Christmas Steps

I am already thinking of the winter break. And most of my friends are also counting down the minutes left to go back home. It's always nice to go home, mostly because of the huge feasts. When I was a child, the incentive were the presents. Now, on the other hand, it's family and friends. 

So, this will be my last post in this 2013 and I couldn't find a better way to finish the year rather than talking about Christmas Steps.
I wish you happy holidays back home (or wherever you are). Keep reading the blog in the wonderful 2014 year too! I will be here, batteries charged, with loads and loads of new stories! :)

For those who don't know, Christmas Steps is a medieval street trapped in the noisy and busy city centre of Bristol. It is one of the oldest and yet most charming parts of Bristol. The street was originally called Queene Street in medieval times, and not so long ago, the street was full of antique and book shops attracting a lot of tourists. However, gradually it has lost its charm and atmosphere.

The steep-slanted steps were constructed in 1669 and paid by the wealthy wine merchant Jonathan Blackwell. Before that year, the street had been a steep, muddy and narrow street.

I walked up Christmas Steps this week and I took some pictures of the street and shops. There were some people walking by, and although the Christmas lights are welcome, the street looked desolated. Therefore, I wanted to do my bit and bring the original atmosphere back to Christmas steps! Check out all the hidden gems you can find in the same street:

Three Sugar Loaves. Located at the bottom of Christmas Steps, 3SL is a pub that has been welcoming drinkers for over 300 years. They serve a wide range of ales, beers, lagers, wines and spirits, and PieMinister award winning pies too!
WEBSITE: http://3slbristol.webs.com/

Little Gem is a family-run sandwhich bar at the bottom of Christmas Steps too. It opens at 7.30am on weekdays and closes at 3pm, offering cold and hot food, drinks and snacks, specialized in fresh sandwiches.  They do a 10% discount to students. WEBSITE: http://littlegemsandwichbar.com/

ShOp, Vintage Lounge and Arts Venue, seeling men and women's vintage clothing and accessories as well as furniture, decoration and books. The shop has a lounge where you can sit and have a free (!), or you could also create a piece of art for the "Take it and leave it" gallery. 
WEBSITE: http://www.shoptheshop.co.uk/site/

Fotohaus is a little up on the stairs, and they are a company of architecural photography. One of their recent works job back in November was the Engine Shed. You can see their amazing photo gallery on their website.
WEBSITE: http://www.fotohaus.co.uk/work/

Weber & Tring's sells spirits and liquors. For Christmas, you can get your bottle of mulled syrup as written on the blackboard outside the shop.
WEBSITE: https://www.facebook.com/WeberandTrings

Right opposite, The Bristol Cider Shop, the right place for cider lovers. They are a specialist cider shop stocking over 100 varieties of draught and bottled cider made within 50 miles of Bristol by small producers. 
WEBSITE: http://www.bristolcidershop.co.uk/

Karen Reilly is a dressmaker and designer for wedding dresses and bridal wear with 25 years of experience. Dresses are individually designed and made by hand. The shop is open Wed-Sat 11am to 5pm althought you can get an appointment out of hours. 
WEBSITE: http://karenreilly.co.uk/

Jenny Life is a gallery and studio. Her work is inspired by "the beauty and movement of the human form", and together with her work you can also find other artists' works such as Jenny McGee, Jess Townsend and Ruth Willis, among others.  WEBSITE: http://www.jennylifegallery.co.uk/

Trevor Jones, after teaching and playing trumpet for 25 years, he started a business in Christmas Steps selling a large selection of brass and woodwind instruments.The shop is only opened Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.30am to 5.30pm, and Saturdays 9.30am to 5pm. 

WEBSITE: http://www.trevorjonesltd.co.uk/

Antlers is another gallery, very different from Jenny Life's one. As they say in their website, Antlers is a nomadic gallery now based in Bristol, yet not having a fixed location. They represent emerging artists with temporary exhibitions. WEBSITE: http://www.antlersgallery.com/

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS!

1-day trip to Bath

Bath is a city 14 miles away from Bristol. You could be in Bath in 40 minutes by car, yet it is not the best option as parking in the city centre will cost you an arm and a leg. So, what's the best way to get there? I always choose public transport if I go to Bath, either the bus or the train. The train takes 10 minutes from Temple Meads station and an offpeak return tickets costs £4.60 with the railcard. The bus ticket is free if you have a FirstWeek or FirstMonth ticket, but takes around one hour to get there. National Express offers return tickets for around £4 (with the coachcard) and takes the same amount of time. So, I would say the best option is the train.

It is located in the county of Somerset, the city was first established with the latin name Aquae Sulis by the Romans 20 years after they arrived to Britain seeking for hot springs in the valley of the River Avon. Much later, the city became popular as a spa town during the Georgian era. Bath city was added to the World Heritage List 1987 and it's unique architecture is famous anywhere in the United Kingdom. The city has a variety of theatres, museums and other cultural venues which have helped to make a major centre for tourism. 

Public transport, both train and bus, have their main stops by the Bath Thermae Spa, "Britain's only natural thermal spa" as stated in their website. Spa sessions go from £26 for a two-hour session to £56 for a full-day admission. Installations include an open-air rooftop pool (which looks very romantic in the picture), a very large indoor thermal bath and aroma steam rooms. I didn't go to the spa on my last visit, so I am unable to tell you if it is worth it or not. I haven't been able to find student discounts but their website has Spa Packages which includes a tempting Twilight Package for two (£80) including 3-hour spa session plus one dish from the menu and a glass of wine. Don't you think it can be a romantic plan?

From the bus station, I followed the river along Manvers Street until I got the famous Abbey on my left. The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, or more commonly known as Bath Abbey, is located right in the centre. The gothic style majestic abbey was founded in the 7th century and its interiors are visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The abbey's tower has ten bells which are unusually hung so that the order of the bells from highest to lowest runs anti-clockwise around the ringing chamber.

Perfect for a rainy day, the indoor Guildhall Market gives plenty of choices to enjoy a unique shopping experience within an historical building. Bath Guildhall Market is the oldest shopping venue in the city and has traded on this site for the last 800 years. During Christmas, there is also an annual market held under three interlinking heated  marquees at the rear of the building.

Close to Guildhall Market, there is a famous bridge you can find in most of the postcards in Bath. Pulteney Bridge crosses the river Avon since 1774. It is designed by Rober Adam in a Palladian style and originally, the shops along the bridge were not there. The 45-metres-long and 18-metres-wide bridge is named after Frances Pulteney, a wealthy Scottish lawyer and Member of Parliament. The bridge is always full of tourists, I bet you cannot take a picture of it without a stranger appearing in your photograph! 

Roman Baths complex is a well-preserved historical house which Romans used for public bathing. Just for the record, you are not allowed to have a bath in the roman baths. Roman Baths are the major touristic attraction of Bath and I have seen very long queues to get in. The admission fee is £12.75 per adult. If you go during summer (July/August) there is a one-pound increase in the prices. There is a discount for full-time students who must show a valid ID to proof it (£11). Next year, prices will slightly go up. Check them here. 
There are many things to see in the tour and I have learnt many things. However, they should improve the audio-guides. There are two different tours you can choose with an audio-guide: adult version or kids version. In my opinion, the adult version takes too long and voices are boring, whereas the children's version is too simple and explanations are vague, though it is more entertaining. 

I took a rest to have lunch at Market, a casual restaurant in the heart of the city. They have an offer which is the reason why I had lunch there: classic burger and a pint Dark Side Bath Ale for £7.95 (all day, every day). In addition to that, I also ordered a crispy calamari with lemon alioli (£4.95). I really recommend this place if you are looking for something not too expensive but yet very tasty. Very good location, great service and very juicy beef burgers!


I spent the afternoon window-shopping in the famous Christmas Market. The German Christmas Market in Bath is very good, I must say. There are 150 traditional wooden chalets offering unusual and handmade gifts, crafts and food items. Sadly, and don't ask me why, the Christmas market is now closed for 2013. They have been running it since 28th November and it was closed last 15th December, 10 day before Christmas day. So, any advice I give you here will be useful for next year. Advice for the market: be patient, do not rush. I wouldn't imagine the market would be that busy. And apparently it is busy at any time of the day, any day of the week. People travel from far away to check what Bath Christmas Market is offering every year, so take your time to visit every stall. It is really worth it!

The touristic visit to Bath is never finished until you have taken a picture of the famous 30 terraced houses designed by John Wood the Younger. It is called The Royal Crescent, built between 1767-74, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom. The Royal Crescent now includes a hotel and a museum, and some lucky (and wealthy) people have the honour to be the tenant of the rest of the houses which have been converted into flats and offices.

Right next to The Royal Crescent, there is a 57 acres green-flag awarded park called Royal Victoria Park which includes a popular children's area, a skateboard ramp, tennis, bowling and golf courses, a boating pond, and a botanical garden. It was opened in 1830 by Princess Victoria when she was just 11 years old and there is an obelisk dedicated to her within the park. I enjoyed last minutes of sunshine walking around the park before it got too dark.

LINKS
----------------------
THERMAE BATH SPA: http://www.thermaebathspa.com/
BATH ABBEY: http://www.bathabbey.org/
ROMAN BATHS: http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/
GUILDHALL MARKET: http://www.bathguildhallmarket.co.uk/
BATH GERMAN CHRISTMAS MARKET: http://www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk/
"MARKET" RESTAURANT: http://www.marketbath.co.uk/contact-3/

Loch Fyne

I thought I would never write about a chain restaurant in my blog but Loch Fyne really deserves a post. Located in historical "Old Granary" in the waterfront, Loch Fyne is a very beautiful seafood restaurant.

I made a reservation for Sunday lunchtime although we later realized that there wasn't a need for a reservation (you never know, though). We decided to go at lunchtime as they have set menu on a reasonable price of £10.45 for a 2 course meal and £12.95 for a 3 course meal. However, we decided to go for quality instead of quantity and ended up choosing our lunch a la carta. 

STARTERS

• Chilli and Garlic King Prawns (£6.45) in white wine, cream & shallot sauce and crusty white bread
• Scottish Rope-Grown Mussels (£5.95) pan-fried with lemon oil, with granary bread

MAIN

• Whole baked 1lb Lobster (£23.95) in garlic butter with French fries and mayonnaise

We share all dishes between two people and it was perfectly enough for a good lunch. I loved the king prawns, the sauce was a bit spicy in perfect amount and the lobster was perfectly tender and juicy, cut in half so that each one could have our piece with some French fries and mayonnaise sauce. French fries were a little bit disappointing as they were similar to the ones you get in McDonalds, for example, and mussels, although the taste was great, they were a little bit small.

When you signed in the website, you get a £10 discount voucher when you spend 30 pounds a la carta, and our bill was a reasonable £26.35 for the great food we had. Highly recommendable! :)

ADDRESS: The Old Granary, Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol BS1 4HQ
TELEPHONE: 0117 930 7160
WEBSITE: http://www.lochfyneseafoodandgrill.co.uk/locations/bristol

Harbour Festive Boat Parade

Can you imagine there is a sailing parade, where boats are decorated with Christmas decoration and light up the Harbourside? Next Saturday, 14th December, this will actually be happening. Bristol harbourside will shine bright on this second edition. For two hours, over 30 boats of all colours, shapes and sizes will illuminate the Harbourside with a Christmas parade for the second time.

The five-mile circuit will start at Prince's Bridge, where boats will gather at 6pm, and boats will pass by Lloyds TSB Amphitheatre, SS Great Britain, the Cottage and Grain Barge. Be at Prince's Bridge at 6pm and 7.30pm as the bridge will swing to allow boats to pass through. Something worth seeing!

In order to watch this free outdoor illumination event properly, find your perfect spot on the waterfront. Come and celebrate the festive season!!

LINKS
----------------

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/bristolharbourfestiveboatparade2013

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Picture taken from http://newportbeachnow.com/newport-beach-boat-parade/ website. Thank you! :)

The little shop

If you follow my blog, you would have already realised that I love handmade jewellery. If you don't, I tell you now: I love handmade jewellery. And even more if the artist is local! I like the idea a wearing a pair of earrings or a nice necklace while its maker could be sitting next to me in a coffee shop, for example. The artist will probably stare at me and smile, and I would probably smile back, without knowing exactly why. 

Since its launch the 6th September 2013, I walked by that little shop in Stokes Croft everyday, admiring the beautiful "bunnies and pineapples" art wall, but I was apparently too busy to have 15 minutes to have a look inside.

Not sure why, last Thursday, I went inside and discovered the perfect gift shop. The Little Shop is an art gallery for local artists to exhibit their artwork. Every now and then, they change over their artists and welcome new ones with a party. 

You will find a large selection of unique prints, cards, jewellery, ceramics, t-shirts and creams, everything handmade, perfect for a gift. I specially liked a handmade porcelain mug by Bee Hayes (see here) and the smell of the creams.

Prices are generally not cheap, but not too expensive either. Besides, the fact that you are promoting and supporting local artists is even more important, and in Christmas time... aren't we looking for something special and unique?

I bought "one-of-a-kind" handcrafted pair of earrings in zebrawood by Priormade craftworks. At the back, it says "coffee table"... Isn't it great to have a pair of earrings that were a coffee table before? I find it very inspiring!

I also purchased a beautiful handmade butterfly brooch in red by Thomas Chadwick.

Earrings by Priormade (£13)
Brooch by Thomas Chadwick (£6)

The little shop is located at 125 Cheltenham Road (BS6 5RR) and opening hours are Tue-Sat 11am to 7pm and Sundays 12-5pm.

LINKS

-------------------------------

The Little Shop

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheLittleShopinBristol

EMAIL: thelittleshopinbristol@gmail.com

Priormade

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/priormade

WEBSITE: www.priormade.co.uk

Thomas Chadwick

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thomaschadwickdesigns/476921315712337

Website: http://thomaschadwickdesigns.bigcartel.com/

Email: thomaschadwickdesigns@gmail.com

Santas also cycle in Bristol

Next Sunday, thousands of Santas will hit the road in Bristol. Armed with their bikes, they will be cycling from the MShed to Ashton Court. You can also be one of them!

This Sunday, 8th December, take your Santa outfit, decorate your bike and join the rest of Santas at MShed at 10.30am to cycle together with the herds of reindeer riders in this "santastic" event Sustrans is organising. The route will be traffic-free until Ashton Court, where there will be Christmas celebration activities such as advent treasure hunt, tombola, stalls and festive singing.

There will be two routes: Family Festive route (2 miles) and Rudolph route (up to 10 miles). If you don't have a bike, don't worry. You can join the event on foot if you prefer. 

The website has some ticket prices (10 pound for each adult) which includes Santa outfit, reindeer antlers, mince pie and Santa grotto present for each child. I guess you could be able to join the event without purchasing any ticket if you have your own Santa outfit.

More info: http://www.sustrans.org.uk/events/cycling-santas-and-reindeer-riders

Eat.Drink.Dance

Next Friday, 6th December, The Island will host a new night market from 5pm to 12pm. The concept behind the street market is a social gathering. It will combine local breweries, artists, musicians and you!

There will be street-food traders, local craft beer brewery bar, hot coctails bar, DJs, local arts & crafts, live t-shirt screen-printing, handmade goodies, kids corner, pop-up record shop, seating and many more.

Before reading about this event, I had no idea what The Island was. As they state in their website, The Island is "a multiuse arts facility and creation center located in the old police station in Bristol city centre".  There are a wide variety of creative spaces for circus training, dance, art studios, dark rooms, recording studios and many other things. It is located at Courtyard, and the entrance is on Silver Street.

The poster has been designed by Hannah McPostlethwaite and I have to say it is a very nice piece of art. 

Some of the street food stalls have already been confirmed:

• Dorshi www.dorshi.co.uk/
• Viet Vite www.facebook.com/vietvite1
• Vee Double Moo www.veedoublemoo.co.uk/
• Chomp www.chompgrill.co.uk/
• ASIA POP! www.asiapopfood.tumblr.com/
• Minno Kitchen www.minnokitchen.com/
• Stiw www.facebook.com/stiwbristol
• Gopal's Curry Shack www.facebook.com/GopalsCurryShack

It doesn't say anything about tickets so I assume it is a free event. So, come on people, this is an alternative plan for a Friday night! I want to see you all there! 

LINKS

------------------

The Island: http://www.theislandbristol.com/

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/463811197061317/

2-day trip to Liverpool

Liverpool is a city 3-hours away from Bristol going North. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and got the city status in 1880. With a population of more than 550,000, Liverpool is the fourth most populated city in Great Britain.

It takes slightly less than 3h to get to Liverpool by car, but the route is quite straight forward. Take the M5 north towards Birmingham and then M6 to Manchester. Take the exit to the M62 towards Liverpool and it will take you to the city centre.

By train, it takes 3h15min in average, and you must change the train in Birmingham. The price would be 50 pounds return with the Railcard. National Express will also bring you to Liverpool for 35 pounds but it will take you 5h to get there.

As a city, Liverpool really surprised me. I though it would be a more industrial city, like Manchester. Instead, Liverpool is a less caotic city with very beautiful historic buildings, a fantastic Waterfront and many (free) museums which you could visit if the weather is not good.

DAY 1

Saturday was very sunny and we took advantage of the weather to go take some great pictures of Liverpool with clear blue sky.

We started our tour with the ruins of St Luke's Church. It stands on the corner of Berry Street with Leece Street. The roofless church, designed by John Fosters (senior and junior) was built between 1811 and 1832. It was badly damaged during the Liverpool Blitz in 1941 and now it is a memorial to those who were lost in the war. There is a memorial to the Irish Famine in the churchyard and the building is used to host musical events, exhibitions and performances.


Following Berry street a little further, the chinese-style gate marks the start to the Chinatown, according to Wikipedia, the oldest Chinese community in Europe. The arch is also the largest, multispan arch of its kind outside of China. 

Instead of taking our way to Chinatown, we continued down the street to head to the Anglican Cathedral. Do not make the same mistake we did: there is no entrance to the Cathedral from Upper Parliament Street. We decided to take that route and we were wrong. The entrance is in Canning Street, from Upper Parliament Street you will only get access to the lower garden called St James Gardens. Walking across the garden was very nice, though. And we eventually got to the main entrance to the Cathedral.

I have never seen anything like Liverpool Cathedral. I was expecting something huge but old, antique. Instead, we ran into a 20th century cathedral with ensuite coffeeshop and shop and neon lights. The cathedral doesn't even have the usual smell churches have!

5-min walk away from the Anglican Cathedral, you will find the other cathedral of Liverpool: Metropolitan Cathedral. This cathedral started being built in 1962, taking just 5 years to be complete. Its designer Frederick Gibberd was the winner of the worldwide design competition.

Going down Mt Pleasant, we got to St George area. The main train station is located there, in Lime Street, surrounded by many majestic buildings in Liverpool: 

• St George's Hall, a neoclassical building containing concert halls and law courts. On the west side, there is a very nice garden.
• Walker Art Gallery is one of the largest art collections in England. 
• Central Library, the largest library in Liverpool, is located in a very beautiful historic building. 
• Liverpool World Museum is a free museum which covers archaeology, ethnology and natural and physical sciences. The museum also includes Natural History Centre and a Planetarium, which are free but you need to agree a time for the tour at the reception.

We found a connection between Liverpool and the Basque Country on the Waterloo Memorial column, also called Wellington's Column. It is a monument to the Duke of Wellington standing on the corner of William Brown Street and Lime Street. After the Duke's death, in common with other cities, Liverpool decided to erect a monument to celebrate his achievements. A competition was set up in 1856 to find a designer for the column and George Anderson Lawson won it. In the west panel, there is a list of battles and among them, there are four basque cities and towns: Baiona (written "Bayonne"), Vitoria (written "Vittoria"), Ortzaize (written "Orthez") and Donostia (written "San Sebastian"). Click on the names to know more about each battle.

After quite a lot of walking, we had a lunch break at The Slug and Lettuce, which was actually very cheap. I shared with a friend of mine "The Ultimate Platter" which contained chicken breast, breaded mushroom, pork ribs, potato wedges, garlic toast and onion ribs with 3 different sauces, and it was enough for both to have a good lunch. It was 13.25 pounds.

We headed to the Waterfront after lunch, where I discovered very cute Superlambananas. They are bright yellow sculptures in Liverpool, half Lamb, half banana. Except there are not yellow anymore. They have been decorated with very beautiful patterns and drawings, as the Gromits in Bristol.

The Waterfront in Liverpool holds many interesting things. There is a Titanic Memorial at the north side, as the city is strongly associated with the ill-fated liner. The RMS Titanic was owned by White Star Line which was founded in Liverpool, where the boat was registered.

The Museum of Liverpool, the newest addition opened in 2011. The museum tells the story of the city through items from collections of costume and decorative art, representing the social and urban story of Liverpool. 

Tate Museum comprises the national collection of British art from year 1500 to the present. 

Merseyside Maritime Museum was opened in 1980 and exhibits the city's seafaring heritage.

 ... and THE BEATLES MUSEUM! (More info in Day 2)

In winter, at 4pm it is already getting dark and as the Beatles Museum is opened until 6pm, we found it a very good option to go to the museum. Of course, 1h30min is not enough to see it properly. Luckily, the same ticket allows you entrace for 48h hours, you could also go back on Sunday to see what you didn't have time to see.

Dinner time! I have noticed there are many fried chicken place in Liverpool. We had dinner in Bazooka, which is a extremely cheap fast chicken place. If you just need to eat something fast and cheap, Bazooka is your place. Hamburgers, fried chicken, fries, kebabs, pizzas... It is located in 9-11 Ranelagh Place.

After dinner, we went back to the hostel we were staying in. We stayed in International Inn. It is a hostel located in the University area. It is very well located, and the hostel itself is OK. We had a private 7-bed room for ourselves, with a private bathroom. Towels are not included in the price, but bed linen are. Even though we had some initial problems with the heater, it worked perfectly all weekend. There were also individual lockers in the room. The hostel has a very nice and big kitchen for guests, fully equipped. However, the amount of plates and glasses is scarce. The breakfast was not included but there was coffee, tea, toast and jam available in the kitchen all time. We paid 20 pounds per person per night, a little too much for what it was, in my opinion.

We took a rest at the hostal and we end up going out quite late, and decided to go directly to the nightclub Bumper, located very close to the hostel we were staying in. I loved their advertising: "Free beer, topless waitresses and false advertising"! Isn't it great!? The place was half empty until 2.30-3am, but got busy after that. Very busy. Great atmosphere, fantastic music and good prices.

DAY 2

If I had the chance to go back in time, I would have spent Sunday morning at the Beatles Museum again. Whether you are a Beatles fan or not, it is worth it to spend time there. The cheapest option for an adult ticket (Fab 4 Experience) is worth 12.95 pounds (concessions 9.50) and, as mentioned before, it can be used for 48h. The ticket includes The Beatles Story exhibition, which we visited, Discovery Zone and Fab 4D experience, which we didn't. 
The Beatles Story is an award-winning exhibition. The tour will show you how four young guys from Liverpool created a worldwide musical fever. Very beautiful exhibition which will take you hours if you want to hear every story in the audioguide narrated by John Lennon's sister, and read every poster in the exhibition as you go through it.

We then had lunch at Red Hot World Buffet in the Ropewalk (10.99 pounds) and spent some time in the afternoon shopping around and checking out Christmas stalls under the rain, before heading back to Bristol.


LINKS
-----------------------
Hostel International Inn: http://www.internationalinn.co.uk/
Slug and Lettuce: http://www.slugandlettuce.co.uk/slug-liverpool/
Bazooka: http://www.chickenbazooka.co.uk/
Red Hot: http://www.redhot-worldbuffet.com/restaurants/liverpool/
Nightclub Bumper: http://bumperliverpool.co.uk/
Beatles Story: http://www.beatlesstory.com/

Mulled wine: the drink served in a mug

The first contact I've ever had with the mulled wine happened last year, around this time. The German Christmas Market (here) was all set up and after having the time of our lives skating in the ring in Broadmead, we warmed up with a glass of mulled wine. Or shall I say a "mug" of mulled wine?

For those who don't know what I am talking about, mulled wine is n alcoholic beverage made with red wine and various other sweet ingredients, which is served hot or warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially between Halloween and Christmas. Don't worry, I've never heard of it before coming to the UK either!

According to Wikipedia (here), British mulled wine was popular in Vitorian times, although there are other famous German and Nordic versions of the same drink, and mulled wine is drunk almost everywhere in Europe except in Spain.

Drinking an alcoholic drink from a mug is weird, and even more when it's hot. I have to say that I did not like the mulled wine first time I had it. It seemed to be a sweet hot soup. It took me around 1h to drink it all! Too sweet and too hot in my opinion. However, during the Christmas Press Show in House of Fraser, I have been offered mulled wine again, and I loved it! And I am sure the quality of the mulled wine this second time was way better than last year in the German Christmas Market. So, hey! If you didn't like mulled wine the first time you had it, give it a second chance. Maybe it surprises you!

RECIPE for MULLED WINE (By Adam Grey)

----------------------------

This is all you need:

• Red wine (750ml)
• Orange juice (250ml)
• Water (100ml)
• Peach schnapps (50ml)
• Orange (1/2)
• Star anise (5gr)
• Cloves (3g)
• Juniper berries (1g)
• 1 Cinnamon stick 
• Cardamom pod
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme

How to do it:

1. Combine the red wine, orange juice, peach schnapps and water in a saucepan. Add the bay leaf, cardamom pod, cinnamon stick, cloves, orange zest, juniper berries, thyme and star anise and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes
2. Carefully pass the mulled wine through a fine sieve and into a jug. It is now ready to serve 

You might also be interested on Bristolian Cake recipe.

German Christmas Market

For the 5th time, the German Christmas Market set up in the shopping quarter in Bristol. Why go to Germany or Austria, when a the market itself comes to your town? 

The market opened its doors the 8th November in Broadmead and they will stay open until few days before Christmas day (22nd December). The 38 festive stalls will be selling food, drinks and all kind of gifts. 

Home Christmas decoration, traditional handmade wooden games, all kind of cheese and ham, wool clothes and blankets for cold days, scented candles, salt crystal lamps, chocolates, glass crafts, hot chestnuts, bags... Everything!

In the German outdoor bar, they claim to have an authentic German Sausage which you will be able to enjoy in exchange of 4 pounds along with a mulled wine (3.5 pounds). They also have other choices such as hot chocolate, coffee, German beer, and something I've never heard about called "Grog", which is actually hot water with rum. Very interesting! They serve the drinks in very nice wintery mugs and you will have to give a 2 pounds deposit. 

The market is open 10am to 7pm Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays, it is closed an hour earlier. It gives you plenty of time to buy a couple of nice presents for family and friends and warm up afterwards with a glass of mulled wine.

Congrats musicians: today, it's your day!

Music defines us, it makes us feel we are not alone, we are understood... and we understand each other. Music is art, virtue, passion, love, sadness,... and many other things we cannot define. It is a hobby for some of us, a profession for others.

Today, 22nd November, it's St Cecilia day, the patroness of musicians. I am not sure it is celebrated in the UK, but many people back in Spain they don't even know this day exists... unless they have some close connection with a musician. In my case, I have been raised surrounded by music, and celebrated this day bringing music to the streets, singing and playing music for the streets, for the busy people walking them. Today, this post is dedicated to all of them, known and unknown musicians all over the world.

I would say Bristol is a very musical city. You can find concerts of every kind of music anytime, anywhere. For instance, if you walk to the centre right now, I'm sure you will find at least 3 groups or individuals playing, singing, dancing... despite the cold weather. Music even warms us up!
And at bars and pubs in Bristol, there is a concert going on every day. Jazz, classical, pop, rock, folk, metal. Anything!

Tonight, Mallory Knox @ The Fleece, Ramshackle @ O2 Academy, Handel's Messiah Soulful Celebration @ St George's, Emily Barker @ The Folk House, Barb Wire Dolls @ The Lousiana, Molotov Jukebox @ Thekla, Sack Sabbath @ Bierkeller... The choice is infinite. Chosse your own! :)