how is Bristol???? That is where I hail from,(originally Portishead)Where abouts are you living? how'd you like living there? I was back briefly in May and had dinner on Corn Street.
I have a group of my girlfriends from Bristol flying out to Miami on Thanks Giving for a Hen Weekend, I cannot wait to join them and catch up. I miss Bristol, it was such a great city, walking, buses or trains everywhere I was so fit then.
Bristol is a laugh lol. A number of fine drinking places lol
Bristol is great - I'm surprised by how much I like it. It's a decent sized city but not big and annoying like London is. Lots of good places to eat and drink, loads of good cultural spots, and oddly for a city the open countryside is right next to it. Haven't been out to Portishead yet but went to Weston Supermare to see the mud. The bus system is decent but for some reason the shift changeover occurs at rush hour - meaning there's 30 minutes when 10 buses go by with "Not In Service" on them. Dumb. There are lodds of places to go walking and running which is nice.
People here sound like a cross between farmers and pirates which is pretty amusing. I hope to not pick up too much of the accent but considering I sound like a full-blown Murrican at the moment I imagine I will anyway. I'll be staying away from the cider too - not my cup of tea. The only annoying thing about the city centre are the tens of charity-sales people all over the place. Sounds weird I know but when the 8th person in one day asks you for money because "America is killing the planet" it gets annoying. Handily one informed me that Bill Clinton signed Kyoto but GWBush cancelled it the first day he was in office. The things you can learn from people who don't wash. Big Issue sellers are quite militant here too and there are usually 2 or 3 for every street.
The good news is that Bristol schools are on target to eclipse Arkansas as worst in the Western world. The yobbish nature of little bastard teenagers is really really annoying. Mos tseem fine though but teenage boys seem to have license to roam drunk around town smashing up bus stops.
Anyway - lovely place. Glad I chose it.
So which area do you live in?? Ahhhh W-S-M can't beat a good ol british beach! (kidding) I always loved going on the pier as a kid, such a tacky place really and a very high crime rate but that may just be because my brother lives there roll I like clevedon best, old clevedon is nicer than the main town. Both my parents grew up there and I still have strong family connections to the area. THe beach is mainly rock but there are some nice pubs and a really nice icecream shop, last time I was back I took hubby there. It was a little chilly but we ate lunch and then had a whippy ice cream and walked along the promenade there.
I'm in sunny Brislington at the moment which is on the Bath Road near Keynsham. It's alright.
I know where that is smile Bath is a nice place to visit too, I am looking forward to visiting more of the old haunts next August on our trip home.
I'm actually from Bath.
It *was* a nice place to live and where I used to live was a nice place to live. However, when I went back two years ago for my Sisters wedding (my second trip back to the UK in 16 years) I was saddened by how run down everywhere looked.
Plus groups of kids hanging out everywhere and just a general grubbiness.
Even speaking to a friend the other week he said that you have to be choosy of how you walk home at night, which was *never* the case and certainly something you never have to worry about here.
In fact, when Emily and I walked to where I used to live (we stayed in a hotel when we went back - in the Royal Crescent) the walk from there to home in Oldfield Park felt dodgier at 10PM than walking along Market Street in San Francisco at 2AM with all the wino's and junkies.
Sad. I enjoyed growing up there and to see what it's become is just disappointing and frankly I'd like to keep the memories I had of naive youthful days of playing around, scrumping, riding motorcycles and the wonderful childhood I had, intact.
My life is elsewhere and where we live has similar qualities to what I had as a child. People recognise you in the shops, say good morning and are friendly. You can leave your front door open, walk everywhere and to boot the weather is good (which is a bonus) and ultimately it's safe and clean.
..and of course I have MMM just up the road..
Btw the air smells wonderful this morning now that the storm has blown through and the suns out. Simply gorgeous this morning.
Andrew :)
I was saddened by how run down everywhere looked.
Plus groups of kids hanging out everywhere and just a general grubbiness.
Even speaking to a friend the other week he said that you have to be choosy of how you walk home at night, which was *never* the case and certainly something you never have to worry about here.
This is something that has saddened me too about alot of places. Where my sister lives, and where I went to university has become very grubby and dodgy at night. It's alright walking down Bath Road at night but I'm not to happy being in Bristol centre at times.
This is something that has saddened me too about alot of places. Where my sister lives, and where I went to university has become very grubby and dodgy at night. It's alright walking down Bath Road at night but I'm not to happy being in Bristol centre at times.
The city centre has always been a bit dodgy, imv, especially on a Friday or Saturday night - too many drunken louts. A lot of them come in from outside Bristol and start trouble with the locals.
Glad to read that you like Bristol on the whole. I knew you would when you asked me about the place. Brislington is all right but if I moved back to Bristol I would probably choose somewhere like Ashley Down or Cotham. Some really nice old houses up there and the area a bit quieter than other parts.
ukm :)
I used to live just off Park Street and loved it, just before that we lived near the Uni which again was nice. We never experienced any trouble there. The city centre is like any place that has pubs and clubs so close together - trouble! I did love clifton, whitel ladies etc just a tad pricey.
I did love clifton, whitel ladies etc just a tad pricey.
That reminds me, what was that small little cider pub in Clifton? For the life of me I cannot remember, but it was down the end of a mews-y type street, small place, and they used to sell real cider (not Tauntons), scrumpy.
Andrew :)
Not sure I ever had the pleasure of stumbling across that place, was it Thatchers they sold?? That is strong stuff, 2 1/2 pints of that and I literally couldn't stand up it was so easy to drink I had no idea how strong it was!! shock
Have you seen this dictionary for Bristol, a friend of mine gave it to me before I left home. Funny though I never developed a regional dialect for Bristol.
http//www.thatbebristle.co.uk/dictionary/index.shtml