Holiday – a week of firsts, a hotel in Bristol

We rarely manage a full family holiday as the OH works all the time (damn that harvest getting in the way of a summer holiday), but we went away for a few days away somewhere new that wasn’t a road trip visiting friends.  Given it was a bank holiday and I only booked last week, I’d decided that we’d head west and stay in a hotel in Bristol. Apart from driving through Bristol to a dance weekender (and my friend’s car breaking down on the Clifton Suspension Bridge), I’ve never been there before so that was a first for me.  For N, the novelty was staying in a hotel as he’d never been in one before.

We stayed in The Bristol Hotel, right on the harbourside, and I’m not sure what he made of it at first.

1, Great bed.  He made himself right at home sprawling out on it.  Oh, and that’s how he tends to sleep, sprawled out as well.  He had a great few nights sleep, me not so much!

2, Buffet breakfast.  Well, just breakfast outside home or nursery really. He couldn’t believe his eyes with a choice of (free for under 5s) breakfast, from a range of cereals, fruits, juices, pastries, continental meats and cheeses, toast and then obviously cooked breakfast.  I thought he’d want to try lots of different things..a bit like children at birthday parties, but he was quite controlled.  More so than I know I can be at breakfasts.  He chose weetabix, then some toast with bacon, scrambled egg, and beans.  And he tried a hash brown.  I’m surprised he didn’t ask for a cooked breakfast on arriving home.

Even better, breakfast on one day was accompanied by a pianist on the upper floor of the restaurant/bar area. A real novelty, and I thought N was going to walk up to the man playing as we left to head off that day.

3, Great twirly chair.  Simple things please children, and this was brilliant in his eyes.

4, Lifts.  What child doesn’t like a lift?  But a lift in a place you’re sleeping at is more interesting than those boring ones in shops.  These had posh lights and posh mirrors, and it was a case of guessing whether it would be the small one or the larger one that arrived first.  Each time was a game of guessing as we waited.

A hotel is definitely one of those treat occasions.  Usually we’d have stayed in bed and breakfasts if we were going away in the UK, but on this occasion everything was pretty much full, and it was nice to have less to do when it came to accommodation.  Being right on the harbour was lovely (although a bit noisy at night even though we didn’t overlook the river), and N loved going for a walk alongside to explore what was there.

We wandered looking at the boats and finding our bearings on the first evening, checking out the places I had on my ‘to visit’ list (MShed being one). and then heading the other way down the harbour to find somewhere to eat dinner.

Staying on the harbourside was a great position for exploring, with all the main museums and activities near by.  Thankfully N is pretty much used to my cramming in as much as possible to a day out somewhere, and this holiday wasn’t any different.

During our few days away, we spent time in Millennium Square (along with all the other parents up early on a Sunday morning)

exploring M Shed, including sitting at a Victorian school desk while singing in a loud high pitched voice the ABC song (that Happyland village school is totally to blame!).

Oh, and then a visit to Weston-Super-Mare, Wookey Hole and Bristol Aquarium.  It was a great holiday, and nice to get away visiting somewhere new with N.

Do you enjoy new places, or go back to places you know and love?  What’s been the best new place you’ve visited this Summer?