Bristol & Bath

Hi everyone! I've been back in Texas a few weeks now and it sure is great to be back home. Although my study abroad semester is over now, I want to write about my last few trips in England not only so I can share my experiences with everyone who is reading, but also so I can have a record when I look back on the semester. I'll start where my last blog post left off: my trip to Bristol.

Bristol is a pretty cool city, but the reason it was one of the top places to visit during the semester is because it's where my parents met, were married, and lived when Esther was born and for about a year before moving stateside. Planning my trip to Bristol was also exciting because it was the first big trip I'd be making completely on my own. I'd made day trips alone, but not overnight trips. I decided to leave London on a Saturday morning, stay in Bristol Saturday night and Sunday, take a bus to Bath on Sunday night and stay there until Monday, then head back to London on Monday late afternoon.

My megabus trip to Bristol was cheap and went well. After arriving I took a bus to the bed and breakfast where I'd be staying, dropped off my stuff, and then headed out to do some exploring. I stayed in the Cotham area and wanted to go toward Clifton, which is unfortunately up a big hill. On my way I walked through the campus of University of Bristol which looked like a cool place to go to school. I know my mom worked there while she lived in Bristol. I'm not really sure why my dad was in Bristol at the time though. Maybe he was teaching too or working on another degree? I'll have to ask him!

After a little walking I arrived at Clifton Cathedral, where my parents were married. It's a pretty new building, built in the 80's I think, and is a more modern building. It's nothing like the majestic King's Chapel, Cambridge or massive York Minster, but it's a beautiful building in its own way, partially because of its significance in my own personal history.There is a fantastic organ and some colorful abstract stained glass windows which look spectacular when the light shines through.

After checking out the Cathedral and finding out mass times for the next day, I visited the street and flat where my mom used to live, then headed to Clifton Suspension Bridge. The suspension bridge is also new, built in 1864, and goes across River Avon It was cooler than I expected and even more so since the sun was beginning to set. On the opposite side of the bridge is a little visitor center which I visited briefly. Inside there is a display showing the other designs for the bridge which were considered. Some were terrible, but some where pretty cool. My favorite was something that looked like something from Middle Earth. I'm happy with the won they chose, though! At the shop I got a cute little pin that said "I crossed Clifton Suspension Bridge."

Street where my mom used to live!

Near the bridge is a little park with an observatory called Clifton Down which is high up and looks out over the river valley. It provided a great view of the bridge!

When I left Clifton Down it was starting to get dark, so I headed to Clifton Village where there are a lot of little shops and places to eat. I stopped in at a few places and purchased a book called "Exercises in Reasoned Thinking" from an Oxfam. It looks pretty cool! I found a Caffe Nero and sat drinking a latte and looking through brochures and maps of Bristol, making a plan for the next day. I caught a bus back to the B&B, then had a relaxing, early night.

The night morning I woke up bright and early and had breakfast at the B&B then walking over to the Clifton area to try and see the Cabot Tower, which is near Clifton Cathedral, but there was a lot of fog and I couldn't see it very well. I went to a beautiful mass at the Cathedral, and after mass there was an announcement that there was a little free brunch in the Apostle's Room, which is like a little parish hall underneath the main part of the church. I suspected it was the room where my parents met (I knew it was at a little coffee thing at the church), so I decided to check it out. I ended up being the only young person there, but everyone was really nice! The food was good and I had a really nice time. I also found out that one of the new priests at the Cathedral, who was also at the lunch, is an alumni of UST! It's definitely a small world! After the brunch I walked to the an area of southwest Bristol called Bedminster, which is where my parents and Esther used to live. There's not much there, but I successfully located their old house and old home parish. On the walk there I saw some cool stuff, though, including Bristol Cathedral, St. Mary Redcliffe, the ss Great Britain, and the harbour. By the time I visited everywhere I wanted to go I caught a bus back to the B&B, picked up my stuff, then headed to Bristol Bus Station. From there I caught a bus to Bath, which took about an hour and cost about 3.50 GBP- what a steal!

Bristol Cathedral

 

Holy Cross Parish, Bedminster

Brunel's ss Great Britain

Church of St. Mary Redcliffe

Street art

When I got to Bath it was dark, so I sat in a Caffe Nero again (my go-to coffee place) before heading to the hostel. I caught a bus to the hostel, which is a YHA hostel. It wasn't very crowded and was nice and quiet. Definitely a good hosteling experience! I had a good night's sleep.

YHA Hostel in Bath

The next morning I woke up bright and early so I would have time to see as much as Bath as I could. The weather was much cooler and cloudier than it had been on Sunday, so I had to bundle up! The first place I stopped by Bath Abbey.

The weirdest sculpture I saw on the whole trip

Next, I checked out the Pump Rooms. I didn’t officially visit the Roman Baths, but I got a nice view of them from the back of the Pump Rooms restaurant.

After that I met up with a guide and group for a free walking tour of Bath. On the tour we visited and learned about so many things, including the famous Royal Crescent and Royal Circus.

Royal Crescent

The Circus

When the tour ended I visited the Jane Austen Centre. Although Jane Austen didn't like Bath very much, she did live there for several years and her experiences there influenced her writing. Her book Northanger Abbey, which I read this semester, takes place in Bath. The centre was really cool and interesting, and I even got to dress up in Regency clothes! (It ended up looking really weird but I kind of like it!)

During my visit to Bath there was a Christmas market set up, so after I finished at the Jane Austen Centre I explored the Christmas markets for awhile. There were so many cool things, but the coolest was a little wooden dragon that held incense, so that when the incense was burning the dragon looked like it was breathing smoke. I wish I would have gotten it! Eventually it was time for me to leave, so I said my goodbye to Bath then boarded my bus back to London.

Christmas market outside Bath Abbey

Oxford: "that sweet city with her dreaming spires"

The week before last was very busy for Gabby and I (multiple assignments due!), so when it was over we decided to get off campus and do some sightseeing. We decided to go to Oxford for the day. We woke up bright and early, went to Paddington Station, grabbed a coffee, then boarded our train and began our journey. Once we got to Oxford we split up for the day to do our sightseeing and made plans to meet up again for dinner before heading back to London.

After arriving, the first place I stopped was the visitor information center to grab a map and guide to the university. Here are some basic facts about Oxford I learned from the guide:

There is evidence of teaching in Oxford as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the world's second-oldest surviving university.

• In 1167 Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, causing many more scholars to settle in Oxford.
• The University is currently made up from a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges.
• There are many famous alumni of Oxford University, including world leaders, noble prize winners Olympic medalists, authors, and more.
• Gerard Manely Hopkins, Grahame Greene, John Locke, Christopher Wren, Lewis Carroll, Albert Einstein, J.R.R. Tolkien, Evelyn Waugh, CS Lewis, Oscar Wilde, and T.S. Eliot are some notable Oxford alums. 

The Claredon Building, next to the Sheldonian Theare

The Sheldonian Theatre, designed by Sir Christopher Wren

I began my Oxford explorations by walking past the Sheldonian Theater and Bodleian Library, but both were closed in the morning for graduation ceremonies. Throughout the day I saw lots of people dressed very smart and wearing cap and gown. It was very cool to see Oxford students on what must have been a very special day for them!

The next place I stopped was the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which dates back to the 13th century.

The Radcliffe Camera, a reading room near St. Mary's Church

The Bridge of Sighs, designed like the bridge of the same name in Venice (also near St. Mary's Church)

From there I made my way through the university to the Botanic Garden, which is the oldest one in Britain! Since it's off-season there weren't many flower, but it was still very beautiful and peaceful. I wanted to visit J.R.R. Tolkien's favorite tree, which supposedly inspired the Ents in the Lord of the Rings, but it had been cut down due to safety reason. Fortunately, the Botanic Garden has plans to propagate the tree so that its special connection to Tolkien won't be lost to future generations.

The Thames, called the Isis in Oxford

Remains of the Tolkien Tree

After visiting the gardens I walked along the field of Merton College to Christ Church College to tour Oxford's most famous college and its beautiful cathedral.

The outside of Christ Church College

Christ Church Cathedral

Next I stopped for lunch and a coffee at The Missing Bean, I coffee shop that was recommended in an article I read about Oxford. It did not disappoint- I had one of the best lattes I've ever had and a delicious goat cheese and caramelized onion sandwich!

After lunch I stopped by the original Blackwell's bookstore. It was huge! My favorite parts were the foreign language sections. The store even had ancient Greek and Latin translations of popular fiction!

I booked of the Bodleian Library for 3:30pm, so until then I wandering around and popped into a few of the colleges which were free and open to visitors, including Lincoln College. I also visited the church of St. Michael at the Northgate, the Oxford University Press bookstore, and the Oxford covered markets.

Part of Lincoln College

Next was my tour of the Bodleian Library, the second biggest library in England (the British Library in London is the biggest). The Bodleian contains the famous Divinity School room and Duke Humfrey's library. (Unfortunately no pictures were allowed in Duke Humfrey's library.) I admit I was a little disappointed by the Bodleian, not because it wasn't impressive, but because so little of it was open to tourists. I would have loved to find an interesting book then sit and read in the library for awhile, but unfortunately this wasn't a possibility. Fun fact: parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed at Oxford, and the Divinity School in the Bodleian Library was the Hogwarts Infirmary!

The Bodleian Library

The Divinity School

After my visit to the Bodleian I met back up with Gabby for our final stop of the night- The Eagle and the Child pub. It's the pub where the group "The Inklings", which included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet. Gabby and I both ordered the pint and pretended we were Inklings for the night, too.

Cheers!

After a wonderful day in Oxford, Gabby and boarded the train back to London. I'll finish the post with excerpts from two famous poems about Oxford:

I saw the spires of Oxford
As I was passing by,
The grey spires of Oxford
Against a pearl-grey sky;
My heart was with the Oxford men
Who went abroad to die.
-Winifred Mary Letts, "The Spires of Oxford" (1916)

And that sweet City with her dreaming spires
She needs not June for beauty's heightening
-Matthew Arnold, "Thyrsis"