The Bridge That Isambard Built

At last...
After about 2 months in Bristol, I finally set foot on her famous icon - the Clifton Suspension Bridge.


I have been wanting to go there ever since I saw it two days after I arrived at the city. As I recalled, we were on our way to the north of Bristol when I saw this majestic structure 'perched' on the cliff. I was totally awed.

The Clifton Suspension Bridge was the work of British legendary engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel (even his name sounds like some legendary character from Tolkien!). He was 24 when he was commissioned to build the bridge in 1831. He did not live to see it completed, though - he died at the age of 53.

Amidst the low temperature and the cold wind, we took our time to savour the surroundings as we walked. I pretty much lagged behind, not because I was out of breath, but rather, I couldn't resist snapping the breath-taking views of the bridge at different angles.

"Nak masuk dalam blog lah tu..." Hubby perli :D

When we eventually crossed the bridge, I was surprised that I didn't feel dizzy at all. I even managed to stop midway (woo hoo!)to take pictures of Hotwells Road below, the River Avon and Clifton Village.

There was an information centre at the North Somerset side of the bridge. Hubby (who majored in structure, but ended up in the 'net':P) was so into the exhibits. So, we spent quite sometime there watching the interactive show and reading the historical bits and pieces. I bought a few memorabilia to signify our visit there. Then, it was crossing back to the other side.



Once there, we went up to this 'castle' which turned out to be an observatory known as Bristol Camera Obscura. We didn't enter the place because by that time it was almost Asr, so we had to hurry home for our prayers (siang dah pendek...).




We will definitely visit the bridge again on another sunny day (which is hard to come by these days...huhuhu).