Our Friend Jo Gets Hitched

We'd been looking forward to meeting our friend Joanna's fiance but didn't quite manage it until the day before her wedding. Looks like she picked a gem..Simon has the good looks and the personality to fit with her vibrant life. They seem to share interests. The wedding ceremony took place in a typically gothic 19th century village church on the site of a much older building. The Anglican rector knew how to involve the congration as she proceeded through the service, the some of the body gymnastics she requested, simple though they were, outpaced John's abilities, which was duly noticed since he was sitting on the aisle. We also had the distinction of being the only Americans, though there was a visible Scot in his Black Watch tartan kilt.

Many of Jo's friends were just delightful, a cross section from her life. The reception site, the Bristol Zoo, turned out to be a locale with something to interest everyone, though John did not find the giraffe he had hoped to ride. Ben found his big kitty, an Asian lion pacing his cage, with the good taste not the lick his over the two-to-four year olds ogling him. I guess his appetite got dampened later in the evening when it started to pour.

Ruth, the mother of the bride, made the multi-layered English fruit cake wedding cake. Took her several days as she built up the layers, held together by supporting dowels so the cake would not flatten

Our hotel, the Redwood Country Club was excellent, though overpowered by weddings--there were three while we there. Young people do like to shout in the halls at 2:30AM.

We would like to have had a bit more time in Bristol. Our hosts,Ruth and Andy,took us to a fine fish restaurant, Loch Fyne, in the old dock section, now full of restaurants and nightclubs. John had an excellent smoke mackerel pate, and really good fish and chips as the main. Ben started with seafood soup, unlike chowder with no whole veggie pieces. His main course was a grilled whole bream (which is similar to a sea bass).

Bristol is full of marvelous engineering projects---and they are marvelous since it was the home of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The Clifton suspension bridge, and the SS Britannia, the , orlds first ocean liner, are part of the general feel of the city. Of course, Bristol got very rich transporting slaves and tobacco in the 18th century, much like its namesake in Rhode Island.