UK-trip, Day 2: Bristol
After yesterday's adventures in Cardiff, this morning T. and I allowed ourselves a little sleep in, to fully enjoy our marvelous hotelroom. Before walking into town we went to the bed- and breakfast next door for -ehm- breakfast. (Delicious!)
Around ten we started our exploration of Bristol. We sort of made a figure eight walking around, and we saw a couple of areas more than once which resulted in me making more pictures, but I'm posting the photos in chronological order anyway:)

I hereby invite you to walk with us, our first goal is to find the venue for tonight's concert...


We walked from the hotel across the bridge, past the 'Hole in the Wall' restaurant (see photo on the way back;) and the Broad Quay House (1795).


From there we crossed the square at Anchor Road and turned left into Denmark Street, where right at the end we find the Hatchet Inn. According to legend the front door has bits of human flesh and skin in it. (We'll have dinner here later!)


Right behind the Inn is the O2 Academy where the sign is up for Panic! at the Disco, yay! We also see a tiny group of fans with a sleeping bag in front of the entrance. Poor, cold Panicbabies. If we'd had hot cocoa, we would have handed it out. In stead we continued with the second part of our mission: find Banksy Graffiti...


My guide said there was graffiti in Frogmore street, but we don't find it. I do snap a pic of this awesome logo. At the end of the street, we give up and decide to follow T's guide which leads us to climb up the stairs to overhead Park street.


Then we find that both guides were correct: Banksy's piece is on the side of a building that's actually standing in Frogmore street. D'oh. We had walked right underneath that (pictures on the way back!)


A closer look. The painball stains are not part of the original graffiti. But notice how after re-painting the bottom of the building, the city did leave Banksy's autograph intact:) The image is on the side of a sexual health clinic. *wink-wink-nudge-nudge*


We continue on Parkstreet to the Council House on College Green, where we find golden unicorns \o/


We wondered whether this was a church or a cathedral...


...and learned it was called a Cathedral Church. Huh.


From College Green we walked back down to the square on Anchor Road to catch a bus to the Suspension Bridge (number 1 on the list of touristy things to see in Bristol)


After a ten minute ride we got off at Clifton Down Road for a short walk to Clifton Bridge to admire the view and walk across the bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1830. (I love that name!)


There was an open fence next to the pedestrian walkway, which T. didn't like, but she kept on going like a trooper while I stopped for photos;)


Look at that amazing view! I couldn't discover any holes, but there are caves and a tunnel underneath the Observatory that's build on top of the rocks.


We visited the tiny centre of the Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust for some souvenirs. One of the volunteers couldn't stop telling stories about the origin and history of the bridge, but we did eventually manage to say goodbye to walk back along the other side for a view of Bristol.


Back on the other side we climbed up to the Observatory. The area is a protected nature reserve. There are lots of signs explaining what animals and plants live here, as well as copies of old paintings to show what the area looked like before and during the build of the bridge. Very cool.


I combined two pictures to capture the height:)


Sadly the observatory was closed, which meant we couldn't get into the caves either. Luckily the view alone had been well worth the visit already:) So we walked back to the busstop.


Took the bus back into town, got of at Parkstreet, where we got some souvenirs before taking the stairs down to Frogmore street for another photo of Banksy's graffiti. We had actually checked that parking lot earlier but had not thought of looking up;)


After checking the venue to see if we could get our tickets from the box office (nope), we walked back to the hotel. Don't know what this building is, but I like the designs.


A quick photo of the Bristol Theatre The Hippodrome and the funky dude next to it. (If you're still keeping track: we're back at the Anchor Street Square;)


Statue at Queen Square. The sun made an appearance! For realz!


And past the Hole in the Wall again. (Told you I made a photo;) See the St. Mary Redcliff Church in the distance? If you remember, that's right next to our hotel.


After reading for hours on the comfy beds in our hotelroom, we went back into town for diner and the concert. We checked out the harbour for restaurants. Later we learned we could have found yet another Banksy on one of the ships here. But we only saw the funky bridge. Oh well. (Alas. Lack of preparation. Lesson for next time; study all the guides, even before going on a short city-trip)


Eventually we decided to have a bite at The Hatchet Inn (see above) right in front of the venue, so we didn't have to worry about being late for our Meet & Greet and the concert. The horrid stories on the wall didn't stop us from having dinner;) (The cars driving right towards the window before taking a sharp turn however, did manage to make me shiver)

Continued with Panic! at the Disco concert

Back to Day 1 - Cardiff

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