Bristol

View of the river Avon as it runs through the centre of Bristol. Bristol is a great place to live and I have had a great eight years here. There are many things I will miss about living here and many a fond memory will haunt me in years to come. It's a funny old place with some funny people but it has a heart and it has character.

In fact, Bristol has character in buckets. Some people will remain with me forever. It has been a lovely place to live. Thank you, dear Brizle..

The Vaults

The Highbury Vaults, Bristol

The last few days saw me showing some Antipodean friends around merry Bristol. Of course I took them to see the famous bridge, the refined streets of Clifton, the town centre and more. But perhaps the most enjoyable afternoon was spent in one of Bristol's nicest pubs, the Highbury Vaults. This is the sort of pub where you won't find loud music rendering conversation impossible, or sports on vast screens or anything like that. Just superb ales and bitters on draught. Okay, if you absolutely desire a mere lager you can have that too. At the back is a lovely open air courtyard where you can sit in the sunshine (where available), and sit in comfort sipping from a fabulous pint of beer.

A few memorable hours passed slowly in good harmony with a good friend from another hemisphere. I won't forget it in a hurry I can tell you. Sometimes life is just very, very good.

Visitors

This weekend I shall be entertaining some visitors from abroad for a few days. They will have been travelling around Ireland and they will come by in Bristol on their way back to the Southern hemisphere. I always enjoy showing visitors around Bristol; it's quite an interesting place to see with a fascinating history.

When I still lived in Amsterdam I would sometimes get visitors who wanted to be shown around without ever putting in any say or suggestion as to what they'd like to see. I found this quite unsettling. It's good fun to show people things and sights they're interested in but when they just follow the leader and don't show any interest in any one thing over the other it can become something of a chore.

I suppose there's an art to being a good host and guide but equally there is an art to being a good guest and visitor. We'll see what happens..