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A weekend at Bristol, England - 28, 29 February 2004
I spent a weekend at Bristol. A colleague of mine works there, hence I did not have to worry about the
accommodation. I took a bus from Liverpool at 7.20AM, changed bus at Birmingham at 10AM, and reached Bristol
at 1PM. It is good to see England's well organised highways, bus services and generally, the transport
systems. All highways are well marked, six to eight laned(major ones), and with uniform, streamlined traffic.
Such organized traffic and smooth roads allow for high speeds; small wonder that the buses constantly cruise
at 60 to 80 mph, and the more adventurous cars touching 100 mph easily.
We went to the Bristol Zoological Gardens on Saturday afternoon. Some species that I'm seeing for the
first time are the penguins, seals, a variety of poisonous frogs and a variety of colourful birds from Amazon.
The zoo was proud to have the world's first albino penguin born in captivity; however we couldn't spot it.
There were a pair of giant Asiatic lions too. The very cold weather - it had snowed few days back - didn't permit
wandering around for a long time, and we soon found ourselves shivering and heading back.
Sunday we went to see the suspension bridge across river Avon. Built a century ago, it was massive and built
over rough terrain. The river formed a valley between two towering hills, and the bridge had been built across
these two hills without any pillar in the middle and suspended from both sides by giant metal wires. And the
temperature was freezing. A tunnel had been dug from the hill top to the steep slope of the hill, from where
a great view of the bridge is to be had. A small board mentioned the wildlife that inhabit the valley. Red
deer seemed to be the only big mammal occasionally visiting the region. Nevertheless, the bird life seemed to
be abundant, and the board said Peregrine Falcons nest and breed in the valley.
Later, I took the return bus at 3PM, and again after a change of bus at Birmingham, was back at Liverpool by
9PM. I felt Liverpool was warmer than Bristol, inspite of being north to it. Or maybe I am getting used to
Liverpool..?
Written: March 10, 2004
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