Flying high in Bristol

Dylan finally realised his dream of boarding a Concorde during our recent weekend in Bristol. Jason pre-booked a tour of the Concorde Museum at Filton, where they were manufactured until recently. The tour guide was impressed with Dylan's knowledge, and that he had brought his Concorde fact book with him. Dylan loved seeing the cockpit and the toilets on board. It was definitely a highlight of his stay here, although he is disappointed we can't fly one home to Sydney.

He pointed out that if Britain had teamed up with Australia to develop it, instead of France, it would probably still be flying.

Why Bristol? I had a meeting with a writing agency there, about setting up their Australian office when we get back. It seemed like a good idea to make a weekend of it - Jason and I had never been before. And although it was cold and wet (like everywhere else in England for the past 6 weeks...) it was a great destination. A harbour town, with seagulls and history, and easy to walk about.

We stayed at the Novotel, which actually did prove to be a good family-friendly choice. I am always a little nervous when we are all stuck in one small room, but the boys were on best hotel-behaviour form, and especially loved the buffet breakfasts. They happily played in the hotel bar with some kids who turned out to be from Bellingen, of all places. You just can't get away from these Aussies!

After (damply) walking around the harbour restaurants and cafes, we opted for some history at the excellent Museum of Empire and Commonwealth. A special exhibition commemorated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Jason and I found it fascinating, the kids not so much and I am still trying to work out the exact connection with Bristol. It's hard to read a full sentence in a museum if Dylan is bored...

The next morning we had coffee in the lovely village suburb of Clifton, famous for Brunel's suspension bridge (which we braved strong winds to walk across) and then began our journey home. My poor car started overheating and had to be towed from Worcester - so a 2 hour drive turned into 7. The boys enjoyed their ride in the back of a tow truck for the first 10 minutes at least.

And now we are busy packing yet again... off to Tuscany tomorrow, where every weather report I look at guarantees sunshine. Hooray!