Vero (3) - Retail Therapy

Romford Market

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The following day we didn’t go far, and had a very enjoyable day at Romford market. 

(Zanna, your entrepreneurial skills have spread far and wide...)

Here was a person let loose in a sweet shop who didn’t know what to look at first… so we covered every single stall just in case.  A canny and picky buyer, she fingered every fabric and held every dress and skirt against herself to see if she liked it.

I was entertained for a while watching children suspended inside balloons which tumbled about in water, while they kept dry.  The first one shows how they start it up with the child inside.  You couldn’t tempt me I’m afraid… but it was fun to watch.

The next day we drove Vero to Norwich, where she was to spend the following week at the University of East Anglia, on a summer school course for literary translators. 

There were some pretty views along the way.

She got to meet a lot of interesting people, and for the first time heard the accents of Spanish speakers from different parts of the world, as well as of many other nationalities.  They worked hard and had a good laugh together, surely the perfect recipe for a first class learning experience.  Her English was much more confident when we met her at the railway station on her return.

Next time - Stratford-upon-Avon

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Photo Finish

From Lonicera's non-digital archive

Yet more Bristol...

St Peter's in Broadmead, the downtown shopping centre -

a bombed out shell

Sunday afternoon on the Downs

A detail from the fountain at the Victoria Rooms

The mandatory shot of the Clifton Suspension Bridge -

a different angle to the previous ones

Fosters Almshouse, originally built in the 15th century but

this rebuild is from the 19th century.  Recently sold off

and now used as private apartments.

Another iconic Bristol landmark - the SS Great Britain, first Screw Steamship of its type, and like the Clifton Suspension Bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.  It was launched in 1843 as a passenger ship between Bristol and New York, and later used to transport immigrants to Australia.  From the 1880's she was retired to the Falkland Islands as a warehouse quarantine ship and coal hulk.  In 1970 she was returned to Bristol for restoration.  Expert carpenters have rebuilt the cramped sleeping quarters of the passengers, and it has been so carefully re-created that it makes you wince to imagine 64 days at sea with so little room.

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