In good Spirits

Apologies for spelling "Pensieve" wrong in the previous post. It won't happen again!

The other day a friend and I went on a ghost tour. We'd planned to go on the tour a while ago and decided to wait for warmer weather to do it. The evening was strange and fun, though not necessarily for the reasons we thought it would be.

The tour began on the College Green in front of the main entrance of the Bristol Cathedral. I can understand how the cathedral is a good place to begin a ghost tour, as it sets the mood really well, referencing aspects of history, religion and general creepiness. Strangely enough, the College Green, (specifically at the foot of the cathedral's buttressing), starting around half past seven, one can find most of the juvenile delinquents residing in the city of Bristol. We got the chance to witness some mangy hooligans breaking the two-hundred year-old stain glass windows with a soccer ball before our tour guide (let's call him Richard) called the cops on them. There was, of course, a cop car there but the two officers inside it said they were there for another reason, thus couldn't get involved. Whatever their reason may have been, I never actually saw them leave there car.

More so than learning which places in the city were allegedly haunted, the entertainment came from hearing Richard's commentary on his city. As we walked, he not only pointed out local haunts (pun intended) but also famous filming locations, buildings he thought were particularly ugly, and all the cops, door men and bouncers he knew. He even got free chips at the one chip shop. The whole thing was wonderfully casual and personal, especially because my friend and I were the only people on the our. Okay, that's not entirely true. One of Richard's friends, (we'll call him Tom), who had never been on the tour was with us. He, too, interjected with his own fun facts about Bristol and life in the city.

Also, Shirley Bassey is a major diva bitch! According to Richard she requested a private lift when she stayed at the Marriott Hotel and a jacuzzi in her dressing room for a one night performance. Not even the flippin' queen is that demanding! Her daughter used to be a student at the University of Bristol. She and her mother had a falling out and apparently one night she jumped off of the Cliffton suspension bridge and died. I guess she didn't see the good Samaritans hotline at the gate of the bridge.

Having lived here for the past five months, the tour was a great way to rediscover a lot of places I thought I knew. It's amazing how many streets and buildings I've passed by without a second glance. I'll definitely stop and reconsider many of the places when I pass them again. Oh, and Shirley Bassey is a bitch.