Half-Term Shenanigans in Dublin and Bristol

Hello all,

First off, isn't 'shenanigans' just the best word? I realized it's been over a month since my last entry. I suppose sometimes life happens, and doesn't always leave time for timely blogging. However, since it's a post-term-break week, work is a bit slow... I don't have work until the afternoon and blogging doesn't involve leaving my bed so here I am!

Over the half-term break, I was lucky enough to have my mom come to visit me all the way from good old Newmarket, Ontario. It was the first time I've seen any family since moving here all the way back in September, and I was excited to show her around -- it was her first time in England, well all of Europe technically! So I had to cram as much into the week as possible. It also gave me a chance to re-experience Bristol as a tourist.

Last time Beth and I had a guest visit, it was gross and pouring rain and windy the whole time, so half of our plans fell through (sorry, Charlotte). Well, Bristol did not hold back on the rain and wind on the first day my mom arrived either. Honestly, it was a pretty realistic welcome to England -- thanks a lot, Storm Imogen. Considering all this, we went somewhere really cosy for brunch on the first day: Cosy Club. This place really drove home the point that almost no matter where you go in Bristol, hipster-esque or not, you will most likely find a vegan or at least vegetarian friendly breakfast.

(Photo from TripAdvisor, no credit to me)

Like, look at this place. Looks really nice and posh -- nothing hippie to be seen: no blenders with remnants of kale smoothies, no chalkboard listing the craft beers on tap, no community artwork adorning the walls. And yet, they have a WHOLE MENU for vegan (and gluten free) options. Including this beautiful breakfast. Two for you, Cosy Club. You go Cosy Club.

Beans. Toast. Hummus. Potatoes. Peppers. Greens. Tomato.

We also browsed around Cabot Circus -- Bristol's lovely "Is it indoor? Is it outdoor? How is this place even laid out?" shopping centre (which is actually quite nice). My mom fell in love with Tiger, a shop originally from Denmark that can be described in a word as "quirky" and in several more words "everything has faces on it" and "this is adorable/hilarious, I never knew I needed it until now". We bought a pack of chocolate covered rice cakes solely because the packaging had rice cakes with little moustaches and glasses on the outside.

At night, I took my mom out for her first British pub experience on King Street -- a cobblestone paved stretch of Bristol that is always packed with pub-goers on a Friday or Saturday night. Luckily, it was relatively quiet on a Monday, though still lively. We first stopped at The King William -- a really comfy and traditional feeling pub dating back to 1670.


We made our way to the river and checked out The Apple: A cider pub located on a moored boat. I mean, come on. You can't visit Bristol and not drink cider on a boat. The small two-level pub was packed despite it being a Monday, never mind the gale force winds and rain of Storm Imogen that had been battering the city. I mean, I suppose we still went out but...

The Apple

The next day was thankfully bright and sunny, so we set out for a full day of adventuring. We took a little walk around my neighbourhood through Arno's Vale park, and took a roundabout path to Arno's Vale cemetery -- one of my favourite places in Bristol. Yes, it's a cemetery, but it's also like a really big park with ivy-wrapped gravestones that look like nature is trying to reclaim them.

(Full disclosure -- photos from another day, because I was lazy about taking any this time.)

Afterwards, we briefly walked through St Nick's Market (part covered, part uncovered daily market in town, home to many delicious smells) and ended up busing to Cafe Kino. This vegan co-op cafe actually does look super hippie, and is located in the Stokes Croft neighbourhood. My mom commented that looking out the window felt like sitting on Queen Street West in Toronto. I ate my veggie burger too quickly to take a photo apparently, but mom got the small vegan brekky and even enjoyed the veggie sausage!!

ALL of the vegan breakfasts.

From there, we ventured up to Clifton Suspension Bridge. I've been there a couple times now, but the views over Bristol are still amazing. We also walked through Ashton Court Estate -- once home to some very rich folks presumably, but now a historic mansion and massive park that also happens to be home to many deer. We didn't spend a ton of time here as the rain was beginning to roll in... also, it was super muddy from last night's storm, and my idea to take a shortcut off the main path resulted in me slipping and falling and getting my whole leg covered in mud. Nice. Well done, me.

Bridge.

Manor.

After a lovely dinner at Curry House, we had plans to visit my OTHER favourite place in Bristol: The Bag of Nails! If you are friends with me on any form of social media, you have probably seen me excitedly posting pictures of this place already. Basically, it's this little tiny pub that looks pretty unremarkable from the outside, but then you wander in and realize that CATS LIVE HERE. LIKE 15 CATS. They hang out on the pub in boxes and weave around your legs as you enjoy a pint or take part in the pub quiz on a Tuesday night, as we did. If you know me at all, I don't need to explain why this is so exciting.

Mom, cat, background lurker.

Cat being a jerk to other cat.

The next morning, we were up bright and seriously early to catch a flight to Dublin, Ireland! It still feels really amazing to be able to take a quick 45 minute flight and be in a whole new country with different sights and culture. But I suppose it doesn't take much to amaze me, considering I was pretty excited about these weird coffee cups on the plane that filter the coffee for you! Whaaaat.

Sippy cup for adults?

Bye Bristol!

It's also amazing when you book a hostel and it turns out to be super nice. I highly reccommend the Generator Hostel. Dublin is still an expensive city, but I found that I got much better value for the price of the stay than at similarly priced London or Oxford hostels. I also recommend carefully reading reviews on Hostelworld before booking. I did, and most sounded really favourable and I was not disappointed. 

Sewwww hip.

Fancy chandeliers + pool.

How cute is the wall art in the room?

We had lunch in Dublin at a slightly unconventional place -- it was not a traditional Irish breakfast, but a moroccan style meal at a cute restaurant called Brother Hubbard that boasted fresh, local ingredients. I am mildly obsessed with food, so I pride myself on being able to quickly and efficiently scope out a nearby, affordable and veggie-friendly restaurant on short notice. However, I did not stick strictly to my usual vegan diet in Dublin -- I give myself some leeway when travelling. There's only a certain amount of my life that I can devote to worrying about eggs, and on holiday is not one of those times.

 

Food.

Cute semi-patio type deal.

Afterwards, we walked around and saw Christ Church Cathedral (mostly the outside as we didn't want to pay to wander around inside), Dublin Castle, and a wonderful little place called Chester Beatty Library. It's less a library and more a museum dedicated to really old and fascinating books, also including a peaceful rooftop garden. We also found some cute outfits at a charity shop near the hostel, because obviously we had to look. 

Old and gold books.

This makes me so mad.. how is this even humanly possible...

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. So cool.

The inside of the museum/library.

For dinner that evening, we decided upon the oldest pub in Ireland (go old or go home I suppose). It's called The Brazen Head and looks pretty much as close to an old Irish pub as you could imagine. Warming up by the fire with a hot bowl of soup, some thick-cut chips and a cold Guinness? Amazing. I could tell that this was a popular tourist destination, as the majority of accents overheard were of the North American variety.

Everything is so old here...in a good way.

Do you believe in love at first sight? I do.

Dublin in the early evening.

Speaking of fellow tourists, a hostel can be a great place to make new friends. It can also be a reminder of just how small of a world we live in. In our 6-person female dorm, I met a girl from Ottawa as well as an Australian who is -- weirdly enough -- also a supply teacher in Bristol. Mom was a bit tired and jet lagged, but I got chatting with the fellow Canadian, and we soon had plans to check out the Temple Bar area, a famous stretch of pubs well-known for it's party atmosphere.

Instant Canadian friends.

We chatted, danced to Irish music, and ended up out just sliiiightly later than intended. However, the Temple Bar area definitely lives up to its reputation and is tons of fun. 

Mumford and Sons, is that you??

Sup, Guinness factory?

The next morning, I was... a bit tired, to say the least, but my mom and I still checked out the hop-on-hop-off bus tour. There are a couple different tour bus companies in town, but definitely go with the one that includes three free drinks at various locations... that is, if you didn't party a bit too hard the night before. The tour showed us just how small Dublin really is, but how packed it is with history -- Trinity College, Oscar Wilde's house, Phoenix Park (where the Prime Minister lives), and the Guinness Storehouse are among the sights that you will see. Mom and I went back to the Temple Bar district that evening, and this time she outlasted me for energy -- I sat at the bar drinking tea like the old lady I am.


The next day, we flew back to Bristol and had a pretty relaxed day. After making dinner at home, we met up with Beth for a drink and some food in the City Centre. It was a Friday night, and apparently, both the St. Nick's Night Market and a BBC music festival were happening downtown. We ended up at Walkabout -- an Aussie themed restaurant and pub that is now probably my mom's favourite place due to it's half-price-everything happy hour. We were also reminded of what a friendly city Bristol can be -- we didn't realize that the bus stop we were waiting at was closed due to construction, but a nice couple gave the three of us a ride home. Gotta love random kind strangers!

On Saturday, we hit up a vintage clothing fair near my house, and wandered up Park Street -- where Bristol University lives, along with many cute shops and restaurants. Beside Bristol Uni is also the Bristol Museum of Art and Natural History, home to many interesting things including a bird that looks like Donald Trump.

Vintage clothes EVERYWHERE <3

Trump-bird.

We also used a lost pair of gloves as an excuse to make one more visit to our feline friends at the Bag of Nails pub. We did not find the gloves, but we did find a couple of pints, so there's that.

With her bag bursting with British sweets, my Mom left for Toronto on Sunday -- the final day of half-term break. To sum up my thoughts on the week:

1. Having family visit is really nice. I hadn't seen any of them since I'd left and I was really glad that my Mom got the opportunity to visit. Now to figure out getting the rest of them over here...

2. Travel is exhausting. With all of the things I crammed into our week, I felt like I needed a second break after my break to just sleep.

3. I highly recommend being a tourist in your own town every now and then. This was the first real chance that I had to show someone around Bristol, which at this point, is pretty familiar to me. It's really nice to see things through a tourist's eyes again and get excited about the little differences between UK and Canada all over again (like the fact that everything here is SO OLD AND HISTORIC). Bristol has a ton to offer, so anyone from home who may be reading this -- come visit me. For reals. I will make you see all of the things and you WILL have fun.

That's all for now, have a great weekend friends! Unless you are reading this and it's no longer the weekend, in which case, have a good Tuesday or whatever (I've got a 1/5 chance of getting this right, it's worth a shot).

Cheers,


C.