Saturday morning, we walked to the City Museum and Art Gallery (24 minutes walk, uphill) to meet Ruth. We started with a cup of tea and talked with her before we headed into the show. We had only corresponded with Ruth on the Internet and had only guessed at the real live person. Ruth recognized us the moment she walked through the door. Nancy had recognized her about fifteen times before the real Ruth walked in.
The museum featured a display of paintings by Rubens, Sargent, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Monet, Van Dyck and Van Gogh. It wasn't a large show and it displayed paintings were really fit for large mansion-style homes. It was fun to be able to get real close to them, though, and look at the brushstrokes. We remembered Van Gogh's work from our visit to Amsterdam in 1988.
After our museum visit we popped across the street and found a wonderful little shop for lunch called "The Boston Tea Party." Nancy had a salad, Jerry had a Panini (big here in England), and Ruth had a Risotto dish. We lingered over lunch in the upstairs of this restaurant and got to know more about Ruth.
We walked back to her car and stopped at an old "Red Lodge" museum house that she thought was recently highlighted in a BBC program. It wasn't the house in the program, but is a sister one and we have the address to see the other one. The house has some wonderful, ancient frescoes and delft tiles in and around the fireplaces.
Ruth's father was an archeological lover and she was taken around the countryside as a youngster and learned all about old houses. Ruth said that some of the "delft" tiles were manufactured around the Bristol area and sent to the Netherlands to be sold as "original" Delft tiles.
Ruth showed us around Bristol in her car. Her style was interesting. Sort of like the speed and obstacle avoidance of our cab drivers but not familiar with the latest constructions and so we got to see many of the sights several times. She and Nancy had agreed to do some shopping, but every attempt to get close to the major downtown shopping mall was frustrated by construction, closed parking structures, or being in the wrong lane. So, we changed the plan and decided to go to Ikea and the Tesco grocery store next door. This was the same complex that we had gone to on our first day. Nancy had stuff to return and we stopped at our flat to pick up the bedding that didn't fit. Then, off to the Ikea we went.
Did some shopping at Ikea and then changed parking lots so we could do our first big grocery shopping. Nancy was glad to have a local with us while we shopped - she was able to ask questions about brands and other differences.
Then, we packed all of the groceries into the car (big load, little car), around Nancy in the back seat, and Ruth showed us more areas of Bristol, mostly the Northern section, going close by her home. The suburban northern part to Bristol has an entirely different feel. "The Mall" shopping center is very American, requiring a car to go from one shop to another - lots of big stores - many of who were familiar to America. The individual homes were set on small lots and quite close together. But, there were large pasture-like green belts between the various developments. We ended the tour on Whiteladies Road and from there we were in what is becoming familiar territory. Nancy was a little happy to have the tour end because she was becoming quite intimate with the groceries. Ruth was a real doll for being so patient with us and schlepping us around.
After the groceries were put away and the list checked, we determined that we need a couple more big grocery trips to have stuff with to cook and eat. Bruce and Pam are arriving on Monday morning, so we needed to have at least 24 hours worth of food, after they arrive, until we can go out again.