Yesterday being the Open Doors Day in Bristol we went to two venues - Redcliffe Caves and Ashton Vale Cemetary.

The former is a network of old mining tunnels that cover about 4 acres. Bits of it are suitable only for experienced cavers, but a path had been laid out for members of the general public to wander round. It was really excellent! Pitch black inside, and torches were required. The light provided by dozens of people waving round little torches (and at times mobile phones) gave you a good idea of the overall structure of the caves, but you could still only clearly see a tiny bit at a time. Since the caves were largely hollowed out manually they're fairly regualr, with impressive arches and pillars. Here and there you can see 100-year olf graffiti, which has been preserved as art work. Little doodles of faces and squiggles on the bare rock face done by a bored miner in the early C20, now admired by tourists. :)

It took us a good 45 minutes to wander round, peering into holes and expecting to see a skellington at any moment (sadly not so).

Ashton Vale Cemetary is a 45 acre wildnerness in massive disrepair. Bits of it are preserved nicely, but the majority of it has been reclaimed by nature. Ivy grows over ancient crumbling tombstones, ash and birch trees growing up through long-forgotten graves and wildflowers dotted around. There were loads of brambles whcih kept me happy throughout our wander. It really is beautiful. There's a massive resoration project taking place at the moment, but I hope they leave some of the trees and wild growth, because it makes it such a gothicly beautiful setting. I got some good photos as well, which will be posted at some point.

For now I'm killing time in Jam's lab office, making use of the internet when I can get it. Our computer still isn't ready. To be honest I'm not surprised - my experience with small computer shops is that they take on work and make promises that they have no chance of fulfilling. He promised us a comuter built in a day - is that even possible? What annoys me is the guy's insistence of lying to us. 'I tried phoning the number you left but either I couldn't get through or there was no answer'. 'The processor was delivered to my old address by accident'. I really wouldn't mind him just admitting he's busy and hasn't got round to it yet, but instead he tries to give us the run around. I don't mind too much for now, but if he keeps trying it on I'll start to get pissed off.

This weekend has been spent househunting in Bristol. We're wanting to move at the beginning of September, so need to find something sooner rather than later. jam_warrior spent most of last week on the phone to agencies and landlords, booking appointments and generally stressing over the whole thing. On Friday we had 9 houses to view Saturday, and by Saturday morning half of them had cancelled for one reason or another. Still, from 11.00am to 4.00pm we drove round the horror that is Saturday traffic Bristol, looking for houses in strange unfamiliar places.

The first two were okay, #3 was meh, and #4 was stunning but small. All the rest we saw after that were decidedly mediocre, so we had decided to go for #4, which is a privately rented flat next door to the landlord (who seemed a decent bloke) in a lovely area of the city next to Victoria Park. An ideal distance from the centre; close enough for convenience, far enough to be a bit quieter. And the flat is lovely! Really homely and modern and clean and comfy-looking. It even has a dishwasher! It is small, a lot smaller than the 2-bed house we're in at the moment, and a lot of stuff will have to go into storage. But this is only a temporary let until we find out the nice parts of the city, and look to buying a house! :)

When we've secured a deposit and decided on a moving date, I'll let you all know the new address.

Despite the horrible traffic, scary roundabouts and much swearing at bastards in Ford Focuses, I have decided I like Bristol. It's bigger than Cardiff, and more spread out. There also appears to be more in the way of museums, art, sculpture and green areas. You're never far from a park to flop on in the sun. Still, I will miss Clwb Ifor Bach. I will miss Welsh rugby, and I will miss Roath Park with it's hundreds of photogenic ducks. I'm definitely going to miss having a view of Welsh hills from my bedroom window. But needs must, and change is good. Ah, I'm feeling all sentimental now! I know I've only lived here for five years but it's been a very significant five years, and I'm definitely going to be sad to leave. Sad to leave, but excited to move on. All the more excited if I can actually get a decent job secured before I move!