Have you ever been to Bristol?

Have you ever been to Bristol before?

Bristol is a great city to live in but have every been to Bristol? Wait you say! We live in Bristol. Ah! But there are over 29 different Bristol’s in the world, all with similar traits to our great city.

Bristol, Tennesse

Bristol sits in Sullivan County, Tennessee with a population of 26,702 and is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia. This Bristol apparently lies just across the stateline. But lets’s forget that Bristol and talk about this one for now.

It is most famous for music.– even more than our Bristol. But not Massive Attack, Tricky or Portishead. Think more along the lines of Hank Williams and Dolly Parton. The US Congress itself recognised Bristol as the 'Birthplace of Country Music' in 1998. With the likes of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers first recording there.

For those that know anything about country music Joan Carter was married to Johnny Cash. If you don’t know Johnny Cash, stop reading and do something else.

Bristol, Rhode Island

This Bristol is in Rhode Island. This is where all the leaves go all nice and brown in the Autumn that you see in films. The surrounding area is where some of the first ever settlers that ever came to United States were based. And this Bristol is famous for one thing. Where we go on about having the largest street art festival in Europe, Upfest, They have the oldest continuous independence day celebrations in the whole of the United States. It started in July 1777. That’s seriously old school. But not as old school as the Native American Indians who had a few of their own before hand.

There is a huge Portuguese population that like watching football, real football that we like. So you can catch a game if you ever visit. The most famous person there is Antony Quin who won a best supporting actor Oscar in 1952 and 1956. No I haven’t heard of him either, but apparently he is better than our own Joe Sims off Broadchurch.

Bristol, Canada

There's a placed called Bristol in New Brunswick. It’s merged with a placed called Florenceville now, so some call it Florenceville-Bristol. Bristol is in the part of Canada where it snows a lot. Which is pretty much all of Canada isn’t it?

Now we Bristonians like to think of ourselves as quite up there in a culinary way, with lots of nice coffee shops and restaurants. Well this Bristol blows us out of the water. It’s where the best chips in the world come from. Yes it’s the home of McCain Foods, who make McCain oven chips.

Bristol, Barbados

Have you heard the advert on the telly? ‘McCain oven chips really taste great, gone in a flash on your plate mate. Chips are a banga to date mate. 40% less fat.” Great song. Great chips. They do thick ones, thin ones, anything. The town salutes its finest achievement by, yes! Your reading it correctly a having a potato museum.

The main attraction to the town sits just outside, where a giant 300 ft replica of the biblical Noah’s Ark can be found. In a potato field.

Bristol, Costa Rica

Bristol on the Caribbean coast in Central America is a bit different than ours though. The center is bit more sparse than our Cabot Circus. For many it could lacks shops, for others it could be seen as a breath of fresh air. There are lots of trees and a nice river of which people use boats a lot, and there is a real range of different fruits available.

If your an adrenalin junkie, then this place is probably not for you, but they do have white water rafting. The best thing about this Bristol is that the airport isn’t too far away. In fact its only about 20 miles away from Limón Airport. So you could fly somewhere else that may be better.

Bristol, Peru

This Bristol is in Peru. Yes in the depths of Peru you will find a place called Bristol. And they actually have a football team. Because this Bristol is far into the Amazon. It only has a population of about 285 people. The village sits in Lorenzo, along the River Maranon in the Amazon. Ideal if you like canoeing or fishing. But in many ways it’s better than our Bristol. The people are isolated but happy away from civilisation. But apparently they have a statue of Ian Holloway by the river bank.

Bristol, Barbados

Last, but not least, is Bristol in Barbados. Or to be accurate Little Bristol. Or to be even more politically correct Speightstown.

This Bristol was one of the first settlements in the country dating back to 1630. It was one of the first major port and commercial parts of Barbados during the Transatlantic Slave trade. Ships laden with sugar and other commodities were bound for London and guess where else? Bristol England.

On a lighter note the beaches are lovely in Barbados, trust me they are better than Weston Super Mare and Severn Beach .