Finally I have some time to post an update about my move to Bristol. It's been two hectic and stressful weeks. I left Berlin on Thursday Nov 21st. My last day at work was Nov 8. I thought briefly about just using my free time to go on a nice hike around Berlin as a way to say goodbye. But I was just up to my neck in preparations for my move. Sold almost all of my furniture and a few other things I didn't want to take with me, packed 12 boxes of stuff I didn't need immediately and stored them in our basement compartment and packed a few parcels to be sent to my by my room mate as well as three more bags to be taken by a friend's brother in December.
I went with a guitar bag into which I stuffed as many clothes as I could alongside the guitar and a huge dark pink bag that I had bought the day before. I came upon this one just by accident. My old black bag is now several years old and needed a replacement. So I was joking for a while that the next one had to be a bright pink to be easily spotted on luggage retrieval. I went to a small shop in a nearby shopping centre just to have a look at the display and there it stood. Price reduced from 129 to 39. Pink. I couldn't resist, haha.
Since I put the smaller one of my pc monitors among clothes and basic outdoor and climbing equipment into Ms Pink it was as heavy as a rock of the same size. Paying of no less than 120 quid at the airport for overweight was a sure thing!
My dad drove me and my little brother (I had kind of adopted him :)) came along as well. The Ms Pink went for 34 kilos! We had to put her on a diet because the maximum weight for one piece of luggage was 32. So we stuffed as much as possible into my hand luggage (which was full of cables and stuff before coming up in the end of easily 15 kilos but no one checked it, haha) and the guitar bag. 31, 6 kilos in the end. YES. The guitar bag was 11, 4. When I had booked the flight the maximum allowance was 20 kilo for all bags together. Luckily they had just recently changed it to 20 kilos EACH. So in the end I did not pay a single euro since the woman at the counter said it's okay. Bingo!!!
Arrived at 22:30 in Bristol and dragged my stuff to the Rock 'n Bowl hostel for one night. It's right in the centre and at 17 £ per night for a 4 bed female dorm quite okay. The place is huge and quite populated at weekends. That's why I only stayed one night.
Next morning I called at Kim's place just around the corner. He was going to be my couchsurfing host for the next few days until I had found my own place. His appartment is very small but lovely and I was so grateful for him to take me in. It was my first time couchsurfing and I think it's a great thing. If I can I want to be a host as well sometime!
Had my first two viewings of rooms on Friday. One in Easton which was in a nice victorian house in a quiet road. Really lovely but I didn't quite like some of the adjacent areas. The other one was in Montpellier quite close to the pubs and bars of Gloucester Rd. The whole neighborhood reminds me bit of Friedrichshain back in Berlin. Unfortunately the whole flat would have needed a complete makeover so I didn't consider taking the room, even if I would've stayed with two young musicians.
At night we went to The Stable, a rather new pizza and cider place at the harbour. They have a cider tasting board with 5 different ciders 1/3 pint each. The board changes every now and then so you can have a taste of a lot of diffenrent brands. Maybe I get myself a little book and take notes on which one is exceptionally good and which isn't.
More viewings on Saturday. One out in Westbury on Trym which was lovely but in the end too far away from town. One in Stapleton with some kind of esoteric family. The place was nice and they liked my "presence" but it was just a little too weird for me. The other one was with two women just around the corner. The one who owns the house is a yoga instructor and has her classes in the house. The immediate surrounding was okay this time, but didn't like the atmosphere back at the road where I would need to go to get to the bus.
Back in the city Kim convinced me to go ice skating outside on Millenium square. I was a bit hesitant since I hadn't done that in ages and I was scared of falling because that could hurt my sensible back severely or my wrists or hands which I need for guitar playing. In the end I took it slow and was overtaking people after a few rounds. Great fun!!! I 'm glad Kim came up with idea!
Went to a meeting of the Bath couchsurfing group on Sunday afternoon. Kim was going anyway and took me along. Didn't see much of Bath as we went straight to a nice restaurant were the group was meeting. Spent a few hours there. What a great way to get to know new people! Left at 5pm with the few remaining members and went for a last pint to a cosy pub nearby. As the others went home I walked around the deserted city centre of Bath in the dark just having a look around. It's the most beautiful shopping area I've everything seen. Very clean and I just love those yellow sandstone buildings. Reminded me a lot of Edinburgh. Took some pictures and then went home on the train as I was really freezing. I will certainly come back during the day to venture the streets again and see all the sights.
Today was my first proper shopping day since I need a business outfit by Monday next week. I think I spent at least two hours at Marks & Spencer trying on every pair of trousers I could find, only to realize that there seems to be none that fits to the hips. They're all fitted to the waist or slightly below. Yay... it just looks stupid on me. At least I came up with a nice coat that is a bit business and a bit rock 'n roll and a nice leather bag.
After lunch I took the bus up to Bishopston for another viewing. I stayed in that area when I was in Bristol for the first time and loved it. Cheltenham and Gloucester Rd lead from the city centre up north being lined with countless pubs, bars, organic food shops and alternative clothing shops. If you go left or right into the residential areas it's very quiet all of a sudden with those beautiful british houses left and right. Bishopston is just one of the areas that Gloucester Rd passes through. So it seems to be the perfect spot for me.
For the first time I had nothing to complain about. Nice cosy house occupied by a mother, her 8 and 12 year old sons, a little dog and a cat. The room spacious enough with a bed, wardrobe and chest of drawers looking out to the garden in the back. A bike shed would have space for just another bike so I could store away my new mountain bike. The area very quiet and just a 5 min walk to Gloucester Rd and a 30min walk to work or a 15 min bus ride.
Had a nice chat with the landlady over a cup of tea and some biscuits and really liked her a lot. I don't have a problem living with kids as long as they won't disturb me in my room and they're not infants anymore.The older one even plays guitar so maybe I can teach him some.
Thing is I have another viewing on Tuesday night in Redland. So we agreed that I would call her Tuesday right after the viewing to tell her if I'm in or not but I was really inclined to say yes immediately. If the other viewing wouldn't be Redland I would have said so. Redland is one of the pricier areas with nice houses. The offered room is just below the maximum rent I'm willing to pay so I didn't want to cancel the viewing. So by tomorrow night I'll have this settled and can move at the coming weekend hopefully.
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