Photos Copyright: Maggie May
As it was half term in Bristol this week, I decided to take my granddaughters some where really special. I know that Amber had already hinted to me before, that she'd like to go to the Bristol Aquarium by the harbour. Millie had already been with the school previously and had said that she enjoyed it.
I decided to keep the visit secret and asked their dad to bring packed lunches when he brought them round.
We set off on the bus and Amber asked, "Is it a quality outing?"
I replied that I thought it was and I assumed that a *no quality outing* would mean a picnic in a park or something, which they used to like but are now getting a bit bored with.
When we got off the bus at the city Centre and started to walk towards Millennium Square, Amber's face brightened and she appeared to be really pleased with where we were going and said she'd hoped it would be the Aquarium.
We entered the darkened corridors that twisted and turned and looked at the colourful tanks of fish.
There was a large octopus hiding in one of the tanks...... not very photo friendly one as I just couldn't get a snap of him. I have never been up close to one before though, so I was intrigued to watch it.
In another tank were some slimy giant eels of an enormous size. They got fed while we were watching them and gobbled the fish straight down. They moved too fast for a photo but were fascinating to watch.
I enjoyed the sea horses and and the beautiful coral reef which was a living wall, opening and shutting all the time.
The entrance fee also entitled us to see some 3D films in the Imax theatre, which we enjoyed and there were plenty of tables and chairs where we could sit and eat our sandwiches later.
Being a bit older, Amber doesn't go galloping through to the next thing as quickly as she used to do and both children do stop to look at things for longer. Amber had to say to Millie a few times though, "Lets make the most out of everything and not rush through." I was pleased about that as I like to savour everything at a slower pace.
The corridor opened out into a large room and in the centre of it was a huge tank with many different sea fish and living coral. Very beautiful to see.
We had already walked through glass tunnels at the bottom, seeing fish on different levels.
This tank was extremely deep by the time we got level with the open top that had just a fence round it. In the picture at the bottom, you can see lifebelts.
Thankfully nobody fell it while we were there!
We all had a really good day out and were tired out by the time we got home.
Yes, a successful outing.
