It is fair to say that most of my time in the UK was not spent productively. However, on Saturday I decided to go on a little trip to Bristol.
It is probably rather foolish to base your opinon of a city on its Primark, but I am not exactly known for my wisdom, so that is what I have done. Bristol might be my new favourite place (in the UK at least) The Primark there is better than the one on Oxford Street! AMAAAZING. Anyway, that was not what I spent the majority of the day doing, I actually didn't find the shops until about half an hour before I went home. I spent most of the day being careful not not injure myself, the Bristolians are very keen to make sure nobody does anything untoward:
These signs are EVERYWHERE in the train station, along with others that tell you that you have to be careful not to bang your head on the ceiling which is about 3m tall.
The Welsh Nationalists are very cross that they are still part of Britain (it's only been that way for about 600 years) so obviously a few stickers on lampposts is going to change everything.
Walking along, I got a bit confused and thought I was in Venice:
Well, not really, but it was really nice. Last time I was in Bristol was the year of the Queen's something Jubilee. Maybe Golden. The one where Brian May stood on top of Buckingham Palace and played God Save The Queen. But anyway, I don't really remember much. I think @Bristol might be quite new, it is very cool:
There are lots of fountains and pools which look like a lot of fun. There were also lots of signs saying that it wasn't for playing in as it is dangerous, in true Bristolian fashion but there were many naughty people ignoring them.
Queen Victoria was looking regal in the sunshine.
The Cathedral was like Notre Dame. But smaller. And not as nice.
In case you were unaware, you are not supposed to wee or poo in public, there was a helpful sign to remind me of this.
There was a statue near the cathedral and someone had put some pink carnations at the bottom of it so I thought it might have been something important. Turned out to be some philosopher from the 15th Century or something
I couldn't put my finger on exactly what, but it would seem that something is happening soon, something to evoke an immense sense of national pride, something that gives all the shops a perfect excuse to get rid of all their Union Jack merchandise.
While I have no interest whatsoever in the Royal Family, I would like some kind of tacky Royal Wedding memorabilia. Preferably a biscuit tin or tea towel. For those of you in the UK when all the junk will be reduced next week, please take note and you shall be rewarded for your troubles if you manage to get me one of the above items (you can even eat the biscuits, I only want the tin to fill with ribbons and buttons!)
Maybe I should have gone to a more beautiful university. Warwick is grey. Bristol looks like this:
I was wandering around and came across a lovely little park, about two minutes from the main road but completely forgotten by everybody. I loved it because it was my little secret. I sat there and had a little chat with Granny on the phone.
It was when I took the next photo that I realised I had made a HUGE mistake leaving my proper camera in Austria.
When I saw this sign, I thought of
this song and it brought back lots of Big Band memories. Those were the good days.
Now, I am not going to go into a "ohhhhh, the state of Britain" type rant, but look at this:
You know things are going downhill when white cider is considered an Everyday Essential!
No trip to Bristol would be complete without a bit of Banksy. Actually, I wasn't expecting to see any so I was really pleased when I spotted this. Reminds me that I actually wanted to do a post about Street Art, must put that on the To Do List.
Even the Church have to take a break sometimes:
All that wandering made me hungry, so I treated myself to an Easter cupcake by the cathedral. Cupcakes are so fashionable right now, think I would like to learn how to make them properly when I have some time/baking equipment to hand!
I kept walking, and eventually I came to a bit of the cityy that I recognised from last time- the waterfront. It was soooooo busy!
It looks like Bristol had a go at Jugendstil. They are nowhere near as good at it as the Wiennese masters though.
When I saw this Tudor Rose, I remembered that I wanted to announce something that I am very proud of.
I have just read a book about British history. All the way through. All 672 pages. And what's more I enjoyed it. I think this is incontestable proof that I am well on my way to becoming a Grown Up who is interested in more than just shopping and TV.
There are millions more photos but I think that is probably enough for now, I have got lots to do while I am in the cafe and my internet time is limited so I shall bid you all a fond adieu for now!
