Travel: Day Trip to Bristol
So, yesterday I somehow ended up in Bristol with a whole bunch of exchange students; fun, exciting and peculiar all at the same time.
Friday, all of the Erasmus students had been invited to meet up at a bar. I went and actually had a great time meeting new people and seeing others again from the different introduction events. And somehow I got myself invited along for a trip to Bristol the following Sunday.
Saturday, one of the girls that I had talked to the previous day sent me a Facebook message informing me of which tickets they had bought, so I went to the site and bought a ticket too. Because we live in the same accommodation, we then decided to meet up at 9.10 AM the following morning to catch a 9.45 AM train. I sat my alarm for an hour earlier and I felt ready.
However, when my eyes opened the next morning, the time on my phone read 9.11 AM. I don't think I've ever gotten ready that fast. My heart was in my throat. By 9.16 AM I was out by the lift, where we had agreed to meet, and kept apologising to the four girls who had waited for me. No harm was done because we had planned for extra time but I felt so bad and a little dizzy for getting ready that fast.
After a slight problem with getting the pre-paid tickets collected at the machine, we were off to Bristol and had met up with even more exchange students coming from all different accommodations. We were twelve in total; seven girls and five boys.
The train journey was surprisingly fast and about ten minutes later, we exited on Bristol Temple Meads. None of us had actually planned anything specific but one of the German girls had a guide book with her and we also grabbed some maps at the station.
Surely, we could have been better prepared but the atmosphere was nice and we basically just spent the whole day walking around, finding things to look at and chatting amongst ourselves. It was liberating to not actually have anything specific to do and time flew. Because of our lack of research, I can't go too much into details with what we saw but I'll try my best.
On our walk from the train station towards the city centre we passed this church. It's called St Mary Redcliffe (I only remember this because I took another photo of the sign on the way back) and it was where we had our first group photo. It felt odd lining up with practically strangers or people I've met once or twice but we still somehow felt like a group. I don't have the group photo but did take a photo of the church.
We also passed some very adorable houses all painted in different pastel colours and saw many house boats moored along the water.
First thing that we deliberately went to see was the Queen's Square. However, we spotted a coffee shop slightly before and went in for a brief moment. It got me the chance to go to the bathroom and buy a sandwich to compensate for my no food breakfast.
After our brief break, we headed to the square just around the corner. It was a nice square and I liked the horse statute in the middle of it. Not much else to comment, I'm not quite sure why it's a must-see in the city but it was nice.
Next, we ventured onwards to the harbour. We walked along the "tip" of the harbour that was located almost near the centre. It was nice but quiet in the morning. They also had water running over the stairs leading down to the quay. I'm not sure if it was just to be pretty or if it's to prevent people from sitting there.
We walked on, not really having anything specific in mind and ventured down some of the smaller streets. We also found a Chinese shop where a few of us went in to buy some spices. They had a dumpling tasting later and we contemplated coming back for it (we never did as we lost track of time). While we walked along the narrow streets, I couldn't help but admire and photograph the buildings.
We eventually got to the shopping area and we were all surprised to see how many of the shops we actually had in our little city too. It seemed the UK cities all preferred the same brands and stores.
The German girl who had a phone with satellite GPS asked if we wanted to go to a park and we all agreed and thus she sort of became the unofficial guide of our little group. The park was called Castle Park because there was a castle in it - very original I know. However, I fail to recall what the actual castle was called.
The Danish guy from my university was supposed to have been with us on this trip but the two other people from his accommodation had waited for him this morning until the last minute. Turned out he had gotten the times wrong but was now in Bristol and wanted to meet up, so we waited around the castle.
We ran into an elderly man who sat with his newspaper and he kindly greeted us. He was originally from Dublin and we got to ask him about what other stuff we should see and visit in Bristol since we didn't have a plan. He was also very interested in knowing where every one was from, which prompted me to count our nationalities as well; Danish, German, Italian, French, Dutch, South African, Japanese and Taiwanese. Pretty cool to think about actually.
Once the Danish guy finally caught up, we moved on and thanked the old man for his help. We kept strolling along the water until we got back to the place with the water stairs. Only now it was transformed. Shops had been set up and the smell of food lingered in the air.
Now, we were hungry and walked down the many restaurants at the habour side to find a place that served fish and chips. Since our group wasn't exclusively management students, they hadn't been able to find a place to get fish and chips yet. And I'm not going to lie, I wanted fish and chips again.
We found a place called V-shed and managed to find three tables that we could stow together, so we sat at one giant long table. It was lovely and the food tasted so nice.
We spend a while in the restaurant, mostly because we had all eaten a lot and because a couple of the guys disappeared upstairs just as we were about to leave. Someone needed another coffee. After our lunch, we followed the water again, still just strolling around like we didn't have a care in the world.
Then we found another park or really a big hill; Brandon Hill ,which had a tower placed on the very top of it. It was actually quite a steep climb and it was especially difficult to "climb" while talking but we all made it.
It was worth the climb though because we got an amazing view of the city.
The tower was dedicated to voyager John Cabot, who according to the old man from Castle Park, had set sails from Bristol harbour towards North America. That fact also sprung a short conversation about Columbus and Americo Vespucio.
After having rested a bit by the tower, we walked down the steep hill again. We then headed towards another central part of the city to find a bookshop that sold cheap university text books. We did find the shop but it was closed, and not as in closed for the day but permanently closed as in the shop was empty. However, we ended up being just across a University of Bristol building that looked more like a church than anything else.
We went inside but didn't stay for long and we all felt the urge to whisper to each other rather than talk normally, that is everyone except the Italians. Speaking of the two Italians, they had just walked on speaking amongst themselves and didn't noticed that we went inside. They even walked down and over a crossing before one of the noticed. It was utterly hilarious trying to call after them and them not reacting at all, I full-on laughed and I'm not sure why.
Next, we found the Bristol Cathedral, mostly by accident and it became the background for our second group photo. However, we were missing one guy who ran off to get ice-cream right before we decided to take the photo. After seeing him come back with ice-cream all of us wanted to go get one as well.
We sat down in the little park area in front of the cathedral to enjoy our ice-cream and a few of us went to get coffees instead. The Dutch girl and I observed how the park was very multifunctional; people were sitting around chilling or reading, some were playing football, some doing yoga or even doing skating tricks. Very cute. Also for reasons I don't know, one of the trees had a bunch of shoes tied to it.
After we had finished our ice-creams and coffees, we went up to the cathedral to have a look inside bur was turned away because it was closing. A quick glance on the watch confirmed that it was 4.30 PM - time seemed to just fly by.
However, no one wanted to go home quite yet so we continued walking around while chatting and looking at the city.
Rugby is quite an extremely important sport here in England and when we spotted a big outside TV screen showing the match between Italy and Ireland, some of the group drew us towards it.
Right near the TV screen was a big, round silver ball and some of us went over to investigate; it was a planetarium but it was, of course, closed. We didn't stay to watch the whole match and I'm happy for that. I don't really know the rules or like to watch sport matches. I also spotted more "water art" as we left.
With the evening closing in on us, we decided to head back towards the train station. It had been a long day and we were all getting more and more tired. By the time we got to the station, we were ready to be home.
All of us had tickets with open returns and although, we just missed a train by two minutes, we only had to wait fifteen minutes for the next. At the platform, we were a bunch of drowsy young people.
The train home was just as quick and all too soon we parted ways and headed towards our respective accommodations. It had been quite a day and I was so happy with myself that I actually got off my butt and went. I think I genuinely talked to all twelve of people of our group on multiple occasions. It had been fun and a bit odd but in a good way.
When I finally sat down on my bed again, I could feel that warm buzz in the entirely of my body. I was mentally exhausted. I felt like I was coming home from a night of drinking in a weird way. Slowly the feeling dulled and I went back to normal. I'm not sure I even realised how many of my own boundaries I pushed yesterday. I actually went to a different city with a whole group of people I didn't know very well and I had a great time. Amazing.
After our brief break, we headed to the square just around the corner. It was a nice square and I liked the horse statute in the middle of it. Not much else to comment, I'm not quite sure why it's a must-see in the city but it was nice.
Next, we ventured onwards to the harbour. We walked along the "tip" of the harbour that was located almost near the centre. It was nice but quiet in the morning. They also had water running over the stairs leading down to the quay. I'm not sure if it was just to be pretty or if it's to prevent people from sitting there.
We walked on, not really having anything specific in mind and ventured down some of the smaller streets. We also found a Chinese shop where a few of us went in to buy some spices. They had a dumpling tasting later and we contemplated coming back for it (we never did as we lost track of time). While we walked along the narrow streets, I couldn't help but admire and photograph the buildings.
We eventually got to the shopping area and we were all surprised to see how many of the shops we actually had in our little city too. It seemed the UK cities all preferred the same brands and stores.
The German girl who had a phone with satellite GPS asked if we wanted to go to a park and we all agreed and thus she sort of became the unofficial guide of our little group. The park was called Castle Park because there was a castle in it - very original I know. However, I fail to recall what the actual castle was called.
The Danish guy from my university was supposed to have been with us on this trip but the two other people from his accommodation had waited for him this morning until the last minute. Turned out he had gotten the times wrong but was now in Bristol and wanted to meet up, so we waited around the castle.
We ran into an elderly man who sat with his newspaper and he kindly greeted us. He was originally from Dublin and we got to ask him about what other stuff we should see and visit in Bristol since we didn't have a plan. He was also very interested in knowing where every one was from, which prompted me to count our nationalities as well; Danish, German, Italian, French, Dutch, South African, Japanese and Taiwanese. Pretty cool to think about actually.
Once the Danish guy finally caught up, we moved on and thanked the old man for his help. We kept strolling along the water until we got back to the place with the water stairs. Only now it was transformed. Shops had been set up and the smell of food lingered in the air.
Now, we were hungry and walked down the many restaurants at the habour side to find a place that served fish and chips. Since our group wasn't exclusively management students, they hadn't been able to find a place to get fish and chips yet. And I'm not going to lie, I wanted fish and chips again.
We found a place called V-shed and managed to find three tables that we could stow together, so we sat at one giant long table. It was lovely and the food tasted so nice.
We spend a while in the restaurant, mostly because we had all eaten a lot and because a couple of the guys disappeared upstairs just as we were about to leave. Someone needed another coffee. After our lunch, we followed the water again, still just strolling around like we didn't have a care in the world.
Then we found another park or really a big hill; Brandon Hill ,which had a tower placed on the very top of it. It was actually quite a steep climb and it was especially difficult to "climb" while talking but we all made it.
It was worth the climb though because we got an amazing view of the city.
The tower was dedicated to voyager John Cabot, who according to the old man from Castle Park, had set sails from Bristol harbour towards North America. That fact also sprung a short conversation about Columbus and Americo Vespucio.
After having rested a bit by the tower, we walked down the steep hill again. We then headed towards another central part of the city to find a bookshop that sold cheap university text books. We did find the shop but it was closed, and not as in closed for the day but permanently closed as in the shop was empty. However, we ended up being just across a University of Bristol building that looked more like a church than anything else.
We went inside but didn't stay for long and we all felt the urge to whisper to each other rather than talk normally, that is everyone except the Italians. Speaking of the two Italians, they had just walked on speaking amongst themselves and didn't noticed that we went inside. They even walked down and over a crossing before one of the noticed. It was utterly hilarious trying to call after them and them not reacting at all, I full-on laughed and I'm not sure why.
Next, we found the Bristol Cathedral, mostly by accident and it became the background for our second group photo. However, we were missing one guy who ran off to get ice-cream right before we decided to take the photo. After seeing him come back with ice-cream all of us wanted to go get one as well.
We sat down in the little park area in front of the cathedral to enjoy our ice-cream and a few of us went to get coffees instead. The Dutch girl and I observed how the park was very multifunctional; people were sitting around chilling or reading, some were playing football, some doing yoga or even doing skating tricks. Very cute. Also for reasons I don't know, one of the trees had a bunch of shoes tied to it.
After we had finished our ice-creams and coffees, we went up to the cathedral to have a look inside bur was turned away because it was closing. A quick glance on the watch confirmed that it was 4.30 PM - time seemed to just fly by.
However, no one wanted to go home quite yet so we continued walking around while chatting and looking at the city.
Rugby is quite an extremely important sport here in England and when we spotted a big outside TV screen showing the match between Italy and Ireland, some of the group drew us towards it.
With the evening closing in on us, we decided to head back towards the train station. It had been a long day and we were all getting more and more tired. By the time we got to the station, we were ready to be home.
All of us had tickets with open returns and although, we just missed a train by two minutes, we only had to wait fifteen minutes for the next. At the platform, we were a bunch of drowsy young people.
The train home was just as quick and all too soon we parted ways and headed towards our respective accommodations. It had been quite a day and I was so happy with myself that I actually got off my butt and went. I think I genuinely talked to all twelve of people of our group on multiple occasions. It had been fun and a bit odd but in a good way.
When I finally sat down on my bed again, I could feel that warm buzz in the entirely of my body. I was mentally exhausted. I felt like I was coming home from a night of drinking in a weird way. Slowly the feeling dulled and I went back to normal. I'm not sure I even realised how many of my own boundaries I pushed yesterday. I actually went to a different city with a whole group of people I didn't know very well and I had a great time. Amazing.
Comments
Post a Comment