Bristol, A Stone's Throw Away.

Hola peeps! Pretty sure this first post pertaining to my first destination I made for exchange has been long overdue for a month. So here goes: Exchange travel posts! 

First stop: Bristol, England.

Fancy having breakfast in a Mongolian Yurt? Check out Yurt Lush! I had their full breakfast set,while my friend, Sheri, had their poached eggs on spinach and sauteed mushrooms.

Yurt Lush

Clock Tower Yard, Bristol BS1 6QH

Never expected much from Bristol Cathedral when we saw its exterior. But when we stepped in, I think we lost our jaws.  The church is so beautifully architectured – A typical Romanesque church with thick walls and little light coming through. What took our experience up a notch was the church choir whose rehearsal coincided with our visit. 

Nothing beats watching a choir in a grand cathedral and reminiscing those good old days I had in Poland and Austria touring with my choir, sigh.

In my opinion, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Avon Gorge area, is the best attraction in Bristol. 360 degrees all round good views. Don't forget to climb up the small hill on your right when you arrive at the suspension bridge! There is a small observatory that has steps inside leading to a small cave below bridge level. But we shuddered at the thought of climbing steps as we visited Clifton a day after climbing up the Bath Cathedral... So we skipped it.

Clifton is also surrounded by its beautiful villages around the vicinity. Alert, all hipsters. This is the place to be at, apart from Stokes Croft in Bristol. The village is littered with many novelty shops and chic cafes. Well, we struggled with ourselves a little when we stepped into Papersmiths.

 ... And we had tea at Anna when we returned to Bristol to collect our luggages. Do try their Sea Salt and Caramel cake. I haven't had good cake since I started backpacking around Italy, Berlin and Cornwall, and that just made up for all that I missed out.

At Sheri's Grandaunt's backyard

If you have too much time to kill at Bristol (just like us), why not get lost in the streets of Bristol without a map? We managed to get ourselves from Rupert Street, to College Green, to somewhere near the SS Britain, then down the waterfront.

When in Bristol, be sure to join one of those Banksy tours that brings you around, starting from College Green to Stokes Croft. I never regretted paying £7.20 for a tour as it gave me so much insights to street art, and it honestly made me appreciate the street art around me so much more. I never knew there were so many different kinds of street art: stenciling, free-hand, e.t.c. So when you're in Bristol, go for it. You won't regret it! Sherilyn and I booked our tours from Wherethewall. 

I really liked Bristol because how everything is so close by one another. There's hills, rivers, waterfront, artsy stuff – There's something for everyone. There's even Asian supermarkets. 

I mean, everywhere IS better than Hatfield, where our main attraction is the University, then next up, ASDA. 

Exchange life has been so-so up till this day. Still getting used to how there's nothing much to do here apart from cooking dinner, having extended post-meal conversations with the NTUxHERTS peeps, rushing assignments, drinking, partying or playing sports with friends. I swear I don't even play that much sports back in Hall as I was mostly involved with the performing arts stuff, and it still feels really weird having no commitments whatsoever. And the only things I have to worry about is whether I will miss any submission dates, whether I can get to travel during the semester, what to cook for dinner, whether will I go broke from travelling.

I guess I need to get used to this easy game easy life thing. But still, am really glad for the company of the NTU peeps here :')

Till next time (which is very soon),

Mingrui