Saturday, October 20, 2007

Again with the walking

I wanted nothing more than to sit and read my book today but I only have today and tomorrow here so I pushed myself to go out exploring. I walked all over Bristol with a map and a strong desire to find some thrift stores. I managed to find four of them - all of them uphill. They are called Charity shops here. The shops that I found were a little more upscale than the ones I frequent back home. Everything on hangers and polished up with price tags and all. Still, I found some great stuff. I got a dish rack for the flat here(one pound) . Some books- The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger- I've just started it but so far it's great. I got of those ten in one game sets for the flat (2 pounds fifty). The boys have already played several games of chess. Also- a couple of shirts, a yellow teapot that I love (two pounds fifty), some old maps for collage making (50 pence each) , some odds and ends of old jewelry (five pence each piece) and one pair of checkerboard shoelaces (which both Griffin and Riley are going to want). I went in some regular stores but the exchange rate is so bad for american money that every time I saw something I might want to buy, I realized it was actually going to cost twice the price and I didn't want it anymore. Also, packing might be a problem. I'll probably start some packing tonight. I did bring some food here that I won't be bringing back. But I also bought even more food here that I want to bring home. And I have a bunch of newspapers from London, Rome and Paris. I thought I would make some cool decoupage with them. And I kinda picked through someones trash in Italy and scored some nice fat fashion mags for collages. I have no shame about garbage picking especially in other countries. Anyway, all that stuff is gonna take up some room.
Tonight is a very big Rugby match- the finals. England vs. Someone. Every man I spoke to today- at shops, asking for directions, my cabbie- asked me if I was going to watch the game. It's so huge here -kind of like the Superbowl times 100. My cabbie was going on and on about England's chances and I felt like teasing him a bit so I asked him who he was rooting for. He laughed and laughed. "Good one, my love." I really adore being called "my love" by total strangers.
Also while I was walking around I ran into a couple of members of the Bristol Parkour gang.I went up to them and told them I took a movie of them last week and posted it on my blog and they had already seen it! Small world!!



This guy came up to me while I was taking pictures of a church and told me I should be taking his picture. So I did.

For Riley- they look like your guitar!


The entrance to Diagon Alley (Harry Potter reference)



L to R - back row- Nick, Piia, John and John
front - Mai-Lys and Christina



Chicken and Dumplings! And for pudding(dessert) Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream frosting
A meal inspired by and in honor of my Nana K.


Some of my Charity Shop treasures.

4 comments:

jullee said...

your commentary is doing nothing to allay my fears for your baggage allowance ! You can probably carry on the medium bag (of course pack your heaviest items and most precious finds in there) as well carry on your stuffed purse. wear your bulkiest clothes...i think they will charge you for over 70 lbs and it ain't cheap! if there is anything you can be even remotely ambivalent( yea right) about pack it at the top so you can easily get down to the 70 lbs. alright I will just let go of it even though I wish i could give you some insider info..but alas I know none.

Sarah and Jack said...

Haha, the random man cracks me up!

Jack does stuff like that sometimes, he will wander over and say, hey, take a picture of me.
:-)

tedapple said...

Rocky,

Love the reference to Mother....

Dad

weirdbunny said...

So glad your having a brilliant time !