Bristol or Bust!

Wednesdays are a day off I share with some other international girls I met here at Swansea. This makes it an opportune time to go out and explore the world around us. This Wednesday a girl from Germany invited us to go to Bristol with her, since she needed to pick her boyfriend up from the airport and saw it as a great opportunity to see the city. She remembered me specifically saying that I wanted to see that city as well. Although more were invited, I was the only one able to go with her.

I had been looking forward to this ever since I heard about it, but at first it seemed as if I would not make it. My first mistake was locking myself out of my room when I went to make breakfast. This meant walking barefoot on wet and cold cement to go get a replacement. Because of the time it took to get there and take it back on the way to the bus, breakfast turned out to be a bust. I still was able to generally get ready (brush my teeth, pack my things, etc.), but I missed the first bus. I wasn't too concerned as there was supposed to be one soon after. However, while the first bus was on time, this one was about 10 minutes late. Additionally, it seemed to be making more stops than usual (probably not the case, but that is always how it seems).

Luckily the bus arrived to the coach station on time for me to board and take another bus. The girl I went with was even so kind as to give me an apple since I hadn't had the time to eat. Since she can only eat gluten-free products, she has to always pack plenty of snacks.

Once we arrived, we were not too sure what to do. I grabbed lunch at a "everything for 99 pence" restaurant, and while there we went on TripAdvisor to see what there was to do. Ultimately, we just checked out the visitor's center. The lady gave us a map and highlighted a path we could walk in order to visit some of the main sights.

The first stop was St. Nicholas Market. It was definitely interesting and filled with lots of Indian cuisine.

This is actually a google image. I had not yet started taking photos.

 Swansea has the largest indoor market in Wales (not where Bristol is), and so while this may have been bigger (probably), I had already had the market experience at Swansea and was not as interested in it.

Our next destination was M Shed to see the SS Great Britain. In order to get there, we had to walk through Queen Square, which was a nice bit of green park among the main city.

No idea why he is holding the cone. Probably someone's idea of a prank.

It was amazing to be able to walk along the water. I told the girl that it was how I imagined Venice to be like, but she told me that Venice has more water. She had been there before and there was essentially no sidewalk, and so everyone had to get around in long boats.

Still, I enjoyed looking out along the water and seeing a large variety of boats. Even the temporary footbridge (probably there to replace a prettier version) was amazing to me. When I walked on top of it, I could see boats passing beneath me. One of them was even made to look like a shark.

What else I noticed later down the path was a group of multi-colored houses in the background. It reminded me of San Francisco, where paint color can be an opportunity for creative expression. Pink is popular and even a bright purple house would not seem out of place.

They are in the background. It will definitely brighten up the area on gloomy, rainy days.

We were unable to find the SS Great Britain at first, but instead came across something called The Matthew. It was on the map, and so Ann wondered if that was in fact the SS Great Britain. If that were the case, it would be disappointing. Although it was of historical significant, the boat was quite small.

I said that we should go into M Shed and ask (she had already been quite open in asking people where things were when we were trying to find the visitor's center) as I found it hard to believe that something so small would be what we were looking for.

In M Shed, they told us that The Matthew is different and that the SS Great Britain was about ten minutes down the path. We thanked him and continued along the way. Once we saw sails poking from around the corner, we knew we were close. Unfortunately, we discovered that in order to enter and get a good view view of the SS Great Britain and go inside of it, we would have to buy a year pass for £11 (that is with a student discount, and comes to almost $17). Neither of us knew much about the ship and agreed that it wasn't worth the money. Instead, we took what pictures we could from outside the fence and moved on.

 Our next stop was the Bristol Cathedral. I was pretty excited for this one, as last semester I took an art history class that had a lot of focus on the architecture and art for churches (many of which were cathedrals). I had gained an appreciation for everything that we would discover inside.

Originally consecrated on 11 April 1148.

There was a service inside for a group of children wearing neon safety vests. They were doing some presentations, but we were told that it would be ending shortly. I did not mind it, but was instead amazed with the size of the nave it was taking place in. 

There is even more rooms behind that back area.

While they finished up, we looked around in the back. There were a couple of statues, which may have dated back hundreds or thousands of years. One of the plaques was even in another language (most likely Latin). 

There was another one on the other side. High up on the walls was also some very pretty stained glass windows lining the cathedral. 

Death seemed to be a common theme. Along the bottoms of the walls were statues that represented some of the dearly departed. I also read that many were buried on the grounds. 

This is just one example.

A memorial for fallen WWII soldiers was set up near one of these statues. There were two screens that allowed you to look at bios of the soldiers. Next to it was a display for an old asylum (now a museum elsewhere in Bristol) and the people who lived within.

When we came across a chapel, I fondly remembered my art history class (wasn't I supposed to hate that?) and learning about how chapels were built by the wealthy for personal use (family weddings, funerals, etc.). Since they are open and visible to all, it can be seen as bragging and flaunting their wealth. Many did it as an offering to God. They would spend a lot of money in order to make it a beautiful gift to their savior. This would hopefully grant them some forgiveness from sins (doesn't seem like it would work to me). 

What was most impressive, however, was the organ. I said that I would want to go to a service here just to hear what that sounded like when it is played; it has to be impressive.

About half of it.

Ann found a list on the back of it that says who all of the organ players have been since the 1500's (when it was refurbished). Although it dates back from so long ago, the list is smaller than you would expect. The organists were very dedicated, spending years of their lives at the cathedral as the organ player. 

After the cathedral, we headed over to the Georgian House. We originally mistook a concert hall for it, but instead it was just a little door with a sign. At first, we even considered passing it up since it seemed so unimpressive. 

Taken from Google again. It just didn't seem impressive.

From Google. We didn't realize that this was all one house.

Once we gave it a shot, we found that it was one of our favorite parts of the trip (and entrance was free). It was like stepping back in time and viewing a spectacular mansion. The owner had a plantation in India where he kept slaves. Apparently he was nicer to them than most owners, but still brutal beatings were not unheard of. He sold it later on, which is how he was able to afford this house.

  

"Cold Water Bath" - Seems claustrophobic and I would not want a cold bath.

It's a little cut off, but on the bottom right corner there are shoes next to the chair.
It's as if he just got back from work and took them off to get comfortable for a night in with the family.

It's amazing how some things that you at first want to dismiss can become something so magnificent. This house had six stories (not all of which we were allowed to see) and was dressed up so beautifully. It's amazing how much work they did to preserve this place. Also, since we were the only ones there, I think it is under-appreciated. But if you happen to find yourself in Bristol, give it a look. You won't regret it!

From the Georgian House, we headed over to Cabot Tower. I will mention that we opted against a day-long bus pass and decided to just walk everywhere. Things were close enough for the most part that this wouldn't be a big hassle and we would get to see more of the city. However, when this meant we had to climb a big hill just to climb a bunch of stairs, the walking previously done was especially felt. 

Cabot Tower, higher up than it looks.

The walk up was very beautiful. Lots of green grass, trees, and even squirrels. The critters here are also significantly less bothered by humans and get a lot closer to you.

Very cute! <3

Cabot Tower is perched on top of a large park where I could see taking my dogs on the weekend after stopping off at Costa coffee in the morning. Partee is already accustomed to chasing squirrels up trees at Tahoe. 

At some point, I heard running water, which led us to find a stream with tiny waterfalls. The more we walked, the more we found. 

Although the hill was sometimes hard (uphill), I enjoyed the path. 

Also, the architectural details of the tower were amazing. 

This is where the first flight of stairs led to.

Statue on the very top.

Slightly broken (on right side) crest at the base.

The tower itself is 105 feet tall. The first flight of stairs was the longest and I was extremely out of breath by the time we reached the top. But at least the view was killer. Still, the best was yet to come. Once we climbed up some extremely tiny and very tight spiral stairs (got flashbacks to the bad stairs in Cardiff castle) we reached the main viewing platform at the very top. 

Even better view.

View of the park we walked through. The waterfall shown earlier is the dark area on the left.

My face was red and sweaty, but the cold wind whipped at my face, almost instantly cooling it down. I had to keep moving the hair back from my face so as to really take in the view. It was a great feeling being up here. There were rustic golden plaques that would have arrows pointing to various cities (Birmingham, Swansea, Edinburgh) and saw how many km away they were.

Getting down was a lot harder than getting up. For one thing, it was so narrow that only one person could go at a time. We had to wait until all the people came up the stairway before we could go down. Additionally, my feet were bigger than the stairs, which made it difficult to get down. Especially when the bottoms of my jeans flared out and the rubber of my shoe kept catching on them (because it is narrow). One wrong step and it's all over. You have to be careful and get a good grip on the handrails. 

Luckily, that was just the smaller flight of stairs from the viewing hole to the top. The longer stairwell was bigger, but you still had to take your time with it. 

The last stop that the visitor's center suggested to us was the Clifton Suspension Bridge. I wasn't too sure why a bridge was a recommended tourist destination, but then considered that it might be their version of the Golden Gate. There was a museum about it, and so clearly it had some history.

As we got closer, it suddenly made sense as to why we were told to go here.

But the view gets even better when you look over.

And since we are in Europe, it is only natural for there to be a castle casually lurking in the background. 

There's always castles.

I wasn't too keen on walking across the bridge, as I kept watching it move a little bit up and down as the cars drove over. Within the past few years, I have developed a minor phobia of bridges for no reason at all. Nonetheless, I crossed over and made it safely to the other side. 

We stayed there awhile, drinking up the natural beauty and fresh air (it's so green everywhere). After a bit of talking, we headed back. Ann had commented on how much she loved the small independent cafes she kept seeing around here and in Wales, which made our next stop a small coffee and tea shop in the main city (the bridge was on the outskirts). 

Ann was a little bit sick, and so she stuck with tea, while I went with a mocha. We were unable to stay for too long as she had to bus over to the Bristol airport and pick up a rental car by 7. Instead of both of us paying for the £7 bus ticket over, she offered to get the car and then drive back to get me. This meant I had some alone time with the city.

As Wilko (sort of like Target) was right across the street and I needed a few essentials, I started there. Next, I hunted down some kinder eggs. They are illegal in the US because they pose a choking hazard to children. It's pretty unlikely because they are so large, but laws are laws. (And as one Brit said, in America guns are legal but not chocolate eggs).  

After filling my purse with chocolate, I went to get my phone fixed since there was a Vodafone station nearby. I would need a wi-fi signal in order to navigate myself to the meeting place.

I slowly made my way over to the Louisiana (meeting place) after that. There wasn't a whole lot that I needed to do and all of the shops were closed. Plus, after I left Vodafone, my battery dropped significantly. 

I was lucky enough to stumble upon some great street art on my way, one of which was a Bansky piece. He is a famous street artist in Bristol, more recently know for his creation Dismaland. 

No, she didn't cheat on you. Just don't look down!

I also took a picture of some of the street art below. 

By this time, the sun was starting to set and the smell of pot was wafting towards me. Time to really start going back. 

There was something about walking alone in the city of Bristol just as the sun was setting that was really amazing. I felt really good about myself. After walking all around it, I felt familiar with the city. Plus I had a phone that could navigate me to wherever I needed to go. 

Made larger for my buddy Sarah. I know she adores sunsets.

 The city really started to shine during this in between period of light and dark. 

The darker it became, the more nervous I got. Everything looks different after the sun goes away. Even places that I had visited before seemed foreign upon first glance. I kept cool and continued to follow the navigation on my phone. I had to try not to check it too often as the battery was starting to go fast.

Pro Tip: Buy a portable charger, keep it charged up, and make sure to bring one along on all of your travels.

Still, I wasn't overly-worried as I had seen where the meeting spot was on the hard copy of the map (conveniently given to Ann) and was pretty sure I could navigate there by memory worst case scenario. Plus I had discovered a cool little place to explore. It was a lot darker than the pictures depict.

The lights behind that waterfall are truly beautiful juxtaposed next to the lights on the building.

Their planetarium.

 

The "Energy Tree" is supposedly able to charge up your devices. You just have to find the right cable coming out of it. Unfortunately, there were no cables. Someone might have stolen them all or I misunderstood the concept and you needed to bring your own. 

At this point it was dark, but according to the directions I was really close. Still, I was freaked out enough where the various statues in this area in my mind were real people dressed to look like statues. And they will scare you or worse kidnap you. Can you say over-imagination? 

He's gonna get you.

Clearly a real person.

The scariest part was when I was trying to navigate out of here, it took me to a fairly abandoned area and each direction I took was somehow wrong on the map. The battery was under 10% as well. Finally, I went in the direction I thought I was supposed to based on memory and saw what Google Maps had to say about that. It was correct. I went over a bridge and saw something straight from the movies.

Locks on the bridge.

This one is even in a heart shape.

I felt secure in my destination by now. But when I checked again I was going in the wrong direction. I quickly messaged Ann that if I wasn't at the meeting spot to meet me by the bridge on the Bristol hotel side. Under 5% battery now, and I had to retrace some of my steps, but luckily I was able to make it to the meeting spot. Unluckily, it was pub outside of the main city. Nervously, I sat down and told Ann that I was there. She told me there was no place to park and to meet her by the orange parking area. I quickly got up and headed right over. I had seen it on the way over.

She was in a small red car and waved to me happily. It felt odd getting in the driver's side (which here is the passenger's side). In Germany it is the other way around as well, but she had driven on the opposite side before and was confident in her skills. 

From there we went back to the airport to pick up her boyfriend. When he got off, he was willing to try to speak English, but is not as fluent in it as his girlfriend who studies in the language even in her home university (and spent a year in America with a host family). And so a lot of German was spoken. I enjoyed it though. It's not something you hear often either in the states or in the UK. 

It was a day full of adventure, even if it got a little scary towards the end. But that is all part of the experience. You get to do fantastic things and learn to trust yourself to navigate out of difficult situations.