To DNR: on leave to Bristol, England this week....

DNR, in case you don't get your email....

You should have said before! I live 15 miles north of Bristol! It's a village called Charfield just off Junction 14 of the M5 motorway (Freeway). Will you have transport? Is this a business trip? Are you traveling alone?

This hotel right?
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/BRSRY-Bristol-Marriott-Royal-Hotel

My phone number is 01454 260194
Graeme

Greetings Osprey and the 501 Gang,

Yes I've landed after 16 hours of travel and am now set up for a week in the Bristol Marriott Royal. This is a business trip for sure but I've scheduled my time to have today (Saturday to get my clock reset) and all day Sunday the 10th to muck about. Monday through Fri I'll be working but then next Saturday I'll be off again to do a little sight seeing and socialzing. With two full days I'm hoping we can link up for some pints and bangers at your favorite pub.

I don't have my own vehicle, and frankly the thoughts of a disoriented Canuck driving around the countryside trying to remember to stay on the left side of the road should put fear in any Englishman's heart, so to keep the good folks of Bristol safe and sound, I'll cab it from here. 15 km, geeze I could run that far (well maybe five years ago).

If you have an RV time and location and are aval Sunday or next Saturday then leave a message here and we'll see if we can arrange some good ol' fashion inter squadron liaison and get so pics of 401 and 501 on the forum!

Glad you had a safe flight

OK no problem, I'll make a suggestion to my wife about shopping in Bristol and we can meet up for a drink or two. If you get free time go and soak up some really old stuff - I know you North Americas guys are a bit short on stuff that's 1000 years old ;). Go and see the likes of the SS Great Britain (or anything that Brunel had a hand in) and perhaps take in a medieval castle such as the one at Chepstow, or if you want something older there's plenty of 2000 year old Roman stuff in the neighbouring city of Bath. You might like a cathedral or two also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Britain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chepstow_Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Baths_(Bath)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Cathedral

See you soon I hope
~S~ Osprey

Make sure you get some pictures for the boys back home!

Osprey,

I'm here all week and aside from a formal dinner on Wed night, I'm free all day tomorrow, Mon-Tue evening, Thur-Fri evening and all day next Sat. I'm sure your lovely wife would enjoy a day in Bristol so I'm looking forward to getting together. Pick a spot you like and I'll meet you there. Well have to devise our Sqn recognitions signals. Now's the time I wish I had a 401 Sqn golf shirt or cap or something.

Good suggestions on sights, there's certainly lots of great sites to see. Our conference on Wed-Fri is actually on board the SS Great Britain so that will be a treat, and if I can slip over to Bath that would be a bonus. I've read some very good books on the Roman period in Britain and would love to see the sites.

Pictures on their way Skipper. That is assuming my baggage arrives! First day in Bristol with my laptop and clothes on my back, baggage somewhere in transit.

Excellent. My wife will probably just go off to the shops with the kids but we can go do something in the town. I can come to the hotel no problem so meeting up shouldn't be too hard. I rarely get down into Bristol so I'd be a rubbish tour guide anyway tbh, might be worth a look at this too though ~ http://calendar.whatsonbristol.co.uk/
If you have evenings free then the Bristol Hippodrome will have a show on no doubt if you want some entertainment. Are you on your own or with work colleagues? You are welcome to come to dinner at my house for an evening if you like but you'll have to get a train from Bristol to Cam & Dursley - I can pick you up from there. Check http://www.thetrainline.com/ I don't know if you would leave from Bristol Temple Meads or Bristol Parkway, it should be a direct train though, no changes! I think it would be Bristol Parkway though and that's slightly out of Bristol centre, but I suspect you can use either. It's annoying because the railway goes right through my village but they closed the station years ago!

Parkway
http://goo.gl/maps/Tlvo

Cam & Dursley
http://goo.gl/maps/uBcv

dnr wrote:Now's the time I wish I had a 401 Sqn golf shirt or cap or something.

Hmm, there's an idea.... Let me look into this.

OK,

I think we've narrowed it down to two options:

Option one we can meet in town. I'll check out the coming attractions for next Saturday. We could meet here at the hotel, the wife and little ones can either come along, or do some shopping in town or the mall which is a short distance from here. We would then head off for a couple of hours, and then meet back up with the family so you can get home in time for dinner;

Option two I come to visit. I can take the train or a cab to your place any night this week except Wed, and visit in the comfort of Ospreys cockpit. I think our schedule usually concludes about 1600 hrs daily so I should be able to make the trip before six.

Your choice my friend, I'm game for either.

Option 1, or the missus will not go shopping There is a large 'mall' (Cabot Circus) in Bristol, they seem to like it there.........

Hi Osprey,

Just checking to see if we're still on for Saturday and to confirm a time to meet up at the hotel before mom and the kiddies head over to the mall. I don't have anything specific in mind so as they check out the shops, we could simply find a spot for some tea and chat about the upcoming campaign.

Thanks for the recommendation on sites to visit, been to the Cathedral, Museum, the Tower, SS Great Britain and various restaruants in the area. Great city with lots of history and things to do.

If tomorrow does not work for you, no worries, the conference organizers have confirmed that next year's event will be back here in Bristol and we could get together then.

Your call my friend.

Cheers

I'm glad you're having a nice time but i'm really sorry but I can't make it :( I've had something (family thing) come up at the last minute and I'm up London way all weekend, (I'm here now) really sorry!! I feel really bad now because i should have had you over for dinner during the week. I just hope it hasn't put you out at all and I'm glad to hear you're getting to see the sights. Yes, next year would be perfect, we can plan something in advance.

If you want to soak up some modern English culture then I recommend you go to a pub which is showing the England match tonight. There will be lots of atmosphere. Kick off is 7.45. And don't worry, English fans aren't hooligans!

~S~

Osprey wrote:If you want to soak up some modern English culture then I recommend you go to a pub which is showing the England match tonight. There will be lots of atmosphere. Kick off is 7.45. And don't worry, English fans aren't hooligans!

~S~

This is a fabulous idea, actually. And if you can find a chalkboard anywhere in a pub, maybe near a darts board, put up your tally score.

Speaking off the game...hmm, might try to get out a little early for that.

Hey no worries Osprey,

Had a great time this week and in fact just got back from the pub down near the market and with the England vrs Sweden game on there was plenty of activity throughout the city.

Good luck in London and I'm sure we can arrange something next year. I'll get back to 401 Sqn this week and look forward to a great campaign with the lads in 501 and 64 Sqns.

Cheers mate and thanks for the hospitality. Family comes first, don't ever doubt that.