1
March, 2014
What do you do when you’re in England, have
an unquenchable thirst for sightseeing, and a travel budget that’s stretched to
the breaking point? A staycation!!! (Get it? Like vacation… but… staycation :D)
I am so incredibly blessed to be living in
Bristol, a city rich not only with its fair share of grand architecture, but
also with a unique English atmosphere that I truly believe can only be found
here. (Do I sound like a travel advert yet?) But really, it’s pretty great.
However – as I am sure many of you can
relate – the hometown is always the one least travelled. Whether it’s because
we feel there will always be time to go visit those hidden beauties later, or
because we feel dignified that we – as residents –are above following the camera-clad,
Hawaiian shirt wearing, fanny pack armed, crowd of tourists into the overpriced
but equally beautiful parts of our respective cities, those stones remain
unturned by us.
In spite of – or perhaps because of – this,
I decided it was time to cast aside my pride (and also salvage my poor wallet)
and march happily along the path of tourists, camera and all. I am now happy to
report that it was totally worth it. Who needs their pride, anyway? I have
pictures. Totally better.
When aiming for the touristy-est of
touristy, where better than the zoo? Especially the Bristol Zoo, which is known
to be the second best in Britain, following London.
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| Driving on the right side like a pro. |
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Master of Yoga  |
Where to next on this thrilling quest? Where
else but the Clifton Suspension Bridge, queen of the Bristol tourist locations.
*In the voice of a game show host
announcing prizes*
This beautiful, architectural ground-breaker
is a must-see for any Bristolian traveller. Complete with historical
significance, a beautiful view, a background of rolling countryside hills, and
its very own suicide helpline, this beauty is the Golden Gate Bridge of England
and isn’t to be missed!
*Throws cheesy voice into the corner with
every intention of leaving it there to rot… or maybe to make a reappearance in
a later blog.* Guess you’ll just have to wait and see! Muhahaha!
*Cough*
After the suspension bridge, we made what I
thought would be a casual trip back to the university side of town. How wrong I
was.
We stopped at Anna’s hall so she could
change into a new jacket and soon came to realise that we had all been jipped
on the whole housing situation.
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| Anna just casually lives where a scene from Sherlock was filmed... nbd. |
After that, we got some dinner before
meeting up with more people for the Apple and a great ending to a great day.
5
March, 2014
Needless to say, we didn’t come close to
seeing all there is to see in Bristol. Therefore, here comes Installation II: A
return to Bristoland!!
This time, our adventures were had in the form
of a hike. Trust me when I say, just the walk to the bridge was a hike in and
of itself! We headed across the Suspension Bridge, through the other side of Bristol (or
was it even Bristol) I didn’t even know existed, and eventually to the trails
where our journey was to begin.
After carefully and strategically mapping
out our journey (aka pointing at a black line through the forest and declaring
it to be the bridge, realising bridges go over water, really finding the
bridge, then choosing a trail at random) we set off! If our expert trail-finding
skills weren’t omen enough, as we began the descent on our chosen path, a man
with his two dogs passed us in the opposite direction. He kindly offered a, “Careful,
it’s quite muddy along here”. As was wise – I am sure – we shrugged it off and
thanked him before blindly skipping along our merry way. At some point, three
things became very clear to us:
- The explanation for that jogger we had seen on our way over here with mud up to his knees.
- That nice man could be the last person on earth to ever see us and we probably should have given him a message for our families.
- When you live in a country that rains quite literally every day, walking trails are muddy. (How we didn’t anticipate this one, I don’t know.)
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| We were told this path would take us under the bridge. At this point, we were a little disappointed :P |
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| Though eventually we found the real bridge! |
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| Yeah... nice try, Bristol! Us Californians have seen the real thing... |
Overall, it was just another in a series of
great days.
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