Eploring...sorta

Found Chap Stick!!!! I know that sounds somewhat silly to be overly excited about finding chap stick but really I am so pleased that it warrants the expression of glee, as far as I am concerned. I also found scrubby pads for cleaning dishes, hurray, and contact solution, which is about twice as expensive here as it is back home. Other than that, I had a pretty relaxed day. I got up late once again...oopse.

The picture that I posted is of St. Augustine's Parade. It is the main street that I cross every day to get to The Mall. In fact you can see my street quite well from this picture. Denmark Street is at the top just to the left of the main road. My building is the big white one that sticks up. So now you can picture me walking across it whenever I talk about going to Tesco or The Mall or Cabot Circus (an extension of the mall, and yes they really do have a circus there).

I have decided that I like Tesco Metro better than the other grocery stores that I have found so far (there are 4 versions of Tesco and I am sure that I would love Tesco or Tesco Superstore but we don't have one of those close by. I think in those instances they are more like Costco's and tend to hang out on the outskirts of town). Things are a bit more organized and easier to find the Tesco Metro than in the Sainsbury's or Tesco Express; I still need to try the Co-Op though. I decided that I am going to have to make a trip out to IKEA to get pots and pans, because the ones that I found at a store called Debenhams’s, which is similar to a Macy's, were really really expensive, as are the ones at Macy's. So, IKEA it is and no luck with the foamy mattress pad either. I did find one that was one of those memory foam ones but it was hugely expensive so that was "right out" as they say.

Maybe if I get up earlier tomorrow I will make it out to IKEA. It is far to far to walk, which kind of sucks but I guess the bus isn't that bad, minus that I don't have a student bus card and have no idea how much it costs.....suppose that is what the internet is for :0) Yet again, though, I can only buy what I can carry home from the bus stop which is at The Mall, about .35 miles home. not too far but still, can you imagine me trying to carry about 6 pots and pans, a mattress pad, and a bathmat .35 miles? It would look kind of funny.

I was asked by a good friend recently about the boys and whether I had found one that I would want to run off into the rainy distance with yet. I have comments about that subject that round out to no but that there is hope for them yet lol. If you would like to hear the comments about this subject, you should e-mail me and I will personally fill you in on my assessment of the Bristol-ian populous.

No rain again to day :0) guess someone up stairs is looking out for me and knows that it would be very difficult for me to do all this walking and running around if it were raining outside and so has decided to hold off on the usual English waterworks for a bit. I hope that, though I think that the chances are only getting slimmer, the weather will hold for a few more days so that I can finish my errands and not have to worry about carrying an umbrella in addition to shopping bags.

Some further notes on Bristol are as follows. Having walked around Bristol for about the last three days I have decided that it, in topography, is a combination of San Francisco (loads of rather steep hills) and Berkeley (based on the shops, assortment of people, ran into a drunk Irishman today lol he was singing, and that you have to walk everywhere). I think that I have decided against getting a bike. Almost everything that I need is within walking distance and trying to navigate traffic on a bicycle I think would be a little more than I am up to at this point, though I might change my mind on this later. Bristol is really an interesting city from what I have seen so far. It is as diverse in population as any of our cities and the number of shops and cafes make it a cool place. I have never seen so many shoe shops in my life. So ladies if you like to go shoe shopping...then Bristol is your city. I love boots myself and there is no shortage of those either! I saw an Urban Outfitters today at The Mall, just another touch of the good ol'US of A. What I would very much like to know is how the girls here walk everywhere in high heels?! Seriously, it’s crazy! I saw some girl roll her ankle walking up a hill in wedges today and I just walked behind her thinking 'well, why would you wear those shoes to walk in?' it's just silliness. Ahh th price of fashion, but I prefer looking different in my Simple Shoe and not having a busted ankle or leg, thanks.

Other than that nothing much to report from my end today. I made it up to campus today. Not much like our campuses. The buildings are not very distinctive and it would be remarkably easy to walk right past them and not know that you had even missed it, which I almost did but the college-aged misfits out front and the kid with the remarkably large business book sort of gave it away. I think I might go on a tour of the campus with the international student centre tomorrow afternoon at 4, so if I am not on Skype to talk to you all then that is probably where I have gone off to. I think I will also chance a meeting with more locals (who thus far have been very pleasant) and go find a GOOD cup of coffee. The instant stuff that they sell in the stores is...well it’s not good and definitely not like home at all. So hopefully tomorrow will be full of things to report to you. Hope you are all doing really well and Thank you for your positive responses and influence for the blog! It is really great to hear from you and know what you think about it all. 'Til tomorrow then!