A day out in Bristol

Before last October, I'd never been to Bristol city centre. I've been to Cribbs Causeway several times, but I'd never set foot in the actual centre of Bristol.

After venturing to Bristol for the first time and having a lovely day there with Amy last October, we decided to meet there again last week for a catch up and some shopping (and eating, obviously). Liz travelled from London to meet us for the day so it was a bit of a grand reunion! I decided to travel on the Megabus to avoid the stress of driving and parking in a new place... the bus journey cost £7.50. When you consider that the Severn bridge alone would have cost me £6.40 if I'd have driven, this was a total bargain. I even managed to have a seat to myself until we stopped in Newport!

The Megabus took an hour or so to get to Bristol and dropped me off at Colston Hall. Such a lovely building! I did get a bit lost when I attempted to find my way to Debenhams, but a very kind charity worker gave me detailed directions which put me back on track. I didn't donate any money to her charity though... I felt mildly guilty about this.

Once we'd all found each other, we decided to go straight for food. I'm glad all my friends love food as much as I do! We headed to Cabot Circus and decided to eat in Frankie and Benny's as it has good lunch deals and also has something for everyone due to its range of cuisines. I decided to be vaguely healthy and went for the penne meatballs rather than choosing something that came with chips. However, believe it or not, my decision was made in vain as the meatballs were actually served with chips. Well, I was offered a choice between chips and salad... who on earth would choose a salad when faced with those two options? Chips and pasta on the same plate isn't something I've ever experienced before, but I won't complain too much. As I've frequently mentioned on my blog, I love carbs more than any normal person should. The meatballs were really good, and the pasta, sauce and chips weren't bad either. We decided to go for dessert too as the deal was just too tempting (it would have been rude not to), so I went for the apple and cinnamon crumble with ice cream. Delicious!

After finishing our food and having a good catch up, we did some shopping. I'm busy saving for my wedding and honeymoon so I didn't buy much, but I was very pleased with the two honeymoon purchases I did decide to make. I've actually worn the earrings already as they're so beautiful, elegant and versatile, but I think the shoes will definitely be saved for our honeymoon. I don't usually wear heels but I can walk in these with no problems as they've got a strap and they're not too high. Result.

After shopping for a few hours and doing rather a lot of walking around various corners of the city centre, we simply had to stop for a drink in Costa. It was essential that I had my obligatory hot chocolate to replenish my energy levels!

As we wound down in Costa, we were already talking about the next time we'll all be together... my hen weekend in July! However, I think we'll be planning more days out in Bristol in the not too distant future. It really is a great city with lots of contrasting areas and a vast array of shops, restaurants and interesting places to wander around. It's also easy to get to and is quite a central place for us all to travel to once in a while.

Here are some photos of Bristol... might as well slot them in to back up my compliments!

I love the architecture of Cabot Circus 

Fountains!

The road leading up to Cabot Circus

Yet another area in the city centre, near where I got lost!

My bus back to Cardiff wasn't until 7pm so I had a lovely long day in Bristol. My return bus was a double decker... I've never been on a Megabus double decker before! I get excited about such simple things. I had a seat to myself for the whole journey back, and it only took about 50 minutes as we didn't stop in Newport. Great end to a great day.

Have you been to Bristol recently? What did you think? Let me know if there are any other areas of Bristol you think I should visit!