Last week my sister in law and family arrived in UK from Hong Kong. They are part of the 130,000 people from the past year that moved to get away from the dracronian dictatorship rule in Hong Kong.
Hubby and I hadn't seen them for over three years, partly due to Covid travel restrictions, and partly due to our lack of desire to step foot in Hong Kong again. I mean would you want to go to a place where you could be arrested for saying something not nice about a place, when you were physically located outside of that place and are not a citizen of that place? Arriving in UK is such a relief both for them and us, as they are now safe and free from dracronian rule.
After letting them settle down the first couple of days, this weekend we showed them around their new home city. First stop brunch at a city farm, a place that I always wanted to visit. I love the quirkiness of this Hobbit style café that served a mean organic breakfast. It was lovely to sit down as a family again, and to catch up about what's happened over these few years.
After lunch it was time for a tourist tour around the city. The first stop is our most famous landmark the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The bridge was built in 1864 and is synonymous with Bristol. It took me a while to find a parking spot today and we ended up parking a little further away than usual. It actually turned out much better because we were further up and away from the bridge and the view was absolutely gorgeous, I've never seen the bridge from this angle.
Then we walked towards and across the 412m long bridge, looking down the 100m gorge. I always bring visitors here, and they're always in awe of this remarkable piece of Victorian engineering. Likewise myself, I never get bored of this view despite coming here so often.
The next stop was Bristol Cathedral. The last time I was here was during lockdown two years ago. I remember back then, they had a no photography sign inside which I thought was odd, but I complied of course even though there was not a soul in sight. Today everyone else was taking photos, it would be such a pity not to grab a few photos for my personal collection of UK cathedrals and share in Hive.
Outside the Cathedral is College green and the city council buildings. College Green is a public green space where people hang out under the sun when protesters aren't protesting about this and that. Yes, we get quite a lot of that in Bristol as we're quite a vocal and radical city. The joys of living in a democratic society and something that my sister in law and family will surely appreciate.
We rounded off the day with a welcome dinner at a local Spainish restaurant. It's a sustainable restaurant that focuses on local produce and offers two set menu, a Root to Fruit, and Nose to Tail one. No prizes for guessing what the difference is. The staff said they use every part of the ingredients and nothing goes to waste. And sure enough they have a lot of fermented and pickled fruit and veg in the restaurant. The food was so fresh and lovely, and I loved all the little bits and pieces on the side, definitely cooked with love.
It's been a mentally painful few years for SIL and her family in Hong Kong and now they're finally in UK. Wishing them the best in their new life.
I can imagine how nice to see your family again after many years, and especially to know they are free and safe now. I can only suggest how difficult it was to implement. Did they come with a just visit or to stay?
The bridge is remarkable indeed, I love the view very much. And it's great to read about organic food and sustainable use of resources, I so want this to be my concern again and not just surviving.
!LUV
!BEER
@zirochka(1/1) gave you LUV.
tools | wallet | discord | community | <><
HiveBuzz.me NFT for Peace
They're here in UK to stay now as the situation is very suffocating in Hong Kong. Of course it's on a totally different scale from Ukraine and not comparable at all. But when the government trashes a country and it's no longer the homeland you used to love and you can only see things getting worse, then there is really no reason to stay.
Unlike Hong Kong, I'm sure the survival stage in Ukraine will end very soon!! Everybody just need to hang in there tight 💪
The situation around Taiwan is becoming increasingly tense. The whole world is watching Pelosi's plane, and the flightradar24 website has stopped working because of it. I am very glad that your sister and her husband left there, although it's so sad that had to leave their homes, their land. I very much hope that another war will not be started, USA is doing everything to prevent it.
Oh, my dear, I so much wish you to be right about this. Thank you for your optimism ❤️
Putin and Xi are best buddies, I'm sure Xi is helping behind the scenes. If Russia can get away with invading Ukraine, Xi will go and take Taiwan with force, and the pair of them will continue to bully the others.
Bullies never end well, don't worry!!
If Xi will go and take Taiwan, US will not wait and intervened in the conflict. China will have to deal with US, not with small Taiwan. They realize this, hopefully. And agree with you, they will not end well. 🤜
🤛
Hi @livinguktaiwan,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
For more information visit our discord https://discord.gg/8CVx2Am
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
A huge relief for you and your family.
Is the river tidal at the suspension bridge? It's an area I've not explored, I must put it on my list for the autumn.
Yes, the Severn estuary around here has the second highest tidal range in the world!
Bristol is great for a weekend, come over sometime!!
That's awesome that you SIL moved to the UK. I didn't really follow everything going on in Hong Kong but it doesn't sound great, thats for sure. Hopefully your family enjoys their new time in Europe.
The Hobbit style brunch looks cool and the last restaurant as well. I like the philosophy of nothing going to waste
It's the first time I've been to both these restaurant and luckily they turned out to be good. Didn't want to give SIL a bad impression of her new home city!
Yeah picking restaurants can be a real challenge. I leave that up to my wife. She does a better job at it than I do. Glad the experience was good for you guys.
It's been a really fun trip, I'm amazed by the places you've been, and it's all so amazing.
Thanks
Wishing a successful new start for your sister in law and her family. It's not always easy to start in another place, but with motivation and this relief they will hopefully do great here!
The suspension bridge looks stunning! {One of my next destinations to visit should be UK :))}
We've been helping her to settle down so fair to say her move here has been a lot easier than 99% of the 130000 people who have no connections in UK
Hopefully when you come to UK, you will have time to visit a few places outside of London, this part of the world is a nice option 😉
That is great for her, that you could help to settle down 👍
It means a lot in a new chapter of life!
Love Bristol !, think the restaurant needs to buy bigger plates, or serve smaller fish 😂
If they use bigger plates the fish would seem so small wouldn't it?!! 😉
😂 good point well made, but where are the chips and mushy peas???
It is a good thing they were able to escape that kind of bad atmosphere. Also, you showing them around these breath-taking places is quite wonderful of you. These edifice all have their respective and unique characteristics... Historic, elegant, etc..
It's also gives me an excuse to visit these places when I have visitors, otherwise there isn't really a reason to go myself even though they're very beautiful
We've got family in Bristol. I've never been myself, but looks like I should plan a trip. Hope, we can get there by train, but it can be a bit of a gamble in the UK.
All the best to your sister-in-law and a happy start in her new life!
Trains are a bit hit and miss nowadays unfortunately. Next weekend would be a good time to come as they Bristol Balloon Fiesta is on, it's the biggest balloon festival in Europe. However there's a train strike on Saturday 😖
Oh, that sounds very cool indeed!
I'll have a think about it.. 👍
Oh, yes, those dreaded train strikes.. 🤨
Great to hear that your family have moved. And Bristol is a great city - we used to live just north of it, so used to know it well !
Thats a far way away from Edinburgh! Whereabouts were you before?
Great photos and best wishes to them on their new life. How terribly sad that people have to leave their homes though to find a place to live in safety and relative freedom.
Thanks Nathan. Yeah, it's sad that people have to leave their home. Of course it's nothing like how the Ukrainians have had to fled, but still very suffocating especially for those who have young kids, and parents see them slowly bring brainwashed at school but can't do anything about it.
No, its not the same as running from bombs but its still having to leave your home and away from mental torture which although not as directly scary, is possibly more dangerous in the long term.
Impressive bridge there! Your further up photos turned out very well. And the food in the Spainish restaurant looks really appetising.
Best wishes to your SIL and family! Luckily you're helping them, I guess it's relatively easier for them comparing to earlier immigrants like your parents' generation.
Yeah,my parents didn't know a word of English back then so it was all work work work for them. Luckily the hard work paid off for them
Nowadays, there's a lot of information on the internet. I actually did quite a lot of videos about living in UK, 18 months ago when all this started. But now there's a lot of wannabe YouTubers who suddenly become experts at living in UK just because they've been here for two months. It's quite hilarious sometimes when I see their videos, that's why I've stopped making any now 🙃
Hello, what a relief for them and for you too that they have been able to move. I hope they adapt to their new place quickly.
And that view of the bridge is absolutely amazing. Lucky you didn't get a parking space nearby. It was worth it.
Enjoy the rest of the Sunday, and have a happy week :)
It's particularly nice for my husband as he has his own family here now, previously it was just family members from my side.
I imagine it must be a great joy for him to have his sister around, especially if they hadn't seen each other for so long.
Have a nice day :)
I'm happy to hear that your sister in law managed to move to UK as well and that you are safe there. Seems like you took the best of this opportunity to see more places while showing her the surroundings, however we have a similar place following the Hobbit architecture but which doesn't have a functional restaurant yet, but only the castle that works as a guest house. I'm sure you would love it if you ever make it to Romania :)
That sounds interesting. I saw someone post about some Hobbit like buildings previously that was available to rent out to stay, I can't remember if it was on Romania or not, it might have been...
The good thing about curating for Pinmapple is that I see all these awesome places around the world all the time!!
Hi Pauline, What a great little tour of Bristol. And you say you are not a photographer. That bridge shot and then the angle with the lights in the cathedral. Great. Glad your family is with you now.
Wow, thanks for your lovely comment Sara!!
I'm definitely on the way to Amsterdam now!! Can't wait to meet you!
I know it is going to be great to meet you in person! We'll get to go see art together in real life! I do have good memories wandering around the NFT gallery together.
Glad to hear that your family made it to you and the safety of the UK! I know the situation in Hong Kong is getting really disturbing. I hope they are staying and not just visiting. You showed them around some amazing places, I´m sure they love it over there :)
Thanks Petr. Yes, they're staying for good now, or at least until things revert back to normal in Hong Kong, which is not going to happen. The chances of Ukraine returning to normality is much bigger
So sad to hear about how things are in Hong Kong but really glad to know that your family is in safety with you. I hope the transition will be smooth and quick for them.
Congratulations @livinguktaiwan! You received a personal badge!
Wait until the end of Power Up Day to find out the size of your Power-Bee.
May the Hive Power be with you!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
I hope your sister in law and family are very happy here in the U.K.
Annabelle 😊
Thanks Annabelle, hope all is well with you guys
It's been a bit hectic @livinguktaiwan - Covid turned into Long Covid!
Not been to Brizzle for years. Must go back. It’s just along the M4 from us, 45 minutes away. Lastly Hong Kong, why did we hand over the keys and let it fall? We are, our government rather have long been idiots. Some of our neighbours I think are some of those relocated people. Hope to get to know them a bit better but they keep themselves to themselves.