For our first weekend in June, we headed off to Bristol to photograph a wedding of a couple that won a photo contest Izzy was having on her blog. Basically, she took in submissions and the winner got a free photo shoot of their wedding provided they purchase our airfare, hotel, and feed us. Not a bad deal, eh? Anyways, Ben and Viv are a lovely couple and won the contest. We flew up Friday night and had a hell of a delay. The flight was supposed to take off around nine p.m. but our plane from Bristol didn’t even arrive until nine forty-five. It was our first experience with a budget airline, this one being Easyjet. The thing is that most of the low cost airlines are affordable if you can fly in the middle of the week but on a weekend, you’re almost better off just taking the regular carriers. On our trip to Amsterdam, we paid 100 euros a piece for round trip tickets with KLM, a full service airline. We were able to check a bag for free and we had complimentary drinks and snack on the flight. Meanwhile, our friends who went with us bought flights with Easyjet, paid 150 euros a piece, couldn’t check a beg without paying a fee, and received nothing complimentary on the flight. And yet these companies still have the gall to call themselves low cost. Go figure. Overall, the flight was nice except for the chap who couldn’t quite hold his lunch down and had one of the bathrooms closed for the duration of flight after he redecorated it in tint of vomit. The flight attendant didn’t appear to like his choice of design. Fortunately, our ride to the airport was late arriving so there wasn’t too much of a problem. We finally encountered the British Customs Official who wanted to make sure that we were legal residents and asked for all kinds of paperwork. Why do they care in Bristol but not London? Silly. We roamed around briefly on Friday night and all day Saturday was spent with the bride and groom for their big day but we did manage to get in a couple of tourist shots since they wanted pictures taken around the city. The picture of the bridge is from one of these shoots and is the landmark of Bristol. It is called the Clifton Suspension Bridge and it spans the Avon Gorge. The planning for the bridge dates back to 1753 and through the years, the project took on many turns and twists as money ran out, ideas changed, and people in Bristol rioted. The bridge is made of wrought iron and the traffic across it is controlled due to the weight of cars and people putting too much strain on the cables. On Sunday, after some rest but not enough sleep, we roamed around Bristol in search of its soul and we found some nice stuff. It sits in the western part of England around the bay from Cardiff, Wales. There are some gorgeous rolling hills that might be classified as small mountains, a river, and a port. We wondered through the older part of the city and found some nice old architecture, a classic gothic style cathedral that had a lovely garden and cemetery out back, and we even got to listen to the choir rehearse in the choir area with the large organ accompanying them. It was quite impressive and you can really feel the reverance the music creates in such a setting. We found a wonderful little market in the old area that had tons of people selling homemade foodstuffs like preserves, pastries, fruits, pies, and candy. Inside the market were plenty of stalls selling t-shirts and jewelry. We ate in the back part of the market at a nice little Moroccan place. Afterwards, we strolled up towards the river and found an old castle. We couldn’t walk inside because it was roped off for restoration works being done but we were able to take some good pictures of it and see that it was completely hollowed out on the inside. There was no roof either, just the frame made out of stone. Since our time was starting to run out, we decided to head back to the area where the wedding reception was held because it was beautiful and along the riverwalk. Bristol has taken careful steps to preserve their port area and they have created a nice area that is wonderful forwlaking and taking a leisurely stroll. There is something about water that is very calming. We watched old couples prepare their boats and head out into the river towards the bay. We found some old train cars that seemed to be there and fortten from many years ago. There grass was pretty high around them and one of the flat open carts was full of rail tiles. We watched a father let his two kids play and explain to them how the trains worked. It was quite a lovely day. We eventually caught a taxi back to the airport and headed back to Madrid late Sunday evening. Enjoy the pictures.
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