The Conference begins on Friday, so we decided to go to
Bristol on Wednesday. Well, we were staying in the Executive Suite, so wanted
to enjoy it for a couple of extra days. The day began, as usual on Wednesdays, with
breakfast at The Bridge Hotel with Shepperton Aurora Rotary. Our speaker that
morning was Ros Lamb and a colleague from Littleton Phabsail, who take disabled
sailors out on Littleton lake. Some years ago, our club organised joined with three other clubs in the Borough
of Spelthorne to purchase an Access dinghy for Phabsail (Physically handicapped
and Able Bodied sailing Club). Access boats are particularly useful for
disabled sailing, as the instructor is able to sit next to the learner. We were delighted to learn that our boat,
which was christened ‘Aurora’ is still going strong after all these years.
Aurora takes to the waves on Littleton Lake
After the meeting had finished, I took Daisy to our friend
Linda, who would be looking after her until we return on Sunday, then came home
to pack the car in readiness for our departure. This proved to be a bit of a
struggle. Over the years I have become accustomed to the fact that the DG takes
a fortnight’s worth of clothing for a long weekend, and this trip was
understandably compounded by the need for
a ball gown and other formal clothes for all the receptions she was
attending and presentations she was making on stage. Even I had to dust off my
Dinner suit for the Saturday gala Dinner. In a future blog I may reveal how I
acquired this suit, which I have owned for some 25 years.
But it wasn’t just clothing we were taking. There were
several boxes of wine, beer, soft drinks and nibbles, for we expected to be
entertaining in our suite. There were two large plastic crates filled with
stuffed conference bags (Thank heavens there weren’t any more). We had brought
gifts and gift bags for all of the Conference team, as well as large candles
for VIPs and Speakers. The DG even got me to take our printer, as our temporary
office at the Conference, was not equipped with one. Then there were a couple
of pull-up banners and about 400 conference programmes in boxes. Of course
there always has to be room in the boot for the wheelchair. As you can imagine, the
car was absolutely jam-packed for this journey, with no rear visibility at all.
Our printer
Fortunately the 2 hour journey to Bristol was uneventful,
and we arrived at around 1 p.m. We drove straight to the Bristol Blue Glassshow room, to collect the paperweights that were to be presented to each
speaker, and time was even found to purchase some more jewellery. Somehow we
found room for 16 paperweights in the car, then it was off to the MarriottBristol City Centre to check in. The doorman / concierge / porter I’m not sure what they are called these days)
looked concerned at the amount of luggage in our car. He sent his young
assistant back in for 2 more trolleys. Eventually everything was loaded up, and
he knew where our room was, so it came to the tricky question of a tip. I
thought it would be best to keep on the right side of these chaps, because we
may need their help in other ways this weekend, so I gave them £10 between
them, which is about £8 more than my usual tip.
The Marriott Bristol City Centre
I went off to park the car whilst they took the luggage
upstairs. When I reached our suite, on the top floor of the hotel, the DG said
the concierges were very efficient and careful, so she gave them a £10 tip!
Clearly they did very well out of us, and we therefore were entitled to expect
good service for the rest of the weekend. Our suite was possibly the best hotel room we have ever stayed in. We had a large bedroom, with a king sized
bed, and a bathroom with ‘his and hers’ wash basins. What luxury! Besides that we had a sitting room as large
as the bedroom, with a dining area large fridge. There was a complimentary
bottle of wine from the hotel and 2 glasses on the dining table. The view from
our window was excellent, looking westwards across the city towards the Avon gorge. The suspension bridge was obscured, but I calculated it to be about 3
miles as the crow flies.
A suitable room for the Consort
Bathroom
Our Sitting Room
Complimentary Bottle of Wine
After unpacking and settling into our new surroundings we
set off in search of the hotel pool, which fortunately had Roman steps on one
side, making it accessible for the DG. It was a large pool, although half of it
was no more than 18 inches deep, and two or three swimmers made it seem a
little crowded. Besides the pool, there was a very powerful Jacuzzi, and also a
separate steam room and sauna. As we left the leisure centre, I had a small
problem with my locker. When you choose your locker, you have to create a
4-digit pass code to enable the locker to be opened. This was not a problem.
However, I should have made a note of the locker number, as when I got back to
the changing rooms, I knew my pass code, but couldn’t remember where my locker
was. Luckily there was no-one else in the changing rooms to see me going from
one locker to another trying my pass code, until eventually I found the right
one.
Hotel pool
That evening we walked through the extensive shopping area
next to the hotel, to a Restaurant called ‘Flavourz’. This is a Restaurant that
the DG had spotted when we came here a few weeks ago. It specializes in
International cuisine, all served as a buffet, along the lines of Jimmy Spices. It was mostly a pleasant walk,
but roadworks made it difficult in one or two places. On the way there we noted
the position of the Hotel Du Vin, which was to be the venue for our club dinner
on Friday evening. The food at Flavourz was very much to my liking, but less so
for the DG.
Flavourz Restaurant
We got back to the Hotel and the DG looked to set up her
I-pad to deal with the hundreds of e-mails she gets every day. To her horror,
she noticed that wi-fi was only free in the Terrace bar, and it costs £15 per
day elsewhere. She resolved to take this up with Holly, the Hotel events manager,
who she would be meeting in the morning.
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