Back home now after 2 days of driving. The trees lining the roads are looking very autumnal glowing gold and bronze especially when they were lit up by the sun. With the slight spectrum shift and polarization caused by my beloved wraparound sunglasses the trees and the clouds looked spectacular. Even so I'm rather tired as I'm not used to driving such long distances especially when I couldn't take my little micra over 70mph (the official speed limit) without some suspicious vibrating. I had the tracking done recently but I'll book it in for a check as soon as I get the chance. Driving into the heart of a city reminded me just how lucky we are to live out in the countryside. It wasn't the traffic, after all I learnt to drive in central London, but the sheer tedium of those city streets and the lack of space. I didn't mind the busy city roads and I'm quite happy to pull across several lanes of traffic so long as I've indicated and had a quick look. One taxi driver stopped to let me out of a side street and I promptly cut up a white van to get into the next lane. I then probably really annoyed the driver by being unsure which lane to be in next, first signalling one way and then the other before making up my mind. That just makes me laugh.
We arrived in Bristol with plenty of time to spare so we went to the Bristol Museum which is only 5 mins walk away from Ultralase. I don't know if it is the many afternoons spent as a small child in the big London museums (the V&A, Natural History, Science and Geology museums) but I find myself so at home in these grand Victorian marble palaces.
The Bristol museum has a little bit of everything and is currently holding an exhibition on Flight based on the Bristol Aircraft Company. There were a lot of interactive exhibits for the many younger visitors. One that really made me laugh was a simulation of a luggage conveyor belt with x-ray machine. A dad was pushing the suitcases on the belt so his child could look at the screen to see their contents but the toddler was far more interested in climbing on the rollers and following the suitcase through the machine. I don't suppose it was a real x-ray machine.
The museum is built in the grand style with marble staircases everywhere branching off to mezzanine levels housing things of interest both old and new.
We had a look around the Egyptian exhibition, amazing to think that some of the objects were thousands of years old as were these Assyrian stone wall panels , about 6ft square. We admire their classical beauty and purity of line and it takes a conscious effort to visualise them as they would have been, gaudily painted in bright colours (as were all those white marble statues we find in Grecian temples.)
I loved the Blue Bristol glass though these modern examples in the museum shop were rather expensive.
We arrived in Bristol with plenty of time to spare so we went to the Bristol Museum which is only 5 mins walk away from Ultralase. I don't know if it is the many afternoons spent as a small child in the big London museums (the V&A, Natural History, Science and Geology museums) but I find myself so at home in these grand Victorian marble palaces.
The Bristol museum has a little bit of everything and is currently holding an exhibition on Flight based on the Bristol Aircraft Company. There were a lot of interactive exhibits for the many younger visitors. One that really made me laugh was a simulation of a luggage conveyor belt with x-ray machine. A dad was pushing the suitcases on the belt so his child could look at the screen to see their contents but the toddler was far more interested in climbing on the rollers and following the suitcase through the machine. I don't suppose it was a real x-ray machine.
The museum is built in the grand style with marble staircases everywhere branching off to mezzanine levels housing things of interest both old and new.
We had a look around the Egyptian exhibition, amazing to think that some of the objects were thousands of years old as were these Assyrian stone wall panels , about 6ft square. We admire their classical beauty and purity of line and it takes a conscious effort to visualise them as they would have been, gaudily painted in bright colours (as were all those white marble statues we find in Grecian temples.)
I loved the Blue Bristol glass though these modern examples in the museum shop were rather expensive.Unlike our initial eye surgery which took about 5mins per eye and half an hour from start to finish, Peter's re-do took much longer. Well over an hour as they did various tests before completing the surgery. If I'd have known how long it was going to be I would have spent the time happily browsing in Habitat which is on the next corner. We did pop in for a quick look at beds but it wouldn't have been fair to drag Peter round while I looked at all the beautifully designed but expensive furniture and household items. Peter's eyes are more sore this time but today he was able to read 4 lines better than the 20/20 vision line. We spent the night up in Tewkesbury with our friends for a lovely supper and pleasant evening. We returned to Bristol for a check up today (managed to fit in a browse around Paperchase which again is expensive but so stylish), before driving the 200 miles back to Devon.
Now I've done my school work, checked my emails and am ready to crash out before starting yet another week at school.
