vacation day eleven

Friday, August 12

our last day in Bristol. I started out at 6:30 am to see what I could see of the morning mass ascent of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. It was lovely to be out before the heat of the day. The balloons were far away but still pretty stunning, and I walked as far as the underside of Bristol's famous Clifton Suspension Bridge before guilt about abandoning the family made me turn around, though it didn't stop me from visiting the gothic St. Mary Redcliffe church on the way back. We frittered away the rest of the day doing last-day souvenir shopping and food-truck eating, saw the choir sing one more Evensong, and then went out to dinner with Greg and our college friend and his family, a fitting end to a much-more-social-than-usual vacation.

early morning reflections

the balloons! unfortunately the wind was never right for them to fly over Bristol, they just rose and drifted off to the west...but still, an amazing sight

the official church mouse of St. Mary Redcliffe

The Lady Chapel, at the front of St. Mary Redcliffe, has some turn of the (20th) century stained glass in vibrant colors, which made for some beautiful light streaming in as the sun rose. This picture is from the Lady Chapel looking back towards the nave.

resurrected medieval glass at St. Mary Redcliffe...

...and here's a closeup of some back in the cathedral

the boys demonstrate their meditation skillz

In an entirely intentional effort to bring the day full circle (obviously not, this was just a coincidence) we walked by the houses from the first picture again at dusk. That's the spire of St. Mary Redcliffe in the distance.