Adventures in Public Transportation

I feel so accomplished! I’ve been to the bank and I’ve been to the City Centre and back. Actually I’ve been beyond the City Centre, but I’ll get to that.

So. NatWest bank has a branch on campus, not just a cash machine, as I was delighted to discover. I have put in for a letter confirming my UK address, which I will be able to pick up Wednesday and submit with my passport to open an account. With that squared away, I headed for the campus bus stops which are conveniently located just outside the student hub (imagine the VCU student commons with all of the administrative offices under one roof).

The university has a deal with the transportation system to supply U-line buses that run to and from UWE. They are hard to miss as they are bright red, and it is very, very comforting to know that wherever I am, all I have to do is find a stop labelled with the U-line and I will be able to get home. The university supplied me with a pre-paid card good through the end of July next year, which means FREE BUS RIDES for me!

Though I had some general idea of where I was headed, I was really grateful that there was another girl on the bus who hit the “stop” button at the stop I needed. The buses here don’t tell you inside where the next stops are, so it helps to know a couple of ones before yours so that you can indicate in time that you need to get off. (Here is the map.) I rode the U1 today (the red line) to Cabot Circus where first thing I procured a lovely purple mobile phone. It should be working, but I am still figuring out how to use it. If you’d like the number, please message me via facebook or by email.

Cabot Circus has three floors and looks quite similar to the new open-air malls in Richmond. The building is sheltered by a huge glass dome kind of thing, and while I was there, several men where clambering around on top of it washing the panes. I wandered around for a bit and had a coffee at Costa, which is a lot like Starbucks. Next time I will go to an actual Starbucks, as there’s one of those hidden away on the third level. After further wandering, including inspection of a toy shop, I stopped at a restaurant called Hey Potato!, a potato bar that offers various styles of potato with various toppings. I chose Italian chicken, which tastes less Italian and more American tex-mex.

Take-away in hand, I wandered around until I discovered the place that I’d come in, and I retraced my steps down Bond Street (I think?) back to the bus stop where I’d arrived. The wait was about ten minutes for the next bus, and in the meantime I people-watched. Folks don’t seem to mind being watched, and if they catch you looking, don’t seem to expect you to immediately avert your eyes, which I find kind of nice. People aren’t generally inclined to strike up unnecessary conversation, but if they do speak, it is direct and friendly. Unless it’s a bus driver swearing at an idiotic pedestrian/bike/car. This happened a couple of times.

Speaking of pedestrians/bikes/cars – while it is almost completely silent on campus, especially after sundown, and now because there are no students, the Centre is a proper city. There are clearly marked bike lanes on the most major roads, but on others they ride as close to the side as they can. It seems that you have to absolutely fearless in order to do this, because cars and buses are inclined to hit their brakes at absolutely the last second, and they’ll give you three inches of clearance if you’re lucky. Where it’s permitted, cars park mostly on the sidewalk. Where it isn’t permitted there are more often double yellow lines or zigzag white ones rather than signs. The roundabouts appear very easy to navigate, so long as you have some idea where you’re going.
If it’s any more complicated than two lanes, they’re marked with directions and arrows to keep you on track, and the signage is very clear.

The bus I chose was again the U1, and the end of the route ran down to Temple Meade station which is gorgeous, past St. Nicholas’ Market which is kind of an alley bazaar, and all the way out to Ashton Court and the fine arts campus of UWE. Ashton Court is unbelievably beautiful, and mum especially would love it because all of the houses resemble the little stone one right next to the Bon Air library. I intend to go back out there for a walk just as soon as I can manage (tomorrow!), and I promise that I will take pictures. Today I was just too busy looking around to manage anything else.

Because I got back on the away-going bus, we turned around at Ashton Court and went back through the city the way we’d come. It would have been more direct, apparently, to get on the same line across the street from where I decided to go, but I’m glad that I didn’t because I got to see loads more. There are shops for just about everything you can imagine (including a bead shop, mum!) and another yarn store that I’ll have to check out. There are lots of Indian and Chinese takeaway shops, and at least one Grecian kebab place on the U1 line. Across the river I saw an amusing sign for a location under construction – it’s to be called “Wapping Wharf,” which made me laugh.

Down towards Old Market I saw a number of little pubs, including one called Kingshead which looks the way you’d expect a pub to look. The building is squashed and narrow, and the door is low and the sign is dark green with thin gold lettering and painted at the very top of the building is a little sign that says c.1660. How cool is that? There are other, newer pubs that all advertise “home-cooked food” which must be a local selling-point. On Gloucester Street one can find Robin Hood’s Retreat, The Golden Lion, and The Hobgoblin.

There’s loads more I know I wanted to mention but I can’t think of it all right now. It will come to me, I’m sure. Right now I’m going to learn a little more about my phone and hopefully give uni-box a try – no response yet to my enquiry form, so perhaps a call will speed things along.