what if i bristold you there was a city in england hugged by a scenic harbor on one side and a great gorge on the other? and that this city dramatically sprawled down the hillside along this great gorge? and that the city was cherished just as much for it's preserved architecture as for its grasp of modernity? a city that embraced its local heroes, real and animated? well i'm telling you, that place exists and it is name is bristol.
susan and steven were kind enough to let me stay at their (very lovely) home in the clifton village area of bristol for a few days. and before i get any further i just want to thank them both for their enormous hospitality. (also, i just want to tell jill that susan does indeed cook and is good at it.) clifton sits up on the hill toward the apex of the gorge so there were commanding views from their fourth floor balcony alone. susan was more than helpful highlighting the various areas of interests and providing literature on the surrounding areas, even offering to take me to places should i desire, however i didn't want to press her hospitality and mostly stuck to walking around on my own, something which i am comfortable doing while traveling anyways.
bristol is apparently england's sixth largest city but it is a very easy city to walk. there are signs pretty much everywhere that point you to areas of interest and while getting lost is fairly easy, re-routing and finding your way is just as simple. there were two things that made walking around bristol even more entertaining. the first was its street art. bristol is the home of banksy, internationally renowned vandal, and apparently they've embraced the culture. you can find little stencil works all around town, including banksy's very own. there's even an entire street they allowed artists to come in and paint to their desire.
the second reason was the gromit unleashed event. aardman animations, the studio that created wallace and gromit (an animated duo of a man and his dog, for those who don't know), is based in bristol and as part of a charity type event artists had painted large sculptures of gromit and placed them all around the city, much like the flying pigs in cincinnati. while i didn't try tracking down all 80, it was nice to stumble on to them as i was making my way to other things. and they were clearly quite popular with locals and tourists alike.
i would say there are three defining characteristics of bristol, although i'm probably wrong about that. the first would be its harborside. although not technically on the coast (at least the heart of the city) there is an excellent area along the river full of shops, museums, boats, restaurants, etc. this area spans out from the center of the city and provides a nice walk for miles. the second is the gorge. while the gorge provides beautiful views itself, across the gorge is the clifton bridge, an impressive suspension bridge not far from susan and steven's house. and finally, there is the university whose buildings and students make up a large portion of the bristol atmosphere. it is an old city but it is also a young city.
one of the more interesting things in bristol, and i mean this with no irony, was being able to go about with susan on her day to day. things like going to sainsbury's to get food for dinner or watching who would get the boot on bbc one's master chef. it was a bit like waking up one morning and realizing that everything had changed but only very slightly. kroger's was now called sainsburys and was a bit smaller but nicer. top chef had a different name but was on what seemed like every day of the week and probably for an entire month. people speak with an accent, etc.
coincidentally, the eeriest episode i've ever seen of the twilight zone involves a man who is put under for surgery and upon waking up can't understand what everyone is saying. the most bizarre part is that they aren't speaking a different language, but instead using language in a different way. there are still the same words – ball, red, child, history – but everything has a different meaning. how frustrating to know the words but lose their meaning. to have an entire known lexicon in your head and have to learn to replace them entirely. i can't be positive, but i would feel that relearning english in this way would be more frustrating and difficult than just learning a new language.
anyway, next post will be about the town of bath, not far from bristol, and probably a little bit more about bristol as well.
susan and steven were kind enough to let me stay at their (very lovely) home in the clifton village area of bristol for a few days. and before i get any further i just want to thank them both for their enormous hospitality. (also, i just want to tell jill that susan does indeed cook and is good at it.) clifton sits up on the hill toward the apex of the gorge so there were commanding views from their fourth floor balcony alone. susan was more than helpful highlighting the various areas of interests and providing literature on the surrounding areas, even offering to take me to places should i desire, however i didn't want to press her hospitality and mostly stuck to walking around on my own, something which i am comfortable doing while traveling anyways.
bristol is apparently england's sixth largest city but it is a very easy city to walk. there are signs pretty much everywhere that point you to areas of interest and while getting lost is fairly easy, re-routing and finding your way is just as simple. there were two things that made walking around bristol even more entertaining. the first was its street art. bristol is the home of banksy, internationally renowned vandal, and apparently they've embraced the culture. you can find little stencil works all around town, including banksy's very own. there's even an entire street they allowed artists to come in and paint to their desire.
the second reason was the gromit unleashed event. aardman animations, the studio that created wallace and gromit (an animated duo of a man and his dog, for those who don't know), is based in bristol and as part of a charity type event artists had painted large sculptures of gromit and placed them all around the city, much like the flying pigs in cincinnati. while i didn't try tracking down all 80, it was nice to stumble on to them as i was making my way to other things. and they were clearly quite popular with locals and tourists alike.
i would say there are three defining characteristics of bristol, although i'm probably wrong about that. the first would be its harborside. although not technically on the coast (at least the heart of the city) there is an excellent area along the river full of shops, museums, boats, restaurants, etc. this area spans out from the center of the city and provides a nice walk for miles. the second is the gorge. while the gorge provides beautiful views itself, across the gorge is the clifton bridge, an impressive suspension bridge not far from susan and steven's house. and finally, there is the university whose buildings and students make up a large portion of the bristol atmosphere. it is an old city but it is also a young city.
one of the more interesting things in bristol, and i mean this with no irony, was being able to go about with susan on her day to day. things like going to sainsbury's to get food for dinner or watching who would get the boot on bbc one's master chef. it was a bit like waking up one morning and realizing that everything had changed but only very slightly. kroger's was now called sainsburys and was a bit smaller but nicer. top chef had a different name but was on what seemed like every day of the week and probably for an entire month. people speak with an accent, etc.
coincidentally, the eeriest episode i've ever seen of the twilight zone involves a man who is put under for surgery and upon waking up can't understand what everyone is saying. the most bizarre part is that they aren't speaking a different language, but instead using language in a different way. there are still the same words – ball, red, child, history – but everything has a different meaning. how frustrating to know the words but lose their meaning. to have an entire known lexicon in your head and have to learn to replace them entirely. i can't be positive, but i would feel that relearning english in this way would be more frustrating and difficult than just learning a new language.
anyway, next post will be about the town of bath, not far from bristol, and probably a little bit more about bristol as well.
the royal york crescent, one of the most expensive streets in bristol
the clifton suspension bridge
a gromit
view of the suspension bridge from the observatory. at the observatory there was also a camera obscure, supposedly the best in all of the united kingdom. a camera obscura is essentially a dark room where light is cast over a prism and it projects the image of whatever is outside. that's a terribly simple explanation and probably not a very good one at that.
statue with bird on head, #1
the victoria rooms
wells tower at bristol university
an original banksy
statue with bird on head, #2
s.s. great britain
panoramic frankenstein image from atop cabot tower
i really hope daniella stayed true to her man
the beginning of nelson street and the see no evil project.
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