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Published: April 27th 2017
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Day 7: Bristol > Bath
His side – Bristol, the historic port town of slavery, docks, the teen drama Skins, Banksy, and I am sure other things that I am not entirely aware of. We were leaving Cornwell and heading back to the midlands. Georgia and I continued to play our competitive game of ‘spotto’, which is where you get points for spotting a yellow car before the other person and yelling out ‘spotto!’ Yes, in case you’re wondering; we’re both adults. This game left us both slightly anxious, which did not assist with arriving in Bristol. Bristol it turns out loves congestion. And odd round-a-bouts. We made the most of the afternoon, strolling around the waterfront before heading to a pub, where we ate a meal and slept in our campervan in their car park for free. The next day, learning from our mistakes yesterday we caught a bus into the city. According to timeout (which is a great website to look at for things to do in a area), Bristol makes a good coffee. I was determined to see whether this was the case. I definitely wouldn’t call myself a coffee connoisseur; but the English
and I have some different opinions on what a coffee should taste like. I’ve heard Australia has become a bit of a coffee mecca, and based on my travels, that seems to be a reasonably fair point. The English seem to like burning coffee to the point you need to put an ice cube or two in the mug; even then, you’ll still escape with a tongue that makes you sound like you had a fun time at the dentist. In this case, I was not disappointed and I had an enjoyable flat white in a tiny little hipster café in the city centre. We then strolled through the city, enjoying the scenery and flair of the city, despite the horrendous traffic it is a nice place and the people are lovely. We went to a place called the ‘M Shed’, which I thoroughly recommend – about the history of Bristol. I read many signs and a good time was had by all. We then trumped off to Bath (after Georgia and I took advantage of a cheap coupon to eat at Subway). Bath is a small city, with many grand Georgian buildings. I was quite looking forward to strolling
through the city and drinking in the sites. In the afternoon, we did some more ‘Georgia’ type things, which included going to the Jane Austen museum and a fashion museum. I can’t stand Jane Austen; I think she was an atrocious and boring author, who was only capable of creating one protracted storyline ending in some English girl, who came from middle to lower nobility, finding love. That’s not satire to me. However, Georgia really liked it so it was nice to watch her looking enthused as opposed to having a resigned expression of defeat on her face. We also looked at the Royal Crescent, another architectural marvel of rounded Georgian buildings.
Her side: We headed back into Bristol this morning; we parked our van in the ‘park and ride’ car park and caught the bus into the city. After a quick breakfast we went to the ‘M Shed’, a really fun and interactive museum all about the history of the city and the people of Bristol – I get really bored really quickly at museums, but this was fantastic! It provided a peek into the culture of the modern day city whilst still paying homage to
its historic roots, there were so many stories of everyday people, which made it super relatable. After lunch we decided to head to Bath. I love Jane Austen, so I was super excited to visit the scene of so many of her novels. Rhys hates Jane, so I was finally able to pay him back for all of the castles I had been made to visit and take him to the Jane Austen Centre AND the fashion museum, all in one afternoon. The exhibition at the fashion museum was fantastic – this is the type of history I LOVE – like in Bristol, I love being able to relate to the exhibits, not just read information from a sign. Seeing all of these beautifully preserved clothes dating right through to today shows just how large of a roll fashion plays in society and culture. We stayed at a really cute caravan park that was on the River Avon; we went to a really yummy gastro-pub for dinner, which was just a short stroll along the river away.
Day 8: Bath
His side – For our second day in Bath, we had plans to
really explore the city. After utilising the park and ride (seriously Britain, nice work, this is an extremely good idea) we arrived back in Bath from our caravan park. Park and ride, for those who don’t know – like me a week earlier – is a novel idea where you park outside of the city, pay a bus fare and catch the bus into the city centre. It takes the stress away from parking, and is cost effective as parking in Britain is not cheap in the inner city places. We had already paid for the Roman Bath ticket from yesterday, after we got a combination ticket at the fashion museum. For what it’s worth, here’s my take on the Roman Baths. It’s not too bad. And I’m not even just saying that you guys, it’s like… pretty good. Anyways, it is crowded and busy. The exhibition is good, thorough, and gives a good picture of what it would have been like in the Roman times. It has some interesting archaeological evidence, and what the original springs would have been like before Roman times. Like most interesting historical sites, it has a religious slant and it seems that most people
believe the natural hot springs had healing properties (it can even cure obesity apparently). It is startling to see how advanced the Romans where at the time. You may have guessed what we did next. We went to a cathedral. Or was it an Abbey? I forget, they all kind of blend into one. Suffice to say it was pretty, and we spent time strolling around the area. Our favourite part of the day was going onto Pulteney Bridge, were we had some tea and scones. Bath definitely is worth a visit, it gets four out of five potatoes (I’ll make up my own grading system thank you very much).
Her side: This morning we decided to conquer the Roman Baths, it was amazing to wander through the ruins and do as the Romans did, it was really interesting a little touristy, but magical all the same. My favourite part of the day was actually walking along the Pulteney Bridge - it was a street full of gorgeous shops where we stopped for afternoon tea. Bath was just picturesque - you can see the history around you and understand how it was a source of inspiration for
many.
Day 9: Bath > Glochestershire (Stroud and Nailsworth) > Cardiff
His side – Apparently my origin story stems from this region. According to my cousin – Len-dog Tranteski (Lennie Tranter), our forefathers resided in this area for hundreds of years. There’s not much I trust Lennie with for information and advice (besides Oasis and Beatles trivia), but in this instance he seemed confident. He has done a lot of research into our family history. Apparently our paternal family comes from a tiny village called Horsley in the Cotwolds. They worked in Nailsworth and stomped around the region, doing Tranter stuff. I can only imagine, being a Tranter, that this involved making stupid decisions and consuming alcoholic beverages. I’m not going to spend too long discussing this, as this was more of a personal day for me and I can’t really provide much advice on the area. I will say it is a slightly surreal and unique experience to return to a region your family left a couple of centuries ago and walk where your ancestors did.
Her side: Back on the road and en-route on Wales, we spent the
day stopping into small towns in Glochestershire tracing the Tranter Family’s background. That night when we arrived in Cardiff we ate at the most amazing Persian restaurant near our bed and breakfast – whilst the experience of being in our van was still great, the novelty has really started to wear off – I was so excited to spend the next few nights indoors.
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