Everyday that I am in England, I am
introduced to something new; new friends, new foods, new pastimes and lots of
new music! In fact, one of my new favorite bands, Portugal. The Man, are
actually an American band that Charlie introduced me to. While they released
their newest album in the US over the summer, the UK release was just last
week. Because of that, we spent the week listening to them on spotify, watching
their music videos, and searching for the new album in the less than impressive
music shops of Canterbury. Slightly defeated that it was no where to be found,
Charlie ended up buying it online and sharing it with us so we would all have
something to listen to on the train during our weekend getaway.
We
planned our trip to Bath and Bristol so long ago that it was hard to believe
that it was finally time to go! (I am constantly reminded how fast time goes by
here…I wish it would slow down…) The plans for the weekend included sightseeing
in Bath, possibly visiting Stonehenge and then heading to Bristol to see
Explosions in the Sky, another absolutely amazing band I have recently been
exposed to. We all knew that it was going to be a fun weekend, but we had no
idea just how great it was going to be…
We arrived in Bath late Friday night.
Katie, Crystal, Charlie and I checked into our YMCA hostel and met up with
David and Nick who had travelled separately. We went to some of the local bars
and had a fun night that ended in a full a cappella rendition of Bohemian
Rhapsody as well as an interactive performance of, “it’s fun to stay at the
YMCA” (given that our hostel was a YMCA, it seemed like a necessity).
We
woke up early the next day and discussed the day’s plans over breakfast. Despite
every single one of our English friends telling us that Stonehenge was a
rip-off, we decided that had to see it. We tried to work out the cheapest way
to go and eventually decided on an embarrassingly touristy purple bus. The tour
wasn’t until 1 so we spent the rest of the morning sightseeing in Bath. We
visited the Royal Crescent, saw where Jane Austen lived, and visited Bath’s Abbey.
We also got caught up in a Mummers parade, which consisted of hundreds of
strangely dressed street performers walking next to us and interacting with us.
Words cannot describe the absurdity…
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| In front of the Royal Crescent (G-Phi shout-out) |
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| Bath's Abbey |
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| Casually chatting up the Mummers |
We
then boarded our purple bus and began our adventure to the “Henge”. After an
hour of driving we finally caught our first glimpse of it. To be honest, it was
a bit of a sad sight. An arrangement of stones right next to the
highway…despite this, we refused to be let down, we had paid 14 pounds and we
were fully prepared to be amazed by the henge’s glory. We were given audio
guides that droned on and we began to take pictures of ourselves posing in
front of it. Then Charlie turned to tell us that the guy who had just walked by
looked like the lead singer form Portugal. The Man, the band we had been
obsessing over. We all laughed a little and carried on with our pictures.
Charlie however, went to get a second look, and eventually came running back
saying that it was not only him, but that it was the WHOLE band as well. We
were SHOCKED to say the very least. We approached them and asked for a picture.
I can honestly say it was the most epic picture I’ve ever been in. Our group, Portugal.
The Man, and Stonehenge. Three great things all in one photo. They were all so
nice and after we talked for a while, they invited us to their show in Bristol
THAT night! They took down our names and said they put us on the VIP guest
list!! We were all overly excited as well as a bit freaked out. What were the
odds that the American band we had all been consistently listening to would be
at Stonehenge (which is in the middle of nowhere) at the EXACT same moment as
us. I honestly believe that Stonehenge worked some sort of mystical power on us…
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| Stonehenge! |
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| Us with Portugal. The Man |
That
night we headed up to Bristol for the show! They were playing at an awesome
little venue called the Louisiana. We stood in the front row and got a little
shout-out from the band when they saw us. The show was absolutely amazing and
afterwards when they were talking to their fans they kept coming up to us
telling us that we would all hang out in a little. We ended up staying for over an hour, talking to the band
and hanging out, they even bought us a round of drinks!! It was definitely one
of the coolest nights I’ve ever had.
By
the time we left the venue, we had missed all the trains back to Bath and had
to take a taxi. We ordered a 7-person taxi but when it arrived we were
surprised to see a tiny 5-seater Toyota. After a lot of negotiating and a bit
of a guilt-trip from Charlie about how this was our only ride home, the driver
somehow agreed to take us all. So all 7 of us (4 guys and 3 girls…) climbed
into the car, one in the front and 6 in the back….it was a tight squeeze to say
the least…especially for our 20 minute journey. I went to bed that night
actually wondering if it had all been a dream…who randomly meets a band at
Stonehenge, goes to their show and then hangs out with them?? Us I guess…
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| Front row view! |
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| Charlie playing Portugal. The Man's guitar. Pure happiness... |
We
woke up the next day knowing that the previous day was going to be hard to
top…Despite that, we still had the Explosions in the Sky concert that night
that we were all extremely excited about. We spent the day touring around the
Roman Baths, which included a free sample of water, which was warm and tasted
like metal. We laughed later at the fact that we had all drunken warm bath
water…
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| Katie and I at the Baths! |
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| Roman baths |
It
was then time to head back to Bristol! We had now managed to go from Bath to
Bristol, back to Bath and then back to Bristol all in one weekend (thank god
for good public transportation!).
When
we planned the trip we realized that the Explosions concert was a Sunday night
and seeing that we needed to return to Canterbury for Monday lectures, we
decided not to book a hostel and catch the first train back…the only problem
was that the first train left at 5am… that being said, we took the afternoon
easy, walking around Bristol and preparing ourselves for our homeless night.
At
one point, while we were sitting on some benches in an outdoor shopping center,
we noticed some teenage girls (clearly Bristol natives) talking about us. They
confronted us and told us, well me specifically, to stop laughing so loud. They
claimed all of Bristol could hear me and continued to harass our group. The
argument continued on for a while and a stalemate arose between our two
adjacent benches. The problem was that the argument was so ridiculous that it
continued to make me laugh…clearly not helping the situation. We came to the
eventual conclusion that these girls must have an incredibly boring life to be
picking fights with people laughing in public areas. We eventually left, as we
heard them say, “Ya, that’s right you better walk away…” Oh, the life of a
troubled teen in Bristol…I really do feel sorry for them. The one thing that I
did take away from the situation despite a hilarious story, is how lucky I am
to have such wonderful friends who will stand behind me at all times. I am
truly fortunate.
It
was then time for the concert! We parted ways with David who had opted out of
going to the concert and was meeting a friend for an organized pub crawl called
“Carnage” (we knew by the name what kind of night he’d be having!). Despite
being one of the shortest people at the concert, (I swear they have
exceptionally tall fans) the show was so much fun, Explosions had put on an
incredible live performance.
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| Explosions in the Sky |
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| The boys forming a blockade for us at the show |
Afterwards we waited outside for the band to come
and Charlie was able to give them one of his CDs to listen to! Meeting two
bands in one weekend, we couldn’t believe it… We were about to leave when
suddenly out of no where we see David running down the alley towards us. He
reached us and told us he had to get away from the absolute craziness. We were
all happy to be reunited and left to find somewhere to sty until our 5 am
train. As we walked through the town we began to see the craziness David was
talking about. There were literally over a thousand drunk teens running around!
We saw a huge street fight and some kids trying to steal a car, luckily the
police arrived just in time. The whole city was in complete and utter chaos.
Eventually we stumbled upon a little quiet bar to hang out in, away from all
the madness. It turned out to be a real gem; it was open until 2am and had a DJ
that played only vinyl’s! We stayed there until closing, dancing away to some
classic oldies. Once the bar closed we wandered around to an area near the
water and hung out in a big open pavilion by the houseboats for the remainder
of the night. Time passed surprisingly fast and soon it was time to head to the
train station. Once we got on our train I passed out for pretty much the whole
ride (I was only awaken once by the angry ticket collector…whoops!) When we got
back I had to go straight to my two-hour seminar… I was sooo tired but the trip
was definitely worth it!!
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| Homeless in Bristol |
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| Sitting on the water, waiting for our train... |
