Hello Bristol

Wednesday morning, and our train for Bristol left at 9:45. We were packed, had the flat straightened up, and were downstairs waiting for Caelen to pick us up by 9:00.

We could have just walked, but the wheels on Kathy's suitcase split apart and we repaired them with superglue and duct tape. Since Caelen offered to drive us, we thought that would be better than taking a chance with the newly-repaired wheels. While we were waiting, we had a goodbye chat with Kirk West and a Romanian student who were working on the building in anticipation of the UK Pastor's Conference in a couple weeks.

We arrived fifteen minutes early at the train station, so I had time to grab a bacon butty (having magnanimously let Kathy have the last of the granola a little earlier). Our train pulled in right on time and we headed out to Bristol.

We got to see a little different scenery this time, going across country. We went through Birmingham and the industrial midlands section. South of that, on the way to Chetelham Spa, there was rolling green hills, and fenced fields full of grazing sheep.

We pulled into Bristol's Temple Meads station about 1:30, picked up a tourist map at the information desk, and hopped on the number 9 bus to ride to our hotel. The problem was, we should have hopped on the number 8 bus. Both of them go past our hotel, but the number 9 bus stops there after touring around most of Bristol, instead of heading there straight-away.

Compounding the problem was that we had a pretty difficult time understanding the bus driver. In the end, we were able to understand well enough to get off and find our hotel right on Victoria Square.

We're staying at a Best Western hotel, converted from a pair side-by-side Victorian townhouses right on the park. Our room was on the third floor and had a great view. Unfortunately, it was very, very small, with room for the bed and not much else. Apparently in the old houses, the upper floors were the servant's quarters.

Kathy called down to see if they had any larger rooms, and they offered to move us into a basement apartment in the next building, but they couldn't do it for the first night.

After we got unpacked, Kathy called Karen Robinson who was going to come pick us up. We also called Ben Vizcarra who we had met earlier in Seigen, and who has just started a brand new church plant in Bristol.

While we waited for Karen and Ben, we walked around the block. Behind the hotel is a large cemetery, and Kathy wanted to make sure that I took a picture of one of the squirrels for Sabrina K.

Ben showed up a little earlier than Karen, but soon we were all together sitting down for a nice dinner.

After dinner, Karen drove us all around Bristol, taking us out to the Avon Gorge and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. It was cold. You can tell by how Karen and Kathy huddled for this picture.

We also drove over to look at the Ashley Downs orphanage buildings built by George Müller, where he cared for over 10,000 orphans, depending entirely on faith to provide for their needs. Most of the buildings are still standing, but are now used by a college and as a development of luxury flats.

He was also one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren movement, but it is his reliance on God's provision to support his ministry that we most remember. Ben's new Bristol Calvary Chapel fellowship uses one of Müller's Bethesda Chapel offshoots in Clifton for their weekly Thursday night meeting.