My U.K. Adventure – Part Two, Bristol

After landing at Heathrow and getting my passport stamped, I followed the signage to find the Central Bus Station. I had pre-booked a bus ticket from Heathrow to Bristol, giving myself plenty of time (too much as it turned out) to get off the plane, wander over to the bus station, and catch my bus. I loitered in the bus station for a good hour and a half; but fortunately, they have free wifi so I could try to figure out how to get from the bus station to my hotel.

That’s one very big difference for this trip versus previous trips, staying in a hotel. Ordinarily, I stay in hostels whenever I’m in Europe with very few exceptions. But this trip, I was going to be sharing a hotel room with my friend for 8 nights on the second half of the trip. For an introvert traveling with an extroverted friend, I really struggled with figuring out how to maintain my mental balance. I need, no, I crave alone time, time with only me and my head. I don’t do well constantly needing to be open to someone else’s extraversion. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was going to need the front half of my trip overloaded with alone time. And that meant a hotel room versus a hostel room where I would be surrounded by other people.

Once I got on the bus, I had two very strong but competing desires: one, to gaze out of the window every moment to absorb the fact that I was in England; and two, nap. I have to say I think I did both pretty well (I sincerely hope I didn’t snore on the bus). We finally pulled into Bristol after about 2 hours and I was so ready to get to my hotel. Originally, I thought I would just drop my bag and go out to explore Bristol right away. But I underestimated how little sleep I actually got – first class seat or not. Leaving the bus station, I suddenly realized that I had been a bit too reliant on Google maps, thinking I could just pull out my phone to see where I was going; but I didn’t have service except for wifi on this trip. It’s amazing how different the world is when you don’t have access to your smartphone apps. Fortunately, I am blessed with a state-of-the-art navigation system in my brain. I managed to get myself to a main road and then to the river and knew I needed to cross the river to get to my hotel. So, I was walking down the road and thought, maybe I should ask someone to clarify the finer details of how to get to the road where the hotel was located. So I stopped a middle-aged woman walking down the road eating some ice cream (it was really warm and sunny in Bristol that day; I wasn’t entirely sure I was actually in England) and asked her for directions to the road I was looking for. She eyed me up and asked where exactly I was heading. I told her the Hilton Garden Inn and would you freaking believe, she works there. She obviously gave me spot-on instructions and I got to see her later in the afternoon when her shift started.

The Hilton Garden Inn is a nice little hotel, if you ever find yourself in Bristol. It’s located really close to the train station (not that it was helpful for me since I took the bus but…), and in a quiet area near enough to the main section of the town to walk. I dropped my bags in the room and despite my initial plan to go sightsee, I succumbed to fatigue and took a nap instead. You see, I needed to be 100% for the evening. I had a concert to go to!

As noted in the previous post, I had secured a ticket to go see Adam Ant play that evening. I was beyond excited for the show. I have had a crush on him since I was eight. I used his music in my university student projects for my video classes back in the day. I had seen him play a few times, most recently a few years ago and had really wanted to see him play again. But as readers of the blog may know, my life got extraordinarily complicated and for years, I had neglected parts of my life that brought me immense joy – namely travel and music. So this show meant more than just getting to see a very favorite artist play. It demonstrated that I was allowing the fun, impulsive Nicole back into world. I mean, who decides to travel across an ocean to ensure that she catches a concert?

And Adam Ant has had his own very public struggles throughout his life. As a fan, I wanted to see him perform and see that he’s doing well. As odd as it sounds, his difficulties made him seem more human, relatable. And when you’re going through tough times yourself, knowing that a favorite musician has dealt with worse than what you’re going through but he can still find a way to be creative and persevere – well, you can take strength from that. (I’m really rambling… )

So, the show…I had an amazing view since I had snagged a front row seat on the balcony. (A side note, going solo to concerts means that you also can get some amazing seats.) I also discovered that English audiences do not get up and dance nearly as much as the American audiences do – which meant that I was wiggling all around in my seat as I butt-danced throughout the set. I was hoarse at the end from singing (and indulging in a bit of 13 year-old-Nicole inspired screaming). I was sad when it was over; but so elated that I got to experience that. Honestly, I’ve never seen him perform so well and his band was incredible.

It took me a long time to wind down and get to sleep after that show. The next morning, I awoke to more Englishy weather than the day before – cold, overcast, with spots of rain. I grabbed my raincoat and daypack and took off exploring. I walked all through the historical section and then along the river, crossing Pero’s Bridge before finding myself in the Bristol Cathedral. I’m not a religious person but I do enjoy wandering through old cathedrals and churches. And as an American, I always get a sense of awe being in buildings older than my country. (And in Europe that’s almost laughably easy…)

Then I decided to really give my legs (and lungs) a workout and climb up Brandon Hill to Cabot’s Tower, set in a beautiful park. Ok, so I realize that gasping for breath while trying to climb a tiny spiral staircase up a 105 foot tower doesn’t sound like much fun (and genius that I am, doing it with an upper respiratory infection to boot); but the views from the top were incredible (and when I figure out how to get my new camera to sync with my laptop, I’ll add a photo to this section – or you can go to Bristol and climb the tower to see what I mean). However while at the top of the tower, in the distance I could see heavy rain moving in. After about 30 minutes at the top, I wound my way down the tower and before heading back to the hotel, wandered through the section of town where Banksy started as part of a graffiti crew, looking at all of the murals decorating the sides of buildings.

Footsore, I finally made my way back to the hotel. My iPhone pedometer said I walked 5 miles but I think at least one of those was vertical. And I had great timing because the heavens opened up just as I got back to the hotel. I ended up eating dinner in the hotel restaurant before going for a quick evening stroll while there was a break in the rain. And then I fell into bed, exhausted but so excited that my English adventure was underway.