Bath

42nd Street with Jake, the Sugar Daddy, at the back.

We have just enjoyed a weekend away for the first time in ages, and Dan was a total star! He wasn't the only star though: my grandchildren, Jake and Thea were in "42nd Street", the classic stage musical, at the Kingswood School Theatre, high on the Cotswold edge, above Bath city centre. What an amazing performance! The set was pretty minimal, but that only served to show off the performances and the costumes to the best advantage. The youngsters showed real talent and some of them had sharpened their dancing, singing or acting skills to a standard well beyond their years. Well done everyone.

We timed our visit to coincide with the show, but planned to jam in as much as we could over the week-end. However, we lost a lot of time on Friday due to packing and traffic jams. Saturday and Sunday just flew past so we didn't do a big shop and we didn't get to swim in the spa pools that have been renowned since Roman times. Hanna was really looking forward to being pampered, but we will just have to come back for another try.

Thea in blue, front left.

We did manage to spend some rare "quality-time" with James and Jo and we had a big family get-together over Sunday lunch at Bottelino's; a really good family Italian restaurant at the top of the town. We were 13 for lunch! All the Bristol Stevensons came to join the Bath Stevensons and ourselves, in what turned out to be a toddler-worshipping session. Laura, my niece, brought along her two gorgeous young boys, Theo and Eben. They were so well behaved, and really cute.

We rented a small flat, very close to the town centre, for two nights and this solved the parking problem because we had a residents' permit and could walk everywhere from home which was above a charity shop and a violin restorer's. Actually, we never saw them open for business, but across the road was an excellent general store, a pub and a coffee shop where we bought hot toasties for breakfast. The flat was in a castle-like hillside complex that involved a lot of steps and had an antiquated plumbing system which we mastered about an hour before we left on Sunday. Actually, we didn't exactly leave; we locked ourselves out and had to call the land-lady to let us back in.

The flat.

Apart from our family connections, Hanna and I both find Bath to be an extremely attractive city, on a par with Edinburgh. It's a bit too Middle England in some ways, with almost no racial mix and a predominantly middle class feel. There is no evidence of a recession there either. But it has lots going for it. As well as a strong arts scene, fabulous architecture and countryside all around it, we saw wildlife down-town in the form of peregrines and buzzards.

Dan particularly enjoyed eating out, and he was brilliant really. He discovered that, when he isn't eating, he likes to chat up the barman or watch the chef. Despite there being numerous eating places in Bath, it is always advisable to book, especially at week-ends, and especially if you have a big party, or an impatient 17 year old.

After all that, we were glad to get back in our own beds on Sunday night. However, on Monday morning, Hanna said to me, "Did I tell you there decorators are coming today?" to which I replied "What time." "Now" she said, "and did I also tell you that I have a doctors appointment?" Just then the phone rang to remind me that a very attractive student called Emma was waiting to see me in my office. I'd completely forgotten.

Theo, Alex, Ross and Eben.

And so began another normal, chaotic week with the Brampton Stevensons. Dan's room is being decorated so he's in Nick's room, tomorrow we start on the living room. When we take out the opld shelves, will we ver put them back? Will the rest of the house look really shabby by comparison? I'll let you know.