Review: Bristol, a cultural gem

Bristol is so culturally rich it makes Bill Gates look cheap. It is embedded in its very soul. Passed down through the generations. Our ever lasting ingenuity, ambition and vision can be traced back to ancestors such as the legendary Isambard Kingdom Brunel who has not only shaped Bristol's culture but the whole structure of Britain. Explaining why he was rated the 2nd Greatest Britain by a BBC poll. But Bristol's innovation doesn't end with Brunel's first tunnel under a navigable river, first propeller driven ocean crossing ship or his part in laying the first transatlantic telegraph cable. No, Bristol was the first to have a dedicated media centre: the Watershed, the first UK city for Atlantic expeditions leading to John Cabot discovering America and the first to create new music genres such as "trip hop" known as "Bristol Sound".

Bristol and culture go hand in hand as you can see when strolling around town. Everywhere you look old is combined with new seamlessly, from the architecture to the art. Where else in the world could a graffiti artist take over a well respected museum and incorporate their own style with the others? Where else could old factories and industrial warehouses provide the setting for cutting edge drama and performance art? Where else could Victorian and neo-gothic buildings neighbour the stylish shops? It's not long till the Bristol's bountiful culture is reimbursed with the reopening of the old industrial museum as a new "museum of Bristol" in 2011.

There are 34 other places on earth named Bristol most likely in celebration of this amazing place, but for me it's the people that make this city great and 2006's happiest place 2 live in UK. Talking with two different people, one might boast about the perpetual diversity of history? Whereas the other might tell you about Bristol's dutty music scene, underground culture and art. 

By Joey