(written by Dave)

Most of today’s goals were accomplished.

• Sleep late without alarm – tick – we could get use to this
• Have something good for breakfast – tick – wonderful Spanish breakfast tacos
• See some of Bristol and get a feel for the city – tick – we wandered about for half the day
• Relax – tick – my feet are up as I type this
• Visit museums – partial tick – we went in the M Shed but were museumed out and didn’t go in the SS Britain

Bristol is an interesting city.  It has some tourist areas but many shops are closed on Sunday, so they are clearly not just focused on the tourists.  We had a nice stroll along the Avon river, walking down one side and hoping a ferry back to the other side and walking back.  The ferry was Nancy’s idea, not mine!

The further we got from the Avon River, the more we saw the everyday Bristol.  The UK economy is not strong and hasn’t been for years.  We could see this in Bristol through the number of shops that are permanently closed.  Same for the graffiti in the area near our hotel.  The local council seems to have lost control and in many cases it appears the business owners have taken to hiring the street artists to paint building-side murals.  I guess the theory is “if you can’t beat them, join them”.  I absolutely take the building owner’s side with regards to graffiti.  In fact, I have a secret dream to one day paint the phone/car/jacket/thing of value, of every “street artist” – just to see how they feel about their property being defaced with paint without their consent.  Having said that, I do appreciate the talent of the “store sponsored” art.  So, today’s slideshow is all about street art in Bristol.  There’s a few more photos than normal – hope you enjoy as we had fun roaming the streets.

Tomorrow we head west, into the prevailing winds.  We are only 220 miles from Lands End and we have a sniff of the barn door.  Nancy is busy planning the route.  We may make in as little as 4 days, probably 5 as there are some pretty steep hilly sections and those winds to deal with.  The forecast for a few days at least looks good, so we’ll see if we can’t make some miles – make hay while the sun shines, as they say.

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