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    • Immer rechts der Atlantik
      Day 83

      Bristol? Really?

      October 21, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

      Heute Nacht mussten wir die Fenster zumachen, weil der Sturm den Regen bis in unser Bett geweht hat. Es war wirklich richtig unbehaglich da draußen. Und heute früh waren, trotz ordentlich Brandung, auch erstmalig keine Surfer im Wasser. Also haben auch die Engländer eine Schmerzgrenze - nicht beim Essen, aber immerhin .
      Wir starten den Tag im Waschsalon. In direkter Nähe ist ein kleines Café mit sensationellem Cappuccino und genau den gönnen wir uns zwischen Waschen und Trocknen.
      Das eigentliche Ziel heute ist Stonehenge, das schließt aber schon um 15 Uhr, wir sind 270 Kilometer und zwei Waschmaschinen entfernt. Das wird also irgendwie knapp. Ein neuer Plan muss her und der sieht im ersten Entwurf so aus: wir fahren nach Bath und von dort aus morgen nach Stonehenge. Bath ist sehenswert und wir suchen dort ein Hotel. Das kostet ungefähr soviel wie die Tenne zum Streifwochende, also brauchen wir eine Alternative und die heißt Bristol. Sagt es Bristol nicht, aber wir sind nur aus Preisgründen hier -und wir wurden positiv überrascht. Dazu gleich mehr.
      Nachdem wir jetzt keinen Zeitdruck mehr haben, bleiben wir noch ein wenig in Newquay und kaufen eine Dryrobe. Das ist ein gefüttertes, wasserdichtes Zelt, das man sich gegen das englische Wetter überzieht. Und heute ist die Dryrobe DAS angesagte Kleidungsstück. Es regnet ohne Ende und der freundliche Sturm drückt den Regen von oben und von der Seite in jede offene Ritze - denkt Euch jetzt, was Ihr wollt 🤭.
      Trotzdem laufen wir durch die Stadt und finden wieder neue Strände und wunderbare Landschaften. Cornwall ist einfach schön 🥰.
      Gegen Mittag fahren wir nach Bristol und kommen am Nachmittag an. Wir lassen den Bulli stehen und machen uns auf den Weg in die Stadt.
      Erwartet haben wir nichts, gefunden haben wir eine aufgeweckte Stadt mit vielen gut gelaunten Menschen auf den Straßen. Das ist eine kleine ( sehr kleine ) Version von Kopenhagen. Sogar einen Radweg haben die hier, das ist für England eher ungewöhnlich.
      Die Kathedrale ist leider schon geschlossen , wir staunen einfach von außen .
      Am Wasser finden sich viele Bars und die Engländer starten hier gut gelaunt schon um 18 Uhr mit Drinks und Tanz in den Abend. Dabei trägt das Partyvolk maximal ein T-Shirt und wir sind mit unseren Mützen und Jacken sofort als Touristen erkennbar . Das ist jetzt nicht weiter schlimm, wir erkennen den gemeinen Engländer im Sommer in Italien ja auch sofort am Sonnenbrand und der aufgesprungenen Schweinebratenkruste am Nacken 🤭.
      Fazit der 3 Stunden in Bristol: wir entschuldigen uns aufrichtig dafür, dass wir uns hier nur aus finanziellen Gründen hin verlaufen haben . Bristol macht Spaß , ist hübsch und man kann hier sicher auch zwei spannende Tage verbringen. Und für Uli haben wir sogar noch eine Statue gefunden und fotografiert - leider war sie nicht nackig 🤔      Read more

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    • TravelerEuropean Christmas 2023 /2024
      Day 35

      Day 34 Bristol, UK

      January 10 in England ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

      Oh dear- we still haven’t seen Castle Combe! A chain of events led to us spending a fairly miserable night 5 kms down the road. The accommodation was very average in the tiny upstairs room across the road from the hotel. The shower was nearly cold and David ended up with a probable case of food poisoning. He was unwell during the night and only just well enough to be up and about in the morning. I wandered across the road to the main hotel to find the reception very frosty and my cup of coffee instant and the toast white and frozen with no spreads. On returning to the room we loaded up the car to find the road very icy, as well as the paths, as we were in a very shady valley. Consequently we decided to abandon heading further down a treacherous road to view the main village and instead were relieved to get on the main road to Bristol which was a very easy 30 minute drive. Our accomodation here (last photo) is a beautiful apartment in a huge old row of multi storied apartments in a lovely part of Bristol, Clifton. And what’s more, we were welcomed by some very active squirrels on the front lawn. Once we had unloaded, David headed off to bed and I walked 35 minutes down into the main centre of town. I spent a lovely 3 hours wandering around town and seeing some of the very interesting old architecture that is part of the town and university. The city has many steep streets and interesting views. It was remarkably quiet and calm for a city, but it has plenty of character. My walk back was mostly uphill, but easy. David had improved a lot but wanted little for dinner so we strolled 15 minutes to Clifton for a quick Wagamama meal which satisfied both of us. We were back by 6 30pm and settled in to watch an excellent series, Fool Me Once. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.Read more

    • TravelerEuropean Christmas 2023 /2024
      Day 36

      Day 35 Bristol, UK

      January 11 in England ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

      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

    • Knights of the Island
      Day 2

      Hoch hinaus!

      May 14, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      …ging es auf unserer letzten Roadmission für heute. Durch unseren Umweg über die Cotswolds kamen wir erst zur Dämmerung in unserem Tagesziel, Bristol, an. Was uns aber nicht abhielt, die Clifton Hängebrückd zu überqueren. Von oben konnte man sie auch bestaunen, also sind wir noch fix auf den nahegelegenen Aussichtshügel geklettert 😉Read more

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    • Sojourn Britannia
      11
      Day 29

      A Travel Day

      September 24, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      Today was our reluctant farewell to Inverness and to Scotland. I must say, Scotland has utterly seduced me. I like the feel of the place, the sensibilities of its people, its look, its clean air, its history, its friendliness and easy-goingness. It's such a shallow observation and may even be a wee bit presumptuous, but Scotland felt less worried than England, less harried. I would like to see it again and more of it.

      Our flight down to Bristol was well-organised, comfortable and carefree, which let's face it, is exactly how you want flights to be. We flew south over the mountains that were presumably the Cairngorms, which looked absolutely amazing from 30,000 feet, then down between Edinburgh and Glasgow, thence over Wales and down ino the West where mountanis gave way to fields and where we ultimately aimed for Bristol, a large energetic city of 467,000 people.

      We are here for four days. We will take it easy now and just see a few things. Bristol was a major port in the past for the processing of African slaves to the Carribean. I easily recall the news at home in 2020 when young people toppled a statue here of Edward Colston, a slaver, into Bristol Harbour. We might pop along and see Colston's plinth. It's great that cities and societies are coming to terms with the past and the evils of Empire. We have the same ongoing conversation in Australia. And so we should.

      After a lovely dinner in our hotel bar, we went for a post-prandial in Castle Park, Bristol's version of Hyde Park, and took a few pics. There is the amazing ruin of St Peter's Church, orginally built in the early 1100s, rebuilt in the 15th century, but bombed by the Nazis in WWII in the blitz of Bristol. The city burghers have protected it as a ruin as a memorial to those who died in the Blitz here in this city. The Park and the river are beautiful and both are full of people sitting around talking and laughing. It's a lovely feel. Hello Bristol 🙂      Read more

    • Chris in the UK
      11
      Day 31

      A Façade City

      September 26, 2022 in England ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

      "Bath is a façade city," said our tour guide Charlotte. "For wealthy Georgians, this place was Las Vegas or Monte Carlo. It was all about tourism. So the money was spent on the front of buildings, not so much on the back."

      She really did look a lot like Imogen Stubbs, did Charlotte. But her tour was progressive and electric. She wasn't trying to sell Bath's image as a place of Austen-franchise romance. She wanted to take us behind the "honey coloured sandstone" to the impulses and real stories behind Bath's architecture and existence. She started with the myth of Bladud, a leper whose pigs were cured of leprosy in the spring waters of Bath, and who founded the settlement the Romans later called Aqua Sulis. Then she talked us through the Roman settlement and the Georgian appropriation of the Roman myth, before talking about more modern controversies - like the overpriced and overdue Thermae Baths, a privatised venture selling "Taking the Waters" in modern architecture. Stuart and I had nearly gone to the spa instead of the tour. We were right to change our minds. A walking tour of Bath, starting at the Abbey, taking in Pultney Bridge, the Circus, the Crescent, Beau Nash's Theatre Royal, the Thermae, Jane Austen's house in Trim Street (Austen hated it, and I loved her for hating it), and the medieval wall just around the corner. It was 90 minutes of ocular delight and intellectual thrill.

      I was in a lot of pain walking around Bath, though. My foot was screwed. I took my last codeine tablets just trying to stay good humoured, but I still cracked the shits when we embarked on tour number two at the Roman Baths, an interminable trove of audio devices we all held up to our ears, shuffling through the (Georgian restored) Roman Baths. I could barely stand the longwinded audio tour after taking such a great walking tour. I turned the damn thing off. Stuart had one of the biggest smiles I've seen on his face this whole trip - he loved the Roman Baths! I felt more in common with the slutty teenage girls taking ass pics by the baths themselves, next to a paid model dressed as a Roman Matron photobombing everyone's instagram. I wanted to take some slutty shots myself, but I didn't want to throw my back out.

      We had Sicilian for lunch. Our waiter had platinum curled hair and dark brown eyes. I had an espresso with lemon and sugar in it.

      Anyway, I loved Bath. And the fact that we got a parking ticket for 25 pounds because their own parking system was broken didn't depress me. Stu is disputing it. He is right to dispute it, but I am more "this river lives in Mombasa anyway" about it all. And let the record show: if the council hadn't been so shitty with their parking, we would have spent a LOT more money in their little town, so, lol. #TooBadSoSad

      After we got home, I went and had a quick shave (just with foils, not with a blade) at Exposure Barbers, then Stu bought a book, we had a beer, and some KFC for dinner.      Read more

    • Chris in the UK
      Day 32

      Unwinding

      September 27, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      We left the alarm off this morning, and slept in for an hour and a half. Today was to be a day without obligations or commitments.

      We went for morning coffee at Bristol's Oldest Cafe in Corn Street. I imagine the building has seen better days, but I was aware that in the 18th Century that coffeehouses were centres of economic and political decision making.

      From there we walked the Christmas Steps to Bristol Museum, greeted with a very welcome display about anti-racism, and about Bristol's long connection to slavery, slave money, and white supremacy. It's not just the "great men of Bristol" like Wills and Colston who derived their wealth from slavery, but the very buildings and assets of the city were funded from sugar and tobacco plantations in the Americas. Bristol's riches are Black riches. It's great to see Museums pivoting from Nationalist mythologies to egalitarian truths.

      I enjoyed the art gallery, especially the chance to enjoy another Hubert Robert, and a spectacular statue of Daedalus and Icarus. The Gift Shop underwhelmed us for free, but we still gave a 10 pound donation to the Museum. It looked a little worse for wear.

       The rest of the day was unremarkable. Some shopping at Next and House of Fraser. A beer at the art nouveau Clayton Hotel (with its magical Kubrickian toilet). A few griffin sightings. Some squid. Paying the congestion tax for tomorrow's return to London. And a nap.

      Stu and I are starting to reflect on the trip as a whole, and reminding ourselves that the important thing is to look forward to the future, not dwell in the past. We've just been through such a riotous hurricane of hedonism, exoticism and inconvenience over the past four weeks, it's hard not to be captivated by Whatever The Hell Just Happened. But we are making plans for work, for Stu's retirement, for my mental health, for our physical health. And I have been nurturing the seed of another trip for years now anyway - back to San Francisco, down to New Mexico, and then to wherever Stuart wants to go. It's important to have something on the horizon.

      I've just paid the 15 pound congestion tax in the middle of typing up this footprint. We discussed tonight that we probably won't want to do another driving holiday. It is a world of trouble for us. So far from liberating our movements, it has lumbered us with this huge chunk of metal we're supposed to care for, protect, and pay for. Parking has been a nightmare. Driving has been a needless stress. And catching buses, trains, ferries, taxis, and ubers is such a great way to get to know a city.

      It's our last night in Bristol, this deliciously imperfect place, everything just a bit scuffed and scarred, but pointed resolutely toward the future. I hope I take some of this energy with me.      Read more

    • Chris in the UK
      Day 30

      Bristol Fashion

      September 25, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      Day 30 of this bizarre Odyssey. Who knows what's going on back in Ithaca. I'm sure Penelope and Telemachus have everything in hand.

      Today was another day of weird delays and detours. There's nothing to do at this point but to lean into it, and to see every plan of action as a mere prayer to some foreign and capricious god.

      Our plan was to head out to the Clifton Suspension Bridge at 8am, then have a coffee in Clifton, come home and rest, and I would go for a massage on my legs for which I've been taking pain pills.

      What happened instead was we went for coffee at Caffe Nero, took an hour to get the bus to Clifton (our tickets didn't even work), ended up spending an inordinate amount of time at the Visitor's Centre (the charming woman there wanted to give us a free TED talk on the fate of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but it was pretty cool I will admit), then after coffee we got stuck in a traffic jam on the way home because of the Great Bristol Run. At home, we had to change hotel rooms because the toilet wouldn't flush (right when flushing was R E Q U I R E D [I said "Abandon Shit" and Stu said "Shit shape and Bristol Fashion."]) and then we ended up walking to a super scruffy part of Bristol, me holding onto a failing bag of laundry like a body bag (we lost a sock, and then picked it out of the gutter on the way home), and then FINALLY, I went for my massage and the guy used a massage gun and wouldn't stop telling me conspiracy theories.

      But you know what? Today was GREAT. Coffee at Bar Chocolat in Clifton was beautiful, and the bus ride was fun. We saw SO many great buildings we would never have noticed driving around. The suspension bridge was astonishing, and I loved seeing the rejected designs at the Visitor's Centre, especially a gaudy Victorian gothic style design by the Colossus of Roads, Thomas Telford. I K Brunel's Egyptian styled suspension design is peerless, and in real life, it takes your breath away.

      I got to see two parts of Bristol that tourists wouldn't normally see, a Redcliffe Council Estate and the St Judes market: so much poverty, so much struggle, so much ugliness, and so much camaraderie and nobility.

      And after it all, Stu and I went to The Wellhead and recited the rivers we had now seen:

      The River Thames
      The River Tillingbourne
      The Trent
      The Foss
      The Ouse
      The Tyne
      The Tweed
      The Waters of Leith
      The Clyde
      The Tay
      The River Ness
      and now
      The River Avon.

      Bristol is a jewel of a place. I'm having a great time. And I have a working toilet too.      Read more

    • Chris in the UK
      11
      Day 29

      The Delays

      September 24, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      I guess we must have thought, looking at the EasyJet website five months ago, that since the flight from Inverness to Bristol was only an hour and ten minutes, we'd really have the whole day in Bristol to enjoy and discover.

      What's an hour and ten minutes? It's nothing! We'd be practically waking up in Bristol, right? And once there, the airport is just outside of town, we can drive straight to our digs, and strut around town!

      This isn't exactly what happened. The flight itself was a masterpiece of genial efficiency, Scottish style. The road from our Inverness cottage to the airport was empty and beautiful. The airport was small. The security were friendly and clear. The aircraft was small. I had nobody sitting next to me. We got away on time. We arrived early.

      But the shit and the fan had not yet met their point of encounter.

      That was to come the moment we stepped outside Bristol airport, and had to wait for a long time for the bus to the Car Rental Building, located I think on one of the Faroe Islands considering how long it took us to get there. The building was a desolate glass and steel warehouse, and when we walked in, we were the only customers in a huge hall surrounded by competing car rental companies. It was like an abandoned space port.

      The Sixt Car Rental booth was abandoned, but eventually an obsequious man in a waistcoat arrived and started spinning us all sorts of complex yarns. My face turned to thunder again. I was having none of it. Stuart was the picture of calm. We were referred to the Europcar booth - useless, and then to the Avis booth - useful, but hilariously slow. It took us around 30 minutes of standing at the booth for the computer to process our rental, a little Fiat for four days to be dropped off at Euston.

      The Fiat was a nice size, but it had a strange ring around its gear stick. You had to pull the ring up like a foreskin to get the thing into reverse. We only learned that by Googling it and watching a YouTube tutorial while the car was plonked illegally in the Hertz parking spaces.

      Isn't this a great Find Penguins entry?

      Anyway, we made it to Bristol and we were able to park the car - but not check in. So we went to Cabot Circus - another lunar bio-dome full of disaffected teens with painted hair and torn clothes - I loved them ALL - where we had the WORST coffee of the trip at Costa Coffee. Still, it was fun to walk around in the glittering sunshine and see how dynamic, how activated, how convivial Bristol is. There's a bit of hollering and hooting, but nothing too spooky.

      We got a glimpse of some of the city's charms - Castle Park, a few boats, a dining district - but really we have barely arrived.

      The lesson here is: it takes all day to go from one city to another. You might feel like it takes an hour, but it takes all day. The energy required to pack up all your chattels and hit the road is immense!

      I'm glad we have a four day stay. Tomorrow: Clifton Suspension Bridge, and better fucking coffee!      Read more

    • Travelerlanguage stay
      Day 17

      Geburtstagsfest 🍾🎊

      February 21, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      Heute vor 18. Jahren ist meine Schwester auf die Welt gekommen. Ich bin so unglaublich stolz auf meine Schwester und ich habe Sie unglaublich lieb!💝🍀

      Happy Birthday sis.🥳

      Um dies ausgiebig zu Feiern gehen wir in ein Pub. In einer kleinen Runde mit ihren Kolleginen und ein paar Männern aus der Schule, unteranderem ihr Mitbewohner, machen wir uns einen gemütlichen Abend.
      🍻🍹🍸🎂🎉      Read more

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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    South Gloucestershire, SGC, Южен Глостършър, Su Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire du Sud, Süd Gloucestershire, Южный Глостершир, Південний Глостершир

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