GOING TO BRISTOL

Well, here I am, at the airport, Gate 53, waiting for departure. And as usual I’m way too early. Waaay too early. Still one a half hours before the gate will be opened. And I have already done the whole Starbucks thing – a must and tradition after dropping off my suitcase – with Iced Chai Latte and a late breakfast ham and cheese panini. Got through security without problems, checked out the Duty-Free store and just had some Iced tea, parched. My Gate is tiny, just about 6 rows of seats – well, after all it will just be a city hop from Düsseldorf to Amsterdam and another city hop from Amsterdam to Bristol. I guess I would not have been much slower if I had decided to drive after all. But, well, the experience of flying again after five years is nice too. And worth the waiting around at the airport. It’s my own bloody fault I have to be everywhere way ahead of time. At least there are so few people around one can forget wearing a mask for the time being. Which is a relief after the hour-long-train ride.

I am kind of bored, though. I’m not in the mood for reading, nor browsing magazines at my magazine app, and my travel diary writing is already done for now. (Since not much has happened, of course!)

Well, the flights were quite uneventful, however, since I had a window seat from Amsterdam to Bristol I spent more time watching the world and England from above than reading my Mrs Jeffries mystery (apart from devouring the tasty vegetarian curry sandwich and the obligatory tomato juice). Oh, to be back in one of my favourite countries. To watch the green fields with tiny cows and even tinier sheep, thegentle rolling hills … bliss. Pure bliss. Plus, the beautiful weather expecting me … just perfect. Due to whatever ails an airport with several flights arriving at the same time, the waiting time for my suitcase was much longer than I’m used to. But at least I caught a bus to Bristol Coach Station right away. The walk to my hotel, however, was quite an ordeal. Even with Google Maps I took wrong turns all the time because of the many narrow roads I was supposed to take. Without Google Maps? I would have been totally lost, or let me rephrase that, even more lost. And probably would just have taken a cab to take me to my 10 minute-walk-away hotel. But in the end, I arrived and checked in. The exterior of the Mercure Grand Bristol is beautiful. One of those old huge mansions, my room? Comfortable, practicable, clean … in industrial style. Maybe a “hint” at the great Brunel who is present all around the city?

Anyway, I just dropped everything off and headed to the closest pub a few paces away. And really, really lucked out in terms of good food. (Since I don’t like beer, this was not my main goal!) I ordered the burger with fries and Strawberry Eton Mess for dessert and loved every single bite. Delicious! Could have missed out on the soccer game displayed loudly on the huge screen, though. Especially since Liverpool was playing against Aston Villa. And I really could have done without seeing the German trainer Klopp all the time. I was rooting for the other team, of course! As I found out later, sadly my team didn’t win. Darn! Darn, darn, darn! Exhausted from my travel day I finished the day off with some TV, looking forward to the days to come!

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