Of London Tubes and Bristol's Hues

Sunday, 29th November 2009

23:08 hours
The cold study room
Bristol

This is a tale of a weekend of sleeplessness, drunkeness, kiddy games, graffiti art, rainforest cafe, london tubes, bone-crushingly cold walks, and a bit of family fun. All packed in a two-day London Bristol trip :)

So what would you do, if you had a 7:45 am bus to catch, and you rise out of bed at 7:35 am? Take into account the fact that this is the National Express for Cardiff-Bristol, you are a first timer in inter-city travel, and the bus-stop is a ten minute walk from your place.

Well, I spent one minute staring at the clock, the next two in contemplating not going, the next four in throwing on clothes and packing up, and the remaining three in literally flying to the bus stop, only to find out that the bus was five minutes late. I felt an inexplicable sense of achievement immediately thereafter. I made it!

The bus journey from Cardiff to Bristol was a short, interrupted one. I had to change buses at Newport, a quaint little town close to Cardiff, though not as happening as Cardiff obviously.

The moment we crossed the bridge I knew I was in a different country. Cardiff is truly Wales, and Bristol is truly England. The way the light falls on the city can tell you that you are in a different country altogether. Along with it is the huge row of typical English houses, the red brick ones with sloping roofs and chimneys (was for some reason reminded of Oliver Twist with that image), the cobbled streets, and the stone cold breeze. I was chilled to the bone.

I was staying at my aunt's friend's place. Had never met them before and was bound to feel awkward. However, they were extremely warm people with two cute little kids. Kids cut the ice quicker than an any industrial knife. Pretty soon, I was running about the small corridoors of their house, playing with the little one.

Bristol is a beautiful piece of art, quite literally so. The whole city is dotted with colourful graffiti, not the tacky kind, but tastefully done art. The city is the birth town of Banksy, the guy who created the Graffiti as an art form. The city is thus known for its pop-art culture, and exhibitions like the Art Trail are quite popular here. An art trail is simply an exhibition by artists of their latest works. They set it up in their home studios and people follow a map, going to the artist's studios, checking out their stuff, talking to the artists themselves and buying the pieces etc.

From Bristol, we were to go to London, to another one of my aunt's friend's place, to celebrate her 40th birthday. A massive Indian family get-together, complete with Indian food, bollywood music, kids, and alcohol. I found a sassy girl my age and downed enough alcohol to give me a terrible hangover the next day.

But hangover or no hangover, I was in LONDON, and determined to travel a bit, even though I knew I had just about two hours. (Got up late and was to leave early. Story of my lif)

My and my sassy friend got on a random bus. It was not the best day for a walkabout in town. Cold, wet and grey. But then, that's the 'typical english weather'. Get used to it. The hangover was still lurking. But I was all wide-eyed as we passed the London Bridge, the London Eye and all the Big and Obvious things of London. We got off at Trafalgar Square. Had begun raining heavily. Ran inside the National Art Gallery Museum, made fun of all the paintings we came across and exited from the opposite end, to end up in a street named Orange Street. Was nothing orange about it.

We strolled about. I stared and strolled. London is Delhi sophisticate. Thronging with people, click-clackety heels and a general  hurried buzz in the air. Snobbishly expensive cafes, biggest brands on the streets, huge screens with colours moving about, its just the place where Life is. We walked about at random, passing by the Ripley's Museum, the Odeon cinema, the Broadway etc. When hunger called over, we walked inside Rainforest Cafe, which exaclt like its name, is a rainforest from within. Apparently a huge brand in the USA, it has limited branches all over the world, and the only one in the UK in London on Picadilly Circus, where we were lucky enough to be. The cafe was green, with animals and waterfalls and waiters dressed as forest rangers all about. I had a martini (to get over the hangover dah) and my sassy friend, a vodka. After munching on some hummus and bread we realised we were getting late for home. Went out and decided to take the tube as it would be 'quicker'. BIG mistake.

London tubes are horrible! Dirty and overly crowded. Delhi Metro has the crowd, but its surprisingly cleaner. Was hardly any space for me to breathe in the tube. Reached Victoria Station, the Big Daddy station of London to board a train to Herne Hill, only to realise that the train service of that like was out of order. Weekend and trains in London don't go well together. Why did'nt anybody tell us that?

Boarded the replacement bus to take us to the Blackfriars, the station that would lead us to our destination eventually. I was literally nodding off. The big warm bus cuddled around me and we both slept, obviously missing our stop. Sigh. It never ends.

Walking in the rain is something I used to love back in Delhi. Because we rarely got to do it. And now, I dread it. We never like what we have, because it just isn't customized to how we imagine it to be!

Managed to reach the station, but obviously, could'nt find the platform. The elusive Platform 4 showed itself a minute before the train was to leave. We rushed in, and hoped we were on the right train. I just wanted to go home. Home. My sweet little 10x10 matchbox room in Cardiff.

Thankfully, it was a smooth ride from there. We reached the house in one piece, bid goodbye to the wonderful people we had met and made our way back to Bristol. The sassy friend headed back to the train she has now learnt to hate, to return to Derby, where she's from.

And now, Im here, at the comp, trying to write a coherent story. Forgive me for some missing links. They are not deliberate, I assure you.

Another incoherent story will be up soon:)