Hearken to me, lords and ladies!

If you crave adventure, I'll take you on a journey to a land of knights and chivalry, acrobats, magicians and fantastical creatures.

Come with me, if you will, to the land of Bristol.


Already the air is thick with a festive mood as we wait outside the walls for the gates to open.

 

 

The Queen welcomes us all to the 25th anniversary of this fair, and streamers explode into the air as the gates open.  Once through the gates, people spread out to begin their day.  Careful observers will notice things are just a bit different in Bristol.  Look up into that tree, for example...

 

 Or over there, on that railing...

There are numerous shops one can wander into, with a wide variety of wares.  Perhaps the lady fancies a new gown?

Or maybe the young sir desires a new suit of leather armor.

  

 

For those of a more scholarly bent, there are plenty of bookstores to while away your time in.

As we meander through the village, we pass one of the many artists hard at work capturing images of the day.  Working purely in chalk, she is creating a larger-than-life portrait of Her Majesty's late father, King Henry VIII.  We'll stop back later in the day to see how she's progressed.

 

Now, however, we're off to the jousting field to watch the brave knights display their skills on horseback. 

After each of the four knights is introduced to the crowd, they take turns tilting at a quintain, which is a wooden target that features a shield in the center.  The object is to strike such a blow to the shield with their lance that they tip the quintain over.  If it falls over completely, that knight gets a point, and weights are added to the bottom of the quintain to make it more difficult to knock over.

The next skill is charging down the field to attempt catching a ring on their lance; the ring is held aloft by their squire, who must have nerves of steel and a steady hand!

But the knights soon tire of these "games" and insist that they be allowed to joust.  Here the object is quite simple, although some would say barbaric - charge directly at your opponent and strike him from his horse, while avoiding his attempt to do the same to you!

The knights will return later in the afternoon to joust in front of Her Majesty, but for now they retire to catch their breath, tend to their bruises (the egos get the worst beating) and take care of their mounts.  And we are also off to take in more of the fair.

As we near Trader's Cove we hear a haunting sound.  Ladies, take hold of your men!  Men, stop up your ears!  For that plaintive call you hear is the Sirens, who hope to lure you under the waves to keep them company in their cold, dark domain under the sea!  You hear them long before you see them, and when you see them it's too late - they have you under their spell.

After an indeterminable amount of time, we manage to break loose of the enchantment, although it feels as if a part of us is left behind.  Perhaps they captured a bit of our souls to take with them into the watery depths?

One must always be careful while meandering through the village; brigands and barbarians abound.

 

But here comes the Royal parade!  With gallant knights and the Queen's pikemen around, any troublemakers will think twice about stirring up mischief.

 

And there she is!  Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth!  Your Majesty!  Over here!

 

Do you think she heard me?

Perhaps not.  She's on her way to her noontime meal, and we're off to watch an acrobat who walks a tightrope and juggles fire.

It's getting late in the day, now.  Let's wend our way back to see how that chalk artist is doing.

Oh, my.  It's been four hours, and she's nearly done.  Quite impressive work.  It does rather look like His Highness, doesn't it?

I hope the Queen gets a chance to see this; I'm sure she'll be touched.

But we're nearing the end of our visit, now.  Just one more curiosity to see, and that's the elephant.  Are you brave enough to climb aboard that broad back and take a ride?

The great beast waves to the crowd, and we bid farewell to the fair at Bristol.  We'll be back next year, though, to enjoy the unique sights and sounds of the Renaissance.