Blogs from Bristol County, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 14

We cleverly managed to organise our flight into Bristol on September 11th BUT we got there safely :) Collected our hire bus (we actually didn't book a hire bus, we got 'upgraded' from what was supposed to be a mondeo to a fuel guzzling 7 person people mover), it took a little while for me (thats Bing) to work out the highly confusing 'handbrake' which looked like something much more suited to an aircraft and than a bus!! I had absolutely no assistance or sympathy from Rich either after his terrifying Croatian driving experience! So off we headed to mums where she proceeded to show Rich all of my most embarrasing photos from when my hair resembled something out of a Tina Turner concert.... had some english tea in the garden before bundling mum into our ... read more

Geo: 51.4553, -2.5919Got the 17:37 train from Paddington to Bristol Temple meads to see our friends CA & F. Train was 30 mins late but no info. board in the station could actually be bothered to say when expected departure time was, privatisation, ch. £48 one way each. Passed through 2 friends home towns Reading and Bath. Sun still splitting the rocks so next afternoon was spent in Clifton overlooking the ace suspension bridge.... read more

On Sunday I went to Bristol with some folks in a car. I had volunteered to be the navigator, and when I told people this beforehand, Brits and Americans alike looked at me with wide eyes and just laughed. I half-expected some of them to shake my hand and say, "Well, nice knowin' ya." The weather Sunday was weird. That's the only way I can describe it. It would be pouring one minute, then bright and sunny and gorgeous the next, and then pouring while bright and sunny, and you never knew when it would switch. However, we set off anyway. Navigating. I had a detailed map showing every little street in Bristol. I had hand-drawn directions to where we were going, eliminating all the extraneous detail side streets. Nevertheless, we ended up going off ... read more

Time to go.... I have now been working in the UK for my allocated 12 months, so its time to make a new plan for the rest of my visa.... So without having a plan beyond the next 24 hours, I have resigned from work, said farewell to my work colleagues, church friends, mountain bike friends, and salsa buddies.... The car is packed with all the junk that I've managed to accumulate in 18 months, so off to lunch with Johnny and Helen, then to hand over my car to Jules, Mel and Don, find a new home for my bike, and ship the excess baggage home.... Then its back to backpack and suitcase, and ready to go or do whatever it is that God has planned for these next 4 months. Think Germany needs visiting.... ... read more

I was invited by a friend I met travelling to check out Bristol, a good chance to see another smaller english city. I was reminded again that travel in England isn't cheap, the train cost £40 each way! We went out to a pub on the Friday night with her friends and it was just like any other pub :) On Saturday we took a day trip to Bath, which is a very quaint little town, all in white stone from the local area. Breakfast was at the original Sally Lunns, Englands oldest tea house established in 1680 something I think. It was a proper English tea with buns and jam and cream and quite delicious. We took a long bus trip to head out to see Stone Henge, its not much to see or all ... read more