bristol and bath

Though it's been a few days since our return, I wanted to document the trip a bit.

On Saturday, we left via train for Bristol, which is near the southern part of the border with Wales (and incidentally, only a train stop or two from Cardiff.  These little excursions hammer out British geography better than any class could.)

The idea to visit Bristol came when we were passing through on the way home from Cardiff.  Truthfully, the decision to go was a bit impulsive, but even more truthfully, nothing is accomplished without a bit of impulse.

Bristol turned out to be quite a lovely place.  Tourist destinations were sparse, but that lent a certain peacefulness to the city, and the streets were filled with locals instead of foreigners in baggy pants and rumpled fishing hats.

For future reference: those bus tours that are double-decker with the open-air top level are really worthwhile.  The ticket gets one access for 24 hours, and consequently, one can get off the bus at any stop to poke around at sightseeing in-depth, and then simply board the next bus to come round.

We did the bus tour for a while, seeing heaps of fine architecture, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and Clifton College (where Kate Middleton's dad went?), among other things.  We stumbled into the main square just in time for a fundraiser event for Water Aid that involved a thousand-person choir and money collectors dressed as taps (alas, no photos for that one.)  We laid in the shade in a green park and watched the clouds go by.  Note: Clouds travel faster here, it seems.

After a night at the Victoria Square Best Western, we took off for Bath.

Bath would have been fantastically peaceful and scenic but for the swarms of tourists.  (We were even shocked to see a gaggle of EF tour groups had also decided on Bath for the weekend.)  But at any rate, it was quite lovely.

The Roman Baths were a bit underwhelming for me, though perhaps that is because it is always hard for me to grasp the gravity of how old the structures here are, most especially how ancient the ROMAN bathhouses are.  I was more impressed by the Museum of Fashion, where Kaitlin and I were able to try on corsets and hoopskirts.

A short weekend, yes, but I was quite satisfied at how much we were able to pack into two days.  Better a short, fulfilling visit than a long and strung-out one, no?