Bath, Bristol and Bleinham

After a quick train trip we ended up in Bath.  Of course, this was to visit our displaced Canadian friends, Zoe, Chris, Lily and Alex whom we try to visit whenever in Great Britain.  A three night, two day stay finished up with us heading to Bristol, the birthplace of the one and only Sparky!  I had some preconceived ideas about Bristol which all got blown away after spending a bit of time here.  This city on the River Avon has the second highest tidal ranch in the world next to the Bay of Fundy. They built a series of locks to control the tidal range on the river and built the floating harbour on tidal flats in the early 1800's.  The SS Great Britain was built here, this was the first luxury ocean liner and it is in permanent dry dock in the harbour here.  The Mathew captained by John Cabot was launched from here and ended up in Newfoundland also in the late 1490's.  This is a neat mix of the old and the new with markets, new and old buildings and a vibrant city core.

      

 After three days in Bristol a quick train ride to meet up with Cheltenham gang again.  Steve kindly picked us up at the train and we twisted his arm and convinced him some shopping was in order.  Now shopping in Great Britain has a slightly different connotations than at home.  Here it means sneaking out of work, picking up the Canadian relatives and going to the pub for a pint or three.  I like shopping, who knew?  Apparently Steve's wife Ros did not, OOPS!   Hee hee hee!  the next day the four of us went to see a World Heritage site, Blenheim castle.  This is an old family estate
where Winston Churchill was born and the current Duke of Marlborough lives.  Amazing castle, grounds and palace and definitely worth the trip.  Last blog of this trip as we are off tomorrow to see
the New Zealand All Blacks unleash a can of whoop ass on the Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys, the French, in the start of the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup.  Ok, so I am not a fan of the French, can you tell?