A smoothie at The Bearpit

Making a smoothie is easy; making a good smoothie not that much. Today, I had the best smoothie I had in a very long time right at the Bearpit.

It was at the Bearpit Social, the only coffee-shop inside a shipping container. It started as a mobile coffee cart business before moving into this permanent location. They use as much fresh, local, ethical and organic ingredients as possible to create for example, the Mission Mango smoothie (£3.50) I had today. There is also coffee available, supplied by Bristol roaster Brian Wogan (Latte £2.40; Americano £1.80), Clipper Teas (£1.50-1.75) and many fresh juice options (£2-4).  If you'd like to have something else as a side, there are toasties, toasts and ciabattas from Joe's Bakery as well as salad boxes starting from £3.95).
www.facebook.com/BearpitSocial

On the left, there is Bearritos, an innovative Mexican Cantina serving tacos, tortas and (as its name suggests) burritos from a green vintage double-decker bus. The bus has been converted into a fully functioning kitchen downstairs, and there is a seating area upstairs for over 30 diners. The menu includes breakfasts, snacks and a range of street food lunch options. The project has been crowfunded by 209 last March, raising £8,060 for it to happen. www.bearritos.co.uk/

On the right, there is Bear Fruit greengrocer, offering a wide variety of fresh and local fruit and vegetables at very reasonable prices. It supports local farms and provides seasonal food to locals passing by the Bearpit. They offer a 5-a-day bag for £1 and the quality of the vegetables is very good. www.facebook.com/BearFruitBristol

After the facelift the Bearpit Roundabout have recently had, it is very nice to just sit down and enjoy the sun there with a smoothie (or coffee, or burrito) in hand. :)

A garden, new hubs and a new look for the Bearpit

Last Saturday, they had the inauguration of The People's Garden, the mobile wildflower garden in the Bearpit underpass. They have created a tetris-like garden which provides seating for  5 people in the busy roundabout. Its aims at supporting the biodiversity, giving pleasure with their variety and colour, improving the lanscape at the Bearpit Market, educating the visiting public, attracting birds, butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects, and bringing people together. 


At the moment, the Bearpit Market is under a very important "face-lift" works and the improvements can already be felt. There will be a new layout, pavement and lighting, but the ramps and subways will be retained. Some food hubs like Bear Fruit had reopened the business. Hopefully, in a couple of months (probably December), the iconic 1979 double-decker green bus will be fully converted into a street food stand and the work currently in place will lead to fresh urban space. 

INTERESTING LINKS
WEBSITE "The People's Garden":
http://www.slideshare.net/puhdding/the-peoples-garden-mobile-wildflower-garden
FACEBOOK PAGE "Bear Fruit": https://www.facebook.com/BearFruitBristol?fref=ts
FACEBOOK PAGE "Bearpit Market": https://www.facebook.com/BearpitMarket?fref=ts

Squats, empty buildings and social housing @ Bearpit Outdoor Gallery

Just a couple of minutes ago, I was coming back from the city centre when some young guys who were begging or just hanging out in a tunnel-pass at the Bearpit asked me to smile. I don't really like when people I don't know asks me to smile, neither people I know. Why could I smile if a couple of metres before a wall reminded myself how screwed up the world is.

"There are 4.1 million homeless people and 11 million empty houses in Europe"
(Photos taken 23rd May 2014)

Over a year ago, I read in one Spanish newspaper the first case of a woman who killed himself because she couldn't afford living anymore. The bank would take her out of her house because she wouldn't pay her morgage; she was unemployed, her husband left her and she had some children's mouth to feed. It was not the first and last case. Sadly, week after week, I have read many similar cases.

For years, many people were living above their limits, buying stuff they couldn't afford, the banks gave money to people who wouldn't be able to pay off... Then, the crisis knocked the door of most families. Those who were lucky enough to keep their jobs, they had under very crappy condition; those who weren't as lucky, lost their jobs, running away this world as fast as they could and leaving to their beloved family a legacy of debts and owings.

This is sadly what the exhibition at the Bearpit Outdoor Gallery reminded me of. I am sure this is the impression the artists wanted to get from people. And then, some idiots asked me to smile. Here is my smile, then.

"The writing on the Wall"

Photographs of Europe's Hidden Spaces

www.furnessphotography.com

Picasso's Gernika in Bearpit

When I passed by Bearpit today, my heart skipped a beat when I saw Pablo Piccaso's most famous painting (on the right). Guernica, or "Gernika" with basque spelling, is the name of a Basque town in the province of Biscay, very close my hometown, sadly famous because Nazi's air-bombed the town the last Monday of April in 1937. Pablo Picasso showed the tragedy to the world through this world-wide famous artwork.

When I first mentioned the painting to local people, I was surprised to discover that just some of them recognised Picasso's painting, and even fewer people knew the meaning of it, or what it represents. That's the reason I am writing this post.

In Gernika, every Monday is market day, when farmers trade their goods, and afterwards perhaps watch a pelota (basque sport) game at the local court. Monday market day has always been considered as a holiday in the town. The town streets get busy, it's a social day of the week. 

The day was strategically chosen by Hitler to send the Condor Legion to support dictator Francisco Franco's troops to raze a town full of individual and innocent civilians to the grounds. The location, Gernika, was also strategically chosen by Nazis, as Gernika is a specially relevant town in the Basque Country because of its political importance: the Basque Meeting House has always been located in Gernika, next to the famous Tree of Gernika. By the ancient tradition, Basques held assemblies under an oak tree to discuss matters affecting the community. And Basques were not to Francisco Franco's liking, on the one side for not considering themselves Spanish, and on the other side, for speaking what he called a barbarian language and for having barbarian traditions.

Bearpit exhibits the first part of a three-part show about activists and activism titled How does an activist eat potatoes? which celebrates "the diversity of people who have worked hard to make a possitive difference", as said in the public notice about the exhibition. The second part is Smash - Activist China Now!, which shows ceramics at the PRSC Selling Gallery and the third part  is Love and Resistance, a public survey concerning acts of care and defiance.

Very interesting exposition, recommendable!

PS: This post is dedicated to my grandma as well as to all those thousands of Basques who left all their scarce belongings at home in order to run away and save their lives. And specially to those who couldn't make it.