despite the king size bed and uber comfortable pillows and blankets, we had a terrible night sleep. boyfriend had woken me a number of times with his snoring, while i was waking regularly from being too hot; we'd turned the heat off over night, but with no way to open the windows, it was so stuffy and... smelly. less than ideal. when we finally woke up, we headed down for our buffet breakfast before showering, packing and heading out for the day.
we wandered the back alleys toward st. nick's market, which had been shut the day before, but the one thing that everyone had told me to check out. it wasn't too early, maybe midday when we got there, but it was quiet. there were a handful of stalls open, and others that didn't open mondays (when did they open!).. we had a ball in the sweet shop, had a snoop through the record shops, and some of the handicraft stalls inside the market.
disappointed, we walked on, hoping to find the amazing street art we'd heard so much about. we'd come across none the day before, and were starting to think it was all a massive conspiracy to get people to bristol. well, not even five minutes of walking later, and we'd surely found the art we'd been hoping for!
suddenly, we were surrounded by the works of street artists nick walker, m-city, aryz, roa and loads more; street after street, building after building, all covered with original and exciting pieces of work, brightening the city and finally showcasing some of bristol's amazing character. we walked on, grinning like the cat who'd got the cream.
our street art tour of bristol city soon lead us back to cabot circus; the massive and modern shopping centre in the heart of the city centre. it was well after lunch time, on a monday, but it was eerily quiet. the shopping centre is big and spacious, full of high street brands and restaurants, yet, no one was around. we checked out a few of the shops - including my heaven; the yankee store (i'd never been in a whole store dedicated to yankee candles?! it was insaaaaane), then strolled around the outer edge popping in an out of the charity shops.
we found some really fab furniture and trinkets in the local chazzas - a damn shame, as how was i supposed to get them on the bus home - but after a few hours of dragging our feet around the shops, we decided to bit the bullet and head home early. sadly, there just wasn't 'enough stuff' to entertain us for those last few hours, so we were happy to retire to the bus. what we weren't expecting was the london peak hour traffic that met us when we (tried to) approached victoria... but that's a whole 'nother story. by the time we got in it was just gone six thirty, and we were ever so glad we'd left when we did. out original return tickets had us arriving back in london another hour on from that, and we were bare knackered.
so, bristol; not as wonderful as i had hoped, sadly. i'm glad i can tick it off the list, but i can't see us holidaying there again in the future... what say you? have you been? can you suggest things to do?
better late than never i guess?
