Tuesday, July 30, 2013 @ 7:46 PM in 2013 Europe
Day 34
My train didn't depart Birmingham until 11:45 this morning so I had plenty of time to eat, pack up and relax before heading to the train station. I still got to the station about 45 minutes early and ended up sitting around waiting.
Since I had properly booked my tickets ahead of time, I had a seat number and everything which made the boarding process much easier. I was able to find my seat and relax for the duration of the trip. There was some kind of congestion on the tracks so we ended up being about 20 minutes late but that didn't really matter much.
I wasn't able to actually check into my hostel until 3:00 so I had a couple hours to burn. First on the list was to find some food. I couldn't pass up a doner kebab when I saw a few people in the shop enjoying them. After eating and feeling nice and full I went to the Brew Dog pub and had a glass of beer.
Checking into my hostel was a breeze. I dropped off my pack and set out to explore. I've found out I like aimlessly walking around the first day I'm in a new city. It helps me get a feel for the town and helps me make a mental map of the town based on my random wanderings. I found myself in a huge pedestrian mall area and then in an open area called Castle Park. I took a few photos of St. Peter's Church in the park and then went to find a grocery store to get some food for dinner.
Hunger hadn't hit yet but I knew I'd be better off getting everything now rather than having to head back out in a couple hours. There was a Tesco I passed near the hostel earlier so I went in and got some pasta sauce (I still have some pasta left over from Birmingham), bread, bell peppers, some cheap wine and some mixed fruit.
Back at the hostel I ate some of the fruit while looking for somewhere to charge my computer and phone. All of the plugs are for un-grounded plugs and my adapter has a slot for the ground. I finally found a tiny computer area that had a few open slots so I plugged everything in and started to read and drink my wine. Eventually I got hungry and cut up some of the bell pepper and threw it in with my pasta.
I was planning on taking the old railway path down to Bath tomorrow but there's a 70% chance of rain all day. Instead, I'll save that for Thursday when there's 0% chance of rain and instead spend tomorrow here in Bristol. There's a lot of sights to see including a free museum/art gallery that features a lot of Banksy's work (it's also all over town too).
Tags: daily journal, england, bristol
Posted from: England