Ahoy there, matey!

Today is one of our last Saturdays in Bristol and we realized that if we were ever going to visit Bristol’s best known tourist attraction we’d better hurry up. Surprisingly we have taken all of our visitors to see Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s SS Great Britain but had never actually toured the ship.  I suppose then its about time we checked it offer our list. I covered the SS Great Britain’s long and storied past shortly after we moved to Bristol, so if you are interested in the history click here.

Our day started like most in Bristol have started this year. Cold and wet! We began our visit at the café attached to the museum for a warm cup of hot chocolate to fortify us for an afternoon outside in the cold. The doors to the dry dock open to the stern of the ship and this view of the refurbished ocean liner.

As you approach the ship it appears as if she is still floating in the docks and ready to take to the high seas as if she never found herself scuttled and abandoned on a sandbar off the coast of the Falkland Islands in 1937. Yet as you walk through the moisture barrier you get your first views below the water and an idea as to just how much damage the elements can do over three quarters of a decade. The hull is littered with holes anywhere from pin to softball sized and that’s not even taking into account the scare on the starboard side of the ship that runs from the keel nearly to the gunwales.

After completing a circuit around the hull we ascended back above the waterline and made our way through the exhibit which tells the story of the Brunel’s ship from commissioning through restoration.  It is a very good exhibit and adds quite a bit of depth to the story thanks to numerous news articles, letters from passengers, paintings and eyewitness accounts throughout the duration of her service. 

Once you’ve worked your way through the onshore exhibit, you will find yourself on the bow of the ship where you receive an audio guide for your self-guided tour. Through the audio guide, you can choose to experience the ship from several different passenger perspectives including a posh upper class couple or a young working class family, both of which are looking forward a new life in a brave new world. The picture below is from the upper class berths situated just below the main deck and stretch from the main long mast to stern.

Our next stop was the upper levels of the engine room and as you can see from the photos below the equipment is staggeringly large. So of course to properly maintain and repair their engine room they needed properly large spanners as well.

Once we were finished inspecting the engines we moved on to steerage and found a bit of luggage left over from one of our summer guests. Hope there wasn’t anything important in your box, Bill.

We finished our tour with a stop in the Grand Dining Hall with its plush carpets, marbled columns and gilded mirrors. However, the most impressive item in the Dining Hall where the benches with moving backrest. I personally thought they were brilliant and am completely amazed I haven’t ever seen them anywhere else before.

As we were leaving the SS Great Britain we took a final few photos of the bow of the with its clean lines and ornate figurehead and were really happy we took the time to finally go and visit Bristol’s most famous ocean liner.

So, what’s next?

We are 21 months through our 24 month European Adventure, so naturally alot of people have been asking what we’re planning for the next escapade.  Well, much to the relief of the Type-A planner in me, we have made a decision!

But first, the narrative of how we got to the decision.

In November or so, I was offered an extension to my current contract to stay in Bristol for another year.  I was certainly honored that they thought I was doing well enough that they would want me to stay another year but there were so many things that I didn’t know how to reconcile at the time.  Adam had just finished his MBA & was starting to look for work.  He really wanted to work in the UK & I thought that if he found something quickly it could be our sign to stay.  But that didn’t happen, so we started thinking that we would be heading back come June when my contract was up.

In the mean time, Christmas happened and we had such a wonderful time in Switzerland.  We started thinking about the travel we haven’t been able to get to yet.  We looked back at the list that we’d made when we first moved here, and though we’ve made amazing progress, we’re nowhere near done (that said, we could probably be here another 12 years and not be done!).

So I went back to my office in January and told them that I wanted to see what I would be doing if I were to stay another year.  That’s when things got interesting.

My contract to come over here was very specific in the things I was supposed to do and learn.  I feel like I’ve done what I had set out to do so I asked around to see if there were other options that I could expand into.  The answer came back with a very emphatic, yes.  I started looking at the opportunities, weighing the options.  One that sounded interesting was in London.

We’re now about the end of January.  Adam has found some temporary consulting work, but nothing that could be turned into a long-term job and the market in Bristol is pretty saturated.  So relocating somewhere which would have more possibilities seemed to be a good option.  It would however mean finding a new house. And moving.  And then doing it all again in another year.  But then, how do you pass up the option to live in London for a year?

So, Adam & I talked and debated.  I spoke with upteen million people within PwC – Partners & trusted advisers in the US and UK, Global Mobility, HR in the US, HR in the UK, Legal Advisers (to make sure we could get visas for another year) & friends on both sides of the Atlantic.  We spoke with family.  We prayed.  Alot.  And we finally have come to peace with our decision.

We’re moving to London!

I came to a verbal agreement with PwC on the 26^th of February.  On the 1^st of March, Adam was invited to a networking event in London the following Thursday (the 7^th) to meet with people from consulting firms in the city.  On the 4^th Adam arranged to view 5 properties in London while he was in town the coming Thursday.  On Tuesday the 5^th, Adam received a note from a consulting firm in London that they would like to interview him on the 14^th.  Also on the 5^th PwC asked if I could move by 1 April because so I could pick up things on the new job for one of their deadlines three weeks after.  By the 7^th I had cleared everything with my current business unit who said they could make the 1^st of April work.  My head was beginning to spin with the pace of activity.

On Thursday the 7^th Adam went to London to look at houses and I went to work.  About 2pm he called and said that he’d found the place he wanted.  It was “the house” he said.  The only problem was they had two more viewings scheduled the following day.  (In the UK, in renting at least, houses are first come, first serve – we found that one out the hard way the last time we tried to rent something over here!)  So he was very worried that if we waited until Saturday when I could get up to London to view it, it would no longer be on the market.  So (after about 15 minutes on the phone convincing me it would be okay) he signed a lease.

Yeah.  Adam rented our house without me inspecting it.  Oh, and he forgot to take pictures of it while he was viewing.

As I left for work, I mentioned that we should look into the movers since we need to move over Easter weekend and nobody works on Good Friday over here.  By the time I came home from work, Adam had hired a moving service, changed the address on all the bills (most important being the cable company installation so that he doesn’t miss the season premiere of Doctor Who on Easter Sunday), and given notice on our current house.

So that’s our news.

For those who know London or want our address, send me an email & I’ll give you more detail.  For those who told us all last year that you wanted to come visit, you now have a one year extension – don’t expect another one.  You need to book some plane tickets!