musician and astronomer) in Bath, and their house has been turned into a monument to their lives and accomplishments.  It should be noted that the house is mostly focused on William, since has the vast majority of discoveries attributed to him, but Caroline was no slouch in the discoveries department, and she did so while also cooking, cleaning, managing the house, taking notes for William, and also occasionally hand-feeding him since he couldn't bother to feed himself while working.  As far as I'm concerned, Caroline is William's equal (if not superior) in the astronomy department.  Side note: If you're interested in reading more about them, I can't recommend highly enough The Age of Wonder.

So, two goals down, two to go.  BUT, the stores in Bath were very disappointing.  A bunch of the indie shops were were looking for were shut today (unsure if they were shut just on Tuesdays or on weekdays in general), and the shops that were open tended to be large international chains (Athleta, Apple, etc.).  Totally in-line with catering to weel-heeled tourists, but far far far from local flavor.

And... we never got to meander along the river.  We just ran out of steam. 

SO!  Back to Bristol!

Once back at Temple Meads, we hopped a cab to the Clifton Mall area, high up on the northwest of Bristol.  Our cabbie was born in Pakistan but had lived in Bristol for 50 years: he gave us recommendations, told us stories, made us giggle, talked about how his daughter hated the US (too much racism and too many cars).  Side note: all of our cab drivers have been wonderful. They've all been first or second-gen immigrants, and they've all enthusiastically shared what they love about Bristol with us.  Their joy was so pervasive that after our last cab ride today, H remarked that one of the things she loved the most about visiting Bristol was hearing about what the cab drivers had to say.

In Clifton Mall, we ate a lovely dinner at The Ivy.  H had a mocktail with juices, elderflower tonic, and a passionfruit garnish.

After dinner, we walked the short walk to our last destination in Bristol: the Clifton Suspension Bridge.  Yet another of Brunel's contributions, the bridge spans the Avon in a section of town that is far above sea level.  We walked across the bridge twice before heading to an observatory point just NE of the bridge:

After that, we walked the .8 miles downhill home, where we settled in for our last night in Bristol.  Tomorrow, Stonehenge!

Day 14: Exploring Bristol (again)

We had planned to travel into the countryside to see some castles/abbeys/estates/gardens, but after our trip to London, we'd had enough ancient history, so we decided to take another day in Bristol to check out the town some more.  

First stop was back to St. Nicholas Market, which was finally open and did not disappoint.  Loads and loads of stalls filled with crafts, clothes, wares, and other gifts.  We started out in a board game shop and then kept going!  It was a little too much for me, but S and H both had a field day.  

After that, we walked north, where we happened to pass the Palestine Museum and Cultural Center.  The facade features a huge window edifice that is bulging out slightly over the sidewalk.  If you look closely at the mortar sealing the small window diamonds, you'll see that they're filled with broken glass.  It's a powerful image, reminiscent of the instant after a bomb explodes, when the windows are pushing out from the blast but before the explosion shatters everything.  Very moving.

We kept walking towards the Christmas Steps, which are the oldest stairs in Bristol and are lined with shops (including a board game cafe, where we paused after lunch).  One of the shops along the steps had replaced signage for their shop with a notice about a former enslaved Black American who had lived there after his escape to the UK.

Lunch was a forgettable meal at a crap brewery with a hell of a view.  

After lunch, we headed down to M-Shed, a museum that tells the story of Bristol. I was particularly curious about the Windrush Generation, but the museum was closed today.  So, we wandered around, admired the beautiful riverside, and sought out another Banksy before we headed home.

Once we were home, I headed down to a music shop to buy an instrument while S & H took a siesta.  We got take-out for dinner, and while I was picking up the food, I got to sip a quiet scotch (my first in the UK this trip).

This city is full of graffiti & public art - big and small, coarse and refined, political and not, ugly and beautiful.  Here's a few shots from today (the last two are Banksy's):

I had a thought later in the day about Banksy's work that recontextualized things for me.  Prior to this trip, I had thought of Banksy as a standout political artist who chose to use an unconventional (and politically charged) medium for his work within the fine art world.  But in seeing the state of public art in Bristol (and graffiti specifically), I'm seeing Banksy more as a graffiti artist in a sea of graffiti artists who happens to have both a wry sociopolitical take and the imagination and craft to execute it well.  

Day 13: Exploring Bristol

An exceptional day in Bristol!

We all slept in and woke rested after the stressful end of the day yesterday. I got up first and caught up on email, and when S and H woke, we had a bit of a lazy morning.  I took a run out for coffee and groceries and ended up finding a student art exhibition at the local university.  

After we got cleaned up, we headed out to explore Bristol. Our first stop was St. Nicholas Market, which is a legendary food stall/market that happens to be closed on Sundays (whoops!).  Plus, even though the day started with bright sun and puffy clouds, by the time we  got to the market, drizzle had set in.  H was unimpressed.

We hung out under the covered roof of the market until the drizzle passed and continued to explore the town.  Bristol has a long history as a maritime center, so there's a fair amount of old buildings that were constructed with plenty of money.  

Plus, since there's a naval history and it's a college town, there's a strong anti-establishment sentiment.  That means lots of tattoos, graffiti, and piercings.  

Relatedly, Bristol is also Banksy's hometown, and there are bits of their work around town, such as this message painted on the loading door of a university library:

When the next rainshower passed over, we found a board game cafe and introduced H to Forbidden Island, which she enjoyed (but didn't quite understand fully).  When the sun came out again, we meandered our way to the main section of town, where we rode a ferris wheel and lamented that the kids science center was closed for repairs.  

From there, it was a short walk and a shorter ferry across the river to the SS Great Britain, a dry-docked ship that was an engineering marvel when it was build.  It's dry docked in the very place where it was built, and the whole thing has been turned into a museum.

H was very excited to swab the deck, but does she ever 'swab the floors' at home?  Nooooooooooo.

Because the ship was in dry dock, we could go below and explore the outside of the hull!

Once we finished up with the ship, we took a ferry back across the Avon, grabbed some gelato, and then began the walk back to the airbnb.  We passed through Bristol College,

then into Brandon Hill, a luxuriously green park full of hills, climbing structures (this being a maritime town, most of the play structures have a heavy rigging theme),

and Cabot tower!

After climbing up to Cabot Tower, we headed for dinner and then back to the airbnb, where H got a bath and S and I are current planning tomorrow's adventures.

Day 12: return to the UK

(last night we stayed up late talking about the horrible Roe reversal)

Apparently, the rain in Spain sometimes falls on the mountains.  In buckets.  Deluges, really.  Today’s weather was what we had been forecasted to have all week, and I’m really glad it only arrived today, as we said ‘adios’ to Spain.

Today was a big day of travel.  The house started to wake up at 6.15, and B/A/O were on the road by 8.30 for their morning flight.  The rest of us left shortly after 10, when our host Javier came by to see us off.  Javier’s a delightful retiree out of San Sebastian.  He speaks only Spanish and a bit of French, so I ended up being the communicator/translator with him (and with most of the interactions with folks during this trip).  

Javier checked us out and waved goodbye as C/D/S/H and I backed precariously down the driveway and started the 60 minute drive back to Bilbao.  At the airport, we checked in to our flight and grabbed one final lunch of Basque food - seafood stew, grilled octopus, and more - before boarding the quick flight to Madrid.  We were fortunate enough to book business class for this trip, which let us bypass the super-long lines at check-in and boarding.  Once in Madrid, we had about an hour to change planes, which was juuuuuuuuust enough time to get to the domestic terminal, through outbound customs, and grab a cup of coffee without sweating.  

The flight from Madrid to London was the fanciest flight I’ve ever taken.  ‘Business class’ for this particular flight meant that we got first-class treatment, with lay-down beds and double-wide compartments.  It was the lap of luxury.  I only wish I had been sitting in it for a longer flight.  

Once we were in London, things started to get messy.  C/D are flying back to the states tomorrow, so they’re staying at an airport hotel.  We thought we’d grab food with them at the airport and then depart: them to their hotel, and us to Bristol.   We couldn’t find a restaurant on our side of security, so we ended up eating grab-n-go food at a coffee shop in Heathrow’s T5.  After, we each took cabs to our separate places while H wept at saying goodbyes.  (We also found out that B/A/O reached their destination safely, phew!)

The rental car agency was based at a Holiday Inn off-site, and by the time we got to the check-in, it was 7.15pm.  The agency closed at 7pm.  Yikes.  No rental car.   We tried calling the agency, but couldn’t get any response other than an automated voice message saying ‘please send us an email.’  Okay, plan B: can we stay at the Holiday Inn and drive to Bristol early tomorrow morning? Nope.   No room at the (Holiday) Inn.  Plan C:  can we rent a hotel room anywhere near the airport?  Nope.  No vacancies.  Plan D: can we crash in C/D’s hotel room?  Nope - they have a small room and a king bed.   No one would sleep well. Plan E ended up working: use Kayak to book a rental car with a known vendor with reasonable hours, then take a car to the pick-up point.  Plus, once we got in the car, our driver helped us figure out that the pick-up point we had been aiming at was back at Heathrow T5, which would have put us on ANOTHER shuttle bus. Instead, we figured out where the shuttle bus destination was and aimed there.  We gave him a five-star review and a hella tip for his help.  

Once at the new rental car agency, the agents were stunned that we had managed to book the reservation.  We managed to make what would have cost $1200 for about $400.  They got us set up and on the road pretty quick.   All in all, the set-back cost us about 40 GBP and about 30 minutes.  Not bad.

Once we got on the road (mantra: “drive on the left. drive on the left.  drive on the left.”), it was about two hours of uneventful driving to get to Bristol.  We arrived safe and sound and after we (me) hauled our bags to the top of a fifth floor walk-up (every day is leg day in Europe!), we got settled in and calmed down.  It was a full day of travel - 13 hours door-to-door, using cars, rail, planes, and feet, with moderate amounts of panic, but ultimate success.

I bought a can of beer at Heathrow to drink when we got to Bristol, and I enjoyed the hell out of when we got here.

Day 10 & 11: Camino & San Sebastian

I didn't write yesterday b/c I was sick.  Got a nasty 48 hour cold that left me exhausted. I managed to get out for a short walk with C/D/S/O/H along the Camino de Santiago (which passes right by our house!), during which we got caught in a small rain shower, but other than that, Thursday was a wash for me.

The scallop shell (always on its side, often in yellow), is the sign of the Camino for pilgrims:

The bay, as seen from the house:

Today (Friday) I felt much better.  65% in the morning, and 90% by the end of day.  We all went into San Sebastian for one last day. C had been hoping for a family boat trip but the weather was threatening, so we cut our losses and stayed on land. 

We started the day at the oldest and jankiest amusement park I've ever seem still in operation.  There were some truly scary rides (the 110-year old roller coaster was something we all stayed away from), but the girls loved the bumper cars and carnival games.

After that, we headed to old town San Sebastian to grab lunch and do some shopping.  There were a few buskers playing music on button accordions:

And shopkeepers were unafraid to show their politics:

After our wander, our group split up for a bit.  C/S/H and I headed to a playground in SS so the adults could rest and H could play.  She made friends with a few Spanish kids until she bonked her head on the play structure.  

When we all got home, we at a dinner of (mostly) leftovers.  C/B and I went out to shoot one final sunset.  We thought the sun would light up the clouds, but the best we got was a little bit of a tease.  Still.  Not bad.

Tonight is our last night together as an octet.  Tomorrow, we'll all go our separate ways. It's been a great trip, and we're thankful for C/D's generosity for making this trip possible!

Day 9: San Sebastian & Fancy Foods

I had a bit of a rough night of sleep last night and woke up not feeling 100.  Nothing that a breakfast of fruit and a bit of pastry couldn't temporarily assuage.  These sfogliatelle were stuffed with almond paste!

After cleaning up and breakfasting, C/B/A/S/H/O and I drove 30 minutes to San Sebastian for a city tour.  The tour was supposed to be a 3 hour walking tour, but the weather said that it was going to rain all day. So, C switched the tour up for a driving tour.  That got us to some places we wouldn't have gotten to see otherwise, and as it happened, the day was not full of rain.  

San Sebastian sits on a half-moon bay, guarded by two mountains and an island.   It's jawbreakingly beautiful:

Our guide, Laura, took us to a bunch of sites around town, including the top of the western mountain (above) and the bottom of the western mountain (below), where there's both rugged public art and a series of holes in the pavers that blow air up when the ocean crashes below (see H's dress for proof):

Laura (standing next to H above) also took us into old town San Sebastian, which is charming and full of shops, bars, and restaurants.

For lunch, the whole family headed up the eastern mountain to Mirador de Ulia, where we enjoyed a ridiculously long (4 hours!) lunch.  The restaurant's parking lot was small and steep, and more than once, my manual-transmission skills were put to the test (but I didn't hit or scrape anything!).  From our table, the whole city opened out towards us, and as we dined we watched a squall roll into town, drench the city, and then move off into the distance. The adults had the tasting menu, and the girls had a kids version of the same (along with tastes of the adult food if they wanted it).  H enjoyed her passionfruit ice cream dessert, served on a bed of house-made golden pop rocks!

After lunch, A and I took the girls home while B/S took C/D to their anniversary gift: another tasting menu at another restaurant.  In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to do two tasting menus in one day, but... well...

I got home and laid down for a rest.  My grogginess had been getting groggier all day, and I was feeling like I had a cold.  I took a covid test (negative) and took it easy for the rest of the day.

Day 8: Bilbao & Guggenheim & Horses

We got on the road pretty early this morning to make our way to Bilbao (about an hour west) for a half day in the city.  Our first stop was the obvious first stop in Bilbao: the Guggenheim!  

If you've heard me talk about Frank Gehry, you know that I don't have much love for him.  I tend to think that his buildings are preposterous monoliths of shiny metal, all with the same basic metaphor (what would happen if I balled up a napkin and spray painted it silver?), and with little concern paid to function.  This one, however, surprised me with its beauty (inside and out) and it's thoughtful attention to flow. The museum was inviting, with little surprises hidden on patios (like Yoko Ono's olive tree) and around corners, opportunities to see pieces from various perspectives, and a wide variety of scale of space.  Jeff Koons's 'Puppy' greeted us at the entrance:

H and I had a great time wandering the museum.  I let her choose our destinations and pace, and along the way, I'd ask her questions about what she was seeing, how she saw it, and what she the thought the artist may have been thinking when they made the pieces.  For example, when we saw this piece, we talked about perspective, and how when you move around it (you could also see it from above), it changed form and shape:

H had some other thoughts about it as well:

The museum had an exhibit on motion, art, and architecture, which featured a LOT of cars.  H wasn't interested in the cars, though she did pose in front of one that she thought Grandpa would like (because of the Gullwing doors).

She was more interested in the paintings on the wall, particularly the ones that managed to convey motion:

Once she got going with understanding how to stretch her brain in a museum, she was on a roll.  With this one, she said 'oooo Daddy, I know what this is!  This is a white dragon in the middle of the night.'  She's not wrong.

We both really enjoyed Richard Serra's 'The Matter of Time,' which filled the great hall.  Each of the metal pieces created a slightly different acoustic phenomena, and we had a good time exploring them!

After we finished at the museum, our octet met upstairs in the cafe for a snack of Pintxos.  H, who really enjoyed anchovies last night, sucked down another anchovy at the cafe.

After our snack, H/O/C/D headed off to Butron Castle for a horseback riding trip!  D's sore knee prevented her from riding, but C/O/H had a great time with the horses. H came back wanting me to build a stable in the backyard for her to keep a horse.  Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha nope.

While the kids and their grandparents were horseback riding, the parents wandered town, before settling in at Zortziko for a super-fancy lunch.  Dish photos available on request :)

After lunch, we met up with C/D/H/O, who had returned from horseback riding and had both eaten and covered themselves in gelato.  I drove home with the four of them while A/B/S followed, stopping for groceries.  In my car, C & D snoozed while H & O sang and played.  When we got home, everyone had a siesta before we tucked into dinner of leftovers and quickie grocery store purchases.  After dinner, when the girls had conked out, I headed onto the back patio and took some cloudy evening photos.

Tomorrow we head east towards San Sebastian!