Bristol

This time I got an invitation from my friends living in Bristol to finally visit them, so yes, why the hell not :) I forgot the ticket price, but I do remember that getting from London Paddington to Bristol Parkway was pleasant. What I also remember was meeting a bit weird family trying to find through the whole time of the journey a place to sit. They were sending their children in both directions of the carriage and gathering reports that all the places are taken, unfortunately for them, but that didn't stop them against sending them again back and forth to amusement of all the passengers :) Anyway, the trip was 1,5h and that night in Bristol wasn't particularly interesting, I went to sleep :P

Somewhere around 10AM next day we set off to see the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, also known as a suicide bridge! I guess the designer of the bridge, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, didn't envisage his creation with a jumper on it. This bridge has some serious suicide barrires... but I don't want to make suicide the main reason why I'm writing about this superb piece of civil engineering :D Obviously the bridge itself  and the views are awesome! It was opened in 1864 and is situated upon river Avon. Actually the view from the bridge is less enchanting than the view of the bridge from a nearby hill :)

Now the stuff that was really cool! Street art, graffiti or however you call it. It's totally astonishing in Bristol. I haven't seen so many street art work in London, maybe I hang out in the wrong places? Not sure, but I've heard from few people here and there that Bristol is quite active when it comes to art. Also, very famous guy is from Bristol, so no wonder there's so many art work there. Who? Banksy, I probably don't need to say any more. Maybe short quote from Wikipedia is appropriate here:

"was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. The son of a photocopier technician, he trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s."

The great Bristol aerosol boom! That explains everything :) No, seriously, he's work is really great! If you want to see more of Bristol's street art work I advise to visit for example this website http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk/, I think it contains all of it.

Being tired and hungry we went to have lunch in a Jamaican restaurant. Goat curry, quite spicy, a lot of sharp bones (really sharp!), eat on your own responsibility. Jerk chicken was a better option, maybe next time.

Oh, and that's the coolest Police Station I've ever seen :)

We've also visited the port district with a lot of stylish cafés and restaurants. Basically, looked like the city's chill out area. Last stop was Bristol Cathedral, the first pieces of the Bristol Cathedral were build in 1140! Here's a bit psychedelic version of the interior plus a really interesting ornament on one of the tombs ;) This guy needs to be really happy in his afterlife! :D

This trip proved to me that London isn't the only cool city in the UK, Bristol definitely deserves this title, so I strongly encourage to plan a visit! Cheers!