Hotwells

What an amazing day in such an interesting city. 24000 steps later we feel we have seen as much as we can. As David had recovered from his bug, we planned our day and set off for a cafe up the road. We had a lovely breakfast there and headed off to Clifton Village which actually is near to our accomodation. It was a beautiful little area of quirky shops, cafes and fruit and vegetable stalls. We enjoyed poking around the shops and taking our time to soak up the atmosphere. We then carried on to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which Bristol is so well known for. It spans the Avon Gorge and the River Avon and is a truly incredible structure considering it was completed in 1864. It is over 100m above the river and you can walk or drive over it. The view down was over Bristol and the road metres below. We spent ages trying to get the ultimate photo, and we also walked up the hill a bit further to the observatory building to get a better view. We then walked down to the flat part of town and our hour long walk took us past the historic floating harbour. The name comes from the fact that the water in the harbour remains at a constant level and is not affected by the tides of the River Avon which flows into it. There were many boats moored there, with most of them being long house boats. The scene was beautiful, especially as in the background were the streets of Bristol on the hills and the many multicoloured old and new appartments. To our delight we totally by chance found a piece of wall art by Banksy there. Apart from a fence in front of it there is nothing to identify its location and it sits on a wall just off the street. We were just so lucky to spot it. We continued to Wapping Wharf which was a new development, before crossing the river and heading back into town. By now we had researched Banksy and were able to locate one more piece of his art work in the centre of town. The graffiti art of Bristol is everywhere and most are works of art themselves. After another coffee we had a look at the shops and then took the 35 minute walk back up the road to the flat. The weather was generally warm and sunny all day and we loved the character and quirkiness of Bristol. For a city it is remarkably calm and peaceful with a lot of trees and green areas. It reminded us of both Dunedin and Melbourne. It is also very easy to get around and the people seem friendly. The day ended really well with dinner in town at an Italian restaurant, the same chain as the one in Frankfurt and equally as good. Needless to say we ordered an Uber! Tomorrow we head for London via train to spend our last weekend with Alanna.Read more