as a well-deserved breather after weeks of interning, varian and i took a short trip to bristol.
we started off the day by having lunch at st. nicholas market, where i got a mediterranean salad bowl from the olive works filled with halloumi, hummus, gremolata potatoes, couscous, olives, dolmades and more. this is probably my favourite cuisine, so having such a variety of mediterranean food to munch on was a real treat! varian got a filling bbq plate from low and slow, with pulled pork and mac & cheese. afterwards, we toured the eclectic range of stalls in the marketplace where i got some sea salt with mountain herbs from be natural kitchen.
having heard lots about the cafe scene in bristol, we headed to society cafe for our first caffeine break, and then full court press for our second. i must say that the 1029 lake kivu rwanda beans from full court press was some of the best coffee beans i’ve tried — with milk, the espresso shot supposedly has notes of golden raisin and creme caramel, on top of its original fruity notes such as orange, raisin, biscuit and red wine.
in order to avoid potentially overdosing on caffeine by having a third cup of coffee in a row, we went on a hunt for banksy’s art, scattered about the city. the one that was most recognisable to me was banksy’s well hung lover, in full view at the beginning of park street. we also checked out the christmas steps, a narrow walkway that was lined beautifully with vintage shop fronts and fairy lights.
heading down to the harbour, we attempted to visit the brunel’s ss great britain, but the journey there was oddly complicated (there were no bridges to help us cross the canal) so we just admired it from afar. we headed back to where we came from and walked around the bristol cathedral and bristol city council, where there was some sort of carnival taking place.
no trip to bristol would be complete without checking out the clifton suspension bridge. we climbed uphill to the clifton observatory to view the iconic bridge from afar, but it started raining so we took shelter at the royal oak and conveniently got some small plates as an early dinner. after it stopped raining, we found some gems of books in the last bookshop and got them for as cheap as £4 each.
before we caught our coach back to london, we visited the famous mrs. potts chocolate house and shared a very delicious and creamy cup of hot chocolate!!!
precious 