My family and I recently went on a trip to several cities in Europe (Amsterdam, London, Bristol, Paris) for 3 weeks during the months of June-July, which was our son's school break. We don't visit England often, even though my husband is British. His parents have both passed away, and his only remaining relative is his sister, who also has a family of her own. They love to visit Thailand, and in recent years, they've been coming almost every year. Every time they visit, they always Skype and try to persuade my husband to fly to Thailand to see them.



As a demon's daughter-in-law, I'm not very happy about this. You see, I live in Hong Kong and work all year round. I only get the chance to travel abroad once or twice a year because I'm on a tight budget. Now, I've lost the opportunity to visit the places I like and instead have to spend money on places that other people like. It's like I'm buying a vacation for someone else. "Why do I have to pay for a holiday I don't even want?" This is a question I often ask myself and express my frustration about to my husband.



This year, when my husband Skyped his sister to tell her he was going to England in the summer, his sister immediately replied that she was also going to Thailand during the same period and was looking for tickets. My husband quickly told her that he had already bought tickets and booked some hotels. He also told her the date he would arrive in Bristol (his sister lives in this city) and said that it would be nice to see her if they could, but if not, that was fine too. Then he logged off.



Her older sister must be furious. I've been going to Thailand every year for the past four years, and my younger brother has been flying from Hong Kong to take his sister on trips and pay for her hotels. Why would she want to come to England this year? She disappeared and wouldn't log in to Skype. She didn't respond to emails. It wasn't until several months had passed and our travel date was approaching that she finally agreed to Skype with my husband.



I don't have much affection for my husband's sister's family (you can probably guess that from my long-winded ramblings, haha). So when we were going to Bristol for four nights, I planned to go off on my own for three days, which my husband was happy with. I intended to take the train from Bristol Temple Meads to Bath for a day, to Cardiff in Wales for another day, and to spend the last day exploring Bristol itself.



Our Bristol accommodation is a B&B called Clifton House.



Upon our arrival in Bristol, we discovered that the First Great Western railway company was engaged in a major strike. News updates were coming in almost hourly, indicating the cancellation of some train services and the reduction of others. The news featured interviews with people living outside the city who rely on trains to commute to work in London every day. Many of them were forced to find accommodation in London during the strike period as they were unable to find tickets back home. As a result, I had to make sudden changes to my travel plans.



On the first day, I chose to walk around Bristol city center. In the late afternoon, before returning to the hotel, I stopped by the tourist information center to inquire about traveling to Bath and Cardiff by bus and coach. The staff gave me good advice. If you take the bus to Bath, it will take about an hour (while the train takes only 15 minutes). The coach to Cardiff takes about 2-3 hours (1 hour by train).



Oh... I'm a little sad. Cardiff is out of the question because it takes too long to travel, and I've already been there once. But Bath is a must-see. It's my favorite city, and I always go there whenever I'm in England. When my husband, who had gone to Wells Cathedral with my sister's family, returned to the hotel late at night, he took pity on me and said he would drive (the car we rented) to Bath in the morning. On the way back, I had to take the bus back myself, so I agreed.



Early in the morning, my husband and son drove me from Bristol to Bath, near the Royal Crescent, before the two of them joined my sister's family for a trip to Weston Super Mare. So, I can finally start this travel blog post (many people thought they were reading a family problem post in the "Charnreuan" room, haha)





Royal Crescent, Bath





I couldn't help but gasp when I saw it! They were in the middle of repairing the central part of the building. After taking four or five shots, I decided to walk from here to the bus station first to book/buy a ticket back to Bristol in the evening. That way I would know how much time I had to walk around and how long it would take to walk from the city center to the bus station. I'll be walking the whole way, which is great because the city is so small.





Every time I visit Bath, I take the train from Bristol Temple Meads or Keynsham station. I know the route between Bath city centre and Bath railway station very well because it's only a short distance away. However, I'm not familiar with the bus station because I've never taken the bus before. My husband told me that the train station and bus station are next to each other, so I walked to the train station first, using the tiny map in the Bath tourist information leaflet I got from the hotel.



Pass by the Jane Austen Museum, dedicated to the renowned English writer who penned the famous novels Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.



I started walking towards the city center, passing by vegetable and fruit stalls, and took a few photos.





Almost all the buildings in this city are old Victorian-era buildings, making it feel like you're walking through a dreamlike ancient city.



After walking for about half an hour following the map and taking photos, I arrived at the train station. Before I could even look for the bus station, I don't know why, but I walked up to the counter and asked the staff if there were any trains to Bristol Temple Meads in the evening. Hey, he said yes, and there were several! So I bought a train ticket back to Bristol in the evening. Then I asked jokingly, "Is there a train from Bristol to Cardiff?" The staff said yes, but the train might be more crowded than usual (meaning I might have to stand instead of sit). This is because they have reduced the number of trains. In the end, I got both a ticket back to Bristol and a round-trip ticket to Cardiff the next day. I walked out of the train station with a smile. It must have been around 12:30 pm by then, so I decided to go find a Thai restaurant to eat before I got hungry. Before this trip, I really wanted to have Afternoon Tea like everyone else. I even Googled for information when I came to England. But after traveling through several cities, from Amsterdam, London, and finally Bristol, for almost 2 weeks, I was craving Thai food like crazy, so I changed my plans.



Let's walk back into the city center first. Our next destination is Pulteney Bridge, an old bridge in front of a weir (or whatever it is called, but the Westerners call it a Weir).





As I walked towards the bridge in front of the dam, I saw a group of young girls who I guessed were Thai taking pictures in the area. One of the girls glanced at me and immediately spoke to me in Thai, "Your camera is so big!" Hey! She didn't think I was Thai, and she even gossiped about me in front of me. 555 I just acted indifferent and didn't respond with "It's none of your business" or anything like that. 555The Thai restaurant that I intended to eat at today to satisfy my cravings is also located in this area. The name of the restaurant is Thai by the Weir.



Looking at the menu outside the restaurant, they had a lunch set menu for around 10 pounds. Oh... not expensive. Looking inside the restaurant, it was empty, so I immediately went in. I met a male employee in the restaurant (who seemed to be Thai). I asked if there was a table by the window. She said yes and led me inside, where there were 3 tables with a view of the dam. There was a Hong Kong couple sitting at the best table (no heat, no sun). I was left with a table in the sun to choose from, so I chose the one that was a bit further away.




The food was delicious and served hot (you could hear the chefs stir-frying in the kitchen, haha). We had spring rolls with vegetable filling as a starter, green curry for the main course, and something else I can't remember. But I chose the sweet and sour chicken stir-fry, which didn't taste like the Thai sweet and sour stir-fry. It was more like Cantonese Chinese, but with chili and a little spicy. I liked it.



The male waiter was also lovely. He walked in and asked in English how the food was. (I also pretended to answer him back in English, refusing to greet the staff in Thai, lol) After eating, I sat and admired the view of the dam for a while, then went to the bathroom (which was clean and beautiful) of the restaurant. I was very pleased. If anyone is passing through this city and wants to eat Thai food, I highly recommend it.



For those who want to enjoy Afternoon Tea at a shop with a window view of the dam like this, please visit the next door shop. It's a little cheaper, but it's crowded, so you might have to wait a while for a table. After enjoying delicious Thai food until I was full, my next destination was the Roman Baths. I had been inside once before (when I first went to England), but I never went back because I thought the entrance fee was too expensive. But on this trip, I told myself that I wouldn't be stingy, even though I'm not the type of person who likes to go to museums or anything like that.



I was originally going to take the Hop-on Hop-Off bus, but I was worried it would take too long, as I only wanted to see and photograph a few places.



The picture above shows the Roman Baths' swimming pool and spa. If you are interested and have time, you can visit their website. They offer packages that include museum entry with spa services or museum entry with Afternoon Tea in the Roman Baths Pump Room restaurant.




The text you provided is already in English. Therefore, no translation is required.

Bath Abbey



This summer, there were so many tourists that I tried to take pictures from above to avoid people.



Normally, the entrance fee to the museum is £14 (for adults). However, when I went during the summer (July-August), the price was £14.50, which included headphones and a personal electronic guide device.



I spent a little over an hour at the Roman Baths. With about 2 hours to spare, I prepared to walk to the train station to return to Bristol. So I took another walk around the city center before leaving.





The citizens are dressed very cool.



Parade Gardens, a popular tourist destination in this city, is where I saw young and old women in one-piece and two-piece swimsuits sunbathing on deckchairs. I was surprised, as I thought Westerners only liked to sunbathe in bikinis by the sea. 5555



This park charges an entrance fee, I think it was around a pound, I can't remember. I paid to go in, thinking there would be some cool angles to photograph the dam, but it turned out to be a waste of money. There are no more angles. The view from above is much better.



Train station name



And let's move on to my favorite corner in Bath. Every time I come here, I spend at least half an hour taking pictures at this spot. I have hundreds of pictures of it, like I have some kind of mental illness. Thank you to everyone who has stumbled upon this post, and a special thank you to those who took the time to comment and click the like button to encourage this new (but old-looking) poster. Goodbye.





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