A visit from Nomadic Matt

For a couple of days last week we hosted Matt, a fellow blogger and traveller who I met though the internet. Matt has developed a great website called Nomadic Matt’s Travel site with tips, tales and photos from his travels and was in the UK for a few weeks on his European tour, so I invited him to call in and see us in Bristol.

As you’d expect, Matt is a pretty relaxed and experienced traveller and it was interesting to compare notes on our different approaches to travel. I discovered that while I might study the guide book avidly and make a mental list of places to see, Matt’s approach is to turn up, get a map and then wander around wherever the fancy took him. I noticed that he still managed to take in all the major sites of interest but they came to him as a charming surprise as if he was the first person to stumble upon them.

I asked Matt to share with me the things he had enjoyed most while visiting Bristol and it’s picturesque cousin, Bath and here is his list;

Roman baths – Bath
Normally Matt goes for the free things first, but he felt that this was worth the £11 entrance fee, especially as the audioguide was narrated by Bill Bryson. After all you can’t come to Bath without visiting the place that has attracted visitors through the centuries to the health-giving mineral waters. Matt was also facinated by the advanced plumbing systems that the Romans engineers came up with for heating and cooling the baths. Naturally he ignored the signs and dabbled his hands in the warm waters – if you don’t want to take the tour you can go into the pump room and drink some of the mineral water for free.

Pulteney bridge – Bath
This picturesque bridge over the river Avon is one of only four in the world with shops on both sides, and was designed by Robert Adam, a well known architect of the day who admired the Paladian archirecture of Rome and Florence. After checking out the shops you can go down the steps at the side for a pleasant riverside walk.

Castle park – Bristol
This green space in the heart of Bristol has an old church which was bombed in the war and now sits as an empty shell, overlooking the river. There’s a children’s playground and some formal gardens with interesting sculptures behind the church and it’s a great place to people-watch on a sunny day when the workers from nearby offices sit out having their lunch.

The Georgian House
Built in the 1790s for a wealthy Bristol sugar merchant, this house is now a free museum preserved with the decoration and furniture of Bristol’s Georgian heyday. Matt was taken by the plunge pool in the cellar where the owner believed a daily cold bath was good for his health and the unusual stone staircase to the upper floors.

Brandon Hill Park
If you want a great view over the city you can’t get better than the public park on Brandon Hill where you can look down to the harbour and the countryside on the far edge of Bristol. The Cabot tower at the top of the hill is sometimes open if you don’t mind the climb and is named after John Cabot who sailed from Bristol in 1497 from Bristol to Newfoundland.

Harbourside in Bristol
Once packed with tallships bringing merchant goods from all over the world, then an industrial port in decline, the harbourside area of Bristol has had a makeover in recent years. Now it’s full of trendy bars and restaurants with the old warehouses given a sleek modern look and Pero’s footbridge with the horn shaped weights which lift the bridge up when boats need to pass beneath.

The Moroccan restaurant in Easton – Bristol
Naturally we couldn’t let Matt go without sampling some of the great food in Bristol and deciding to eat ethnic we headed for the Easton neighbourhood of Bristol. Using the local mosque as our landmark and passing several Halal butchers as well as the odd English pub, we arrived at a Moroccan family run restaurant that my husband had raved about before. We weren’t disappointed was we sat on soft banquettes at a table covered in an ornate embroidered table cloth. We tried the cous cous, chicken tagine and a melting lamb stew, bread, olives and salad washed down with Moroccan mint tea and the bill was only £10 a head. Definitely not one in the guidebook as I forgot to note the name and couldn’t find any mention of it even by googling. Guess you’ll just have to take Matt’s example and come upon it by surprise.

You can follow Matt’s travels on his website, Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site

Thanks to Matt for the use of his photos and you can also find my collection of Bristol photos on Flickr with my sets on the Harbourside, Georgian House and Castle Park

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Sardinia – here we come !

I’mso sorry my postings have been a little sparse in the last month or two. I confess that a new job since May has taken up most of my energy and left me feeling in dire need of a holiday.

Our previous plans for Ethiopia are postponed as our friends are back in the UK, so a quick tour of the Easyjet website was required to find a suitable alternative. The main criteria were cheap flights, warm weather, and a few activities that teenagers might enjoy.

Sardinia is a large island off the toe of Italy, just south of Corsica, and looked ideal. Both my neighbours and my sister had visited and enjoyed their holidays there. So Sardinia it was.

We will be staying at Cala Gonone a small resort on the eastern side of the island, known for it’s beaches, rocky cliffs and coves, sea caves and great diving and snorkling.

Here the mountains come down to the sea and our last couple of nights will be a little way inland where the activities on offer include walking the local gorges, climbing and bouldering.

Here’s hoping that the kids will find a good balance of chilling and watersports and that Mum will return refreshed and with renewed energy and adventures to share with you.

Thanks to salca75 and laughing monk on Flickr for the photos

More Sardinia articles to enjoy

A tour of the best beaches in Sardinia
The Museum of Costume in Nuoro
Medieval frescos at Orosei – in Sardinia

 

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Sardinia – Gulf of Orosei photoset

 

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A Garden open day at Emmaus House – in Bristol

I think I first heard about Emmaus House in Bristol through my local church, as it’s a centre for religious retreats and other courses with a spiritual theme as well as hiring out meeting rooms and serving delicious lunches in the week at their restaurant. Despite being situated in the heart of Clifton Village in a beautiful Georgian building with amazing views over Bristol, Emmaus House in not that well known even by those living locally.

I heard that their gardens were open this weekend, so we went to have a look and were well rewarded as the sun shone and the garden was blooming. We sat first on the Rose terrace at the back of the house and bumped into a couple of friends who were having lunch, so we felt it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to try some ourselves, as many of the ingredients come from the organic kitchen garden. I tried the salmon and fennel en croute and my husband had aubergine baked with tomatoes and cheese, both with fresh salads and new potatoes from the garden.

Then we took a tour of the garden, which is divided into many separate areas on different levels. There was so much to admire that I went a bit wild with the camera – you can see all my photos here on flickr. There’s the herb garden with a small fountain playing and lavender bushes – I love to rub the flowers in my hand to get the fragrance.

Then there was the Japanese inspired Zen garden with pebbles and running water and the gentle sound of the wind chimes.

Below is a ‘secret’ garden which you can only reach through the two others with quiet shady corners and a small summer house where you could hide away with a good book

Then the courtyard garden with a swing seat and small lily pond fed by the old watercourse that once supplied the house.

But the kitchen garden was the most wonderful thing, with the golden raspberries just coming into fruit, elegant box hedges adding a formal touch and the greenhouse with grapes hanging from the roof.

Emmaus House is open under the National Gardens Scheme where private gardens open several times a year in aid of charity. You can also have lunch there in the week if you ring and reserve in advance, and they also offer Bed and Breakfast if you’re looking for a special and tranquil place to stay in Bristol.

Emmaus House, Clifton Hill, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1BN Tel +44 (0)117 9079950
e-mail: administration@emmaushouse.org.uk

Related posts
 A rainbow of spring flowers in Bristol
The Bluebell wood at Abbots Leigh in Bristol
A Walk to Kings Weston in Bristol

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Bristol – Emmaus House photoset

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