Bristol
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2009
1
19
29
Trip End
Jun 06, 2009
Bristol,
England,
United Kingdom
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The hostel in Bristol is also worth mentioning. I showed up in Bristol without any reservations and planned on following the signs from the train station to the local youth hostel (every city in England appears to do this). So imagine my shock when signs lead me to a construction site....apparently the Bristol Youth Hostel was being remodeled and not open for business. Oops. There was a tourist information desk nearby so I went to ask them for a recommendation. The very nice woman told me about a nearby backpackers hostel but instead strongly recommended a brand new hostel a little further away. I was intrigued so I decided to try it and boy I am glad I did.
The hostel was a green hostel and had certified organic fair-trade sheets, bunks made out of wood (uncomfortable but way more comfortable than sleeping in metal bunks), and the craziest part....no keys! The entire place was accessible by fingerprint access. So a random hostel in Bristol now has my fingerprints, but the technology was so cool I will let my paranoid ways let it slide. The ground floor of the hostel was a restaurant and bar. The hostel was in a little compound that included a courtyard and.........a nightclub! I don't think I've ever heard of a hostel that had a bar, let alone two. The first night I was by myself and had no plans so I went over to the night club to check out the reggae-fusion band that was playing. I thought the show was going to be lame and full of international hostel kids, but to my surprise was mostly full of local Bristol youth. Definitely worth the three pound cover.
The next day I got up bright and early and headed out to city center. I went to the Bristol City Museum which was free and an interesting combination natural history/social history/art museum. They had two big exhibits, one on contemporary China and one on ancient Egypt. They also had a random assortment of stuff including a gypsy caravan wagon, a collection of pianos made by a local famed piano maker, and a Darwin exhibit. After that I went to the Gregorian House, which is the historically preserved townhouse of a wealthy merchant built in 1790. As a student of history interested in social history, I really liked this exhibit. Then I went to it's sister museum, the Red Lodge, another preserved house. It was not as cool but did have three oak rooms built in the Elizabethan era.
Saturday night of course was the big highlight of the trip.....POLECATS NIGHT! I went to the Fiddler's Club and while waiting for the show to start met three local girls: Beth, Kim, and Anna. They were really cool and kind enough to let me use their camera as mine had died just that morning. The show started with psychobilly act Graveyard Johnnys, who were quite good! Then local favorite Zen Hussies came on...they were an edgy big band/jazz group comme Squirrel Nut Zippers. Then The Polecats! My first reaction was, "god! when did they get so old?!" But I guess that is what happens when you see a band who hit their prime thirty years ago. Regardless the singer has the same wild energy as they did in their old music videos. Their set was fantastic and they encored twice. I split a cab home with Beth and Kim and then headed off to bed for a few hours until I had to get up at 5 to catch my plane back to Grenoble.
