Cheltenham and Bristol

I am so sorry it's been ages since I have blogged. Just don't know where the time has gone. I haven't actually done an awful lot blogworthy recently, just trying to get back into the swing of things and reclaim my mojo.

So, just when I needed it most, we decided to have a weekend away. It was Beth's 21st birthday so we headed to Gloucester to spend some time with her.

We started off in Cheltenham, a beautiful city. It has some wonderful architecture and a very eclectic mix of shops. Plus a small street market selling the most gorgeous flowers.

The Cheltenham Literary Festival was being held as well and we had a wander around some of the marquees and nearly saw Salman Rushdie. He was about to go into the Waterstones tent to sign copies of his new book, so we thought we might wait. But then it occurred to us that none of us particularly like him or his books, so decided not to bother. Headed outside and took a photo of Neptune instead. I didn't have the tripod with me, so kept it on a short shutter speed which I think works ok with the fountain which was behind him.

Because of the Festival, the city was buzzing and it got very difficult to take photos without hoards of people in them. Hardly took any that I was pleased with, so will return another time and try to do the architecture justice.

Day 2, headed to Bristol Docks.

Much better, so much to photograph here. We avoided the city centre and just headed straight for the docks. You can do a circular sweeping walk around them, about 2-3m which is fabulous. The old cranes were completely amazing, and reminded me a bit of those snow-walker things in one of the Star Wars movies.

We went to a lovely, quite artisan looking place for breakfast. The menu was fabulous, eggs benedict, smoked salmon and poached egg, but I went for the buttermilk pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. A plateful of heaven!

So all the food came and it looked amazing, apart from mine. The pancakes were burnt so I had to send them back and waited for a replacement. And waited. And waited. 20 minutes later, after everyone else had finished their breakfast, they reappeared, as burnt as the first time! Not a happy bunny! So we left, not prepared to wait again. Got the promise of a free breakfast next time we went, but I think we may have made it clear that there won't be a next time!

Anyway, back to the main order of the day, photography, no sorry, that should read spending time with the family!

Just loved this boat. The day was quite dull so it was great to have a splash of colour on the water. Just loved the teeth!

I suppose one of the main attractions on the docks is Brunel's SS Great Britain. It is a wonderful ship and you can go around it, but at £60 for the 5 of us, we decided to do that another time! Although I think I may have found my next challenge, climbing the rigging anyone?

Boats are still made and repaired on the docks and it was fascinating to be able to see into some of the workshops. The smell of woodshavings was so evocative of my childhood, spending time in the garage watching my father make fabulous things with wood, my doll's house for one.

I would really have loved the chance to have a rootle through the workshops, but unfortunately they are privately owned and that was not possible. 

The dockyards have seen some amazing refurbishment happening. It is lined with beautiful housing and fabulous restaurants, well most of them are :-( 

I loved these rows of houses looking down, I thought the colours were amazing and together with the sails on the boats, added a fabulous splash of summer colour to an otherwise quite dull day.

Since doing a lot more photography, especially with the need to blip something every day, I am finding that my view on what I am seeing has changed. I find myself looking for the different and unusual that might not necessarily make a pretty picture, but will certainly make an interesting one. Saw the mural of the Girl with the Pearl Earring, with the earring actually being the burglar alarm

I am finding too that textures now excite me in a way I never thought possible! I know, sad isn't it! But I loved the rusting paint on this gate, with the fencing in front of it and the wonderful added bonus of a spiders web.

So all in all, with the exception of breakfast, a completely fabulous weekend. Wonderful to spend some quality time as a family and also be able to take some photos of something new.

Promise I won't leave it so long next time!

Lessons Learned: Pancakes are apparently very easy to burn!

Diet Diary Well the fact that I didn't have pancakes probably helped, although having pizza for tea might have outweighed that one! Struggling a bit to get back into the diet mindset. Need to get back to some proper regular hiking!