We like to holiday around Britain. We like it even more when the "hotel" we're staying at is actually free use of a relative's house. Especially when the house is twice the size of ours, tidier than ours, and within walking distance of good friends and a bookshop.
Which is why earlier this year we enjoyed a long weekend in Bristol. We arrived on the Thursday, collected the key and immediately headed out to meet said friends for dinner, followed be a gig in a hidden room in the back of what from the outside appeared to be a completely deserted pub. It was a very good night.
The next morning, feeling a little tired, we set out to meet one of our friends for lunch and a wander. He'd promised us a bookshop, at least one good pub, and a mini guided tour of the city.
Bristol isn't somewhere either of us had properly visited before. I've had the odd day trip, but always in a very small area, usually focused on finding pubs with large enough tables to accommodate a board game. There's been a bit of walking, but carefully measured to minimise interruptions between those board games.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I need to provide a bit of background to the day: we'd had a long train journey, a late night, and now we were walking through a city we hardly knew to meet a friend at an agreed time and place. He'd told us to get the bus, but we walk everywhere at home and we like to see and experience the places we're visiting, so why spend ages attempting to decipher a bus timetable when we both have working feet? Why? Because apparently Bristol is a little bigger than Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Thankfully we were staying uphill of the city centre, because otherwise I've no idea how long our hour-plus walk might've taken. We'd intended to have a few stops on the way, and we did manage a brief tour of the excellent M Shed, but we weren't the best of company when we finally sat down for lunch with our friend – who was far too perky after the night before.
Thankfully again, bookhaus was just a very short walk around the corner from our meeting spot.
Don't be misled by the picture below. Like Bristol, bookhaus is much bigger than I was expecting and this photo is only part of the front of what felt like quite a long, spacious bookshop.
The Boy, The Friend and I soon went our separate ways as we explored different areas of interest – and there was a lot to catch our attention. I was torn between the modern fiction and the science fiction, with my eventual purchase of On the calculation of volume, I, by Solvej Balle having since prompted various conversations about which of these genres the title falls under (this really shouldn't be up for discussion, it's both). Among others, The Friend also purchased a book from these genres, There is no antimemetics division, by qntm, and I have to confess I wish I'd got to it first. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
As well as the extensive fiction (of all kinds), non-fiction had a lot to offer too. Had my brain been more engaged, the politics and environment sections looked particularly interesting, and the buzz coming from the other end of the shop where the children's books were located made me think that must be equally well-filled.
As I mentioned, it's a spacious bookshop and the big windows brought in a lot of light. This, combined with a large portion of carbs for lunch, meant the whole experience was both soothing and reviving. My enjoyment of the space meant we probably spent longer in here than we should and I did eventually have to be encouraged out, but it was worth it to help find some energy to face the rest of the day. I didn't get a photo of all of our purchases, so here's mine along with the assurance I believe four books were bought between us.
4 Rope Walk, Bristol, BS1 6ZJ
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