Our night at the ballet in The View from the Terrace

We had a lovely evening at the ballet in Bristol last Thursday. We went to see La Fille Mal Gardee by the Russian State Ballet. They were very good, though I feel production of the same ballet by The Royal Ballet in London that I saw in the 70s was better. I hardly ever get to go to a ballet nowadays and it was wonderful to sit there again watching this colourful, happy production and enjoying the music. The Bristol Hippodrome is a beautiful old Victorian theatre with a piano bar on the ground floor. The strawberry and clotted cream ice cream was a bit pricy at £3.50, but well worth it and there was a £5 reduction on the tickets for seniors.

I hope we will go there again, but the journey was something of a nightmare. On the way there we accidently turned off at the M5 instead of the M32. I realised almost immediately when I saw the sign said Bristol West but it was too late. We ended up driving along a city road with junctions and traffic lights for about 7 miles which would have been entirely avoided. Then Hubby took the wrong turn for the car park and we almost got lost but found the way eventually. It took us almost 3 hours to drive 55 miles!

Our journey home was even worse. This time we did go the right way but, after driving up the M32 to the M4 we found the junction closed. There was no alternative but to turn back and get off at the previous junction and cut across to the M5. But we misssed the turn and ended up back in Bristol! There was a moment when I thought of that 60s programme The Prisoner - There is no escape! Eventually after driving right through the city we found the M5. On the way we passed under the suspention bridge all lit up and looking beautiful under a star filled sky, well there always is a silver lining.

We eventually found ourselves approaching the Severn Bridge and after all of that I needed the loo, so we drove of into the services only to find they were closed! It was just after 11pm but I thought motorway services never closed. It was foggy when we reached the Wye Valley road and we had at least an hours drive to go. I thought I was going to have to find a quiet lane or something when Hubby said lets check out if the toilets at Tintern Abbey were open. I told him that was ridiculous as no one goes there at that time of night but he tried anyway and they were open! I will remember that. Then after a slow drive through the fog down the quiet country roads we finally arrived home after midnight.

Last updated January 24, 2017