On the weekend before Christmas my two nieces Elise and Aimee paid me a visit in Bristol to stay for a couple of days. Fortunately for me Debbie was on hand to help me control the two terrors.
On Saturday we went to @Bristol, which is a science exhibition that is permanently on display at the newly refurbished Bristol docks area.
Here's Debbie watching Elise work a water pump at the @Bristol exhibition. 
The exhibition was actually very good and there were lots for kids and adults to do and play with. I particularly liked the main water display in the middle of the exhibition, which showed how water could be moved around by various mechanical mechanisms.
The exhibition could easily be taken over two days, as one day wasn't long enough for us to see all the exhibits. It was all set over two floors and we didn't even get to see the various shows on offer throughout the day.
Aimee dressed as a Crocodile.
All the displays had some form of active participation in order to learn what was going on. I can highly recommend the @Bristol exhibition, for the £10 entrance fee it was a bargain of a day out.
Here we are playing virtual volleyball!
[Volleyball video]
[Volleyball video]
Afterwards we went for French pizza at Pizza Provencale in Clifton. I think Aimee must have had too much banoffee pie for desert as she had a slight tummy ache later on in the evening.
On Sunday we played some games of Carcassonne and also twister. I think Aimee must be a fast devious learner as at one point in Carcassonne she promised to help Elise out later on providing Elise helped her out now. However, later on in the game she didn't help Elise out and instead took advantage of her position to help herself win the game!
Aimee, Elise and I struggling with our arms and legs at Twister.
We also had several fun card games of snap among other things. The games of snap started to get particularly tense.
Very competitive snap!
[Snap Game video]
On Sunday evening my sister Helen and Aran arrived to pick up Aimee and Elise. We went for Yo! Sushi for dinner at the Bristol town centre. I had a one third off my bill voucher, which I figured would save us quite a bit of money. The meal turned out to cost £90, which cost us £60 after a discount. I'm not sure whether to be glad that we saved £30 or shocked that the meal was so expensive. From now on Yo! Sushi is only a lunchtime activity to keep costs down. ;-)
My Christmas week was spend at Debbie's place in Manchester this year. It was a refreshing change to spend a quiet Christmas this year as relatives and children normally surround me over these few days.
Debbie and I just locked ourselves in and ate too much, drunk too much and played too many games over Christmas day and Boxing day. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Christmas holiday.
On the Saturday after Christmas I had a chance to go for a bike ride around the Peaks near to where Debbie lives. I didn't go out for too long but it was an exciting ride.
The route up to Hartshead Pike was particularly cold and extremely windy as well. I found some really nice bridle path routes up to the top, which deserve some more exploration on a later date.
An excellent bridle path, which next time I'll have to cycle down rather than up!
At the top of the pike it was really windy and I had to shelter myself from the harsh frosty wind to take a break. On the way down I had to walk the first hundred yards as it was much to icy to cycle down. I even had problems walking down in my cycling shoes and did wonder at one point how I was going to get down on my chosen route.
Debbie and I went down to Brighton to meet up with a few of Debbie's friends, Jane and Lindsey for New Year Celebrations. We also met up with Steve from London as we went to Uni in Brighton so knew the place quite well.
Initially we went out to a house party at Lindsey's sisters neighbours place. It was a very nice modern house that the party was at. However, we did feel a little out of place. It was a party full of London city types, I think we must have been the only people there who didn't go to a public school.
We were there for some great food and after stuffing our faces moved on to a pub in the town centre. After a couple of pints there we moved onto a gay and lesbian club for the New Year celebrations. One thing I can say about a gay club is that, at least the music is much better there. I also felt much safer there as everyone was quite friendly and very easygoing.
Lindsey, Jane and Debbie.
We all had a great time there and danced in the New Year into the early hours. The following day was spent mostly driving. Seriously, Debbie and I drove back from Brighton to Bristol taking about three and a half hours, then from Bristol back to Manchester, taking another two and a half hours. I think I had had enough driving by then!
Lucky for me, I was given some Yo! Sushi gift vouchers for Christmas. So Debbie and I had to go and spend them in Manchester Selfridges Yo! Sushi.
Mmm, yet another fantastic meal. :-)
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