Weekend Away: Cardiff

Monday morning, another little sleep in. We got ready, checked out of the hotel, left our bags behind, and headed back to the bay. This time, past the Millennium Centre, all the way to the Doctor Who Experience!

 

 

It starts with an interactive adventure, which I actually really enjoyed, even though I wasn't a kid. I got to help fly the TARDIS! Although after we got the crystal from the Daleks, I was the last out of the room, and I didn't close the door! I may have been responsible for all of us turning into androids...

 

 

After the experience, there was a really cool exhibition with loads of aliens and costumes. I even patted K9!

 

After the exhibition we decided that because the weather wasn't great, that we'd head home early. Well, that was a drama. I paid extra to switch to an earlier train, which then arrived late. It got held along the way, and was so packed people were standing in the aisle. Luckily I got a seat, but by the time we arrived at Paddington people were definitely ready to get off (more than half an hour later than scheduled). Then, there were major delays in the Bakerloo line and I had to walk the last few stops!! I was so glad to get home.

Weekend Away: Cardiff

This morning was a relatively slow start, after such an early morning yesterday I needed a little bit of a sleep in! Today el Husbando and I did our own things (ie. He went off riding his motorbike around Wales for the day), and I was left to my own devices. Once ready for the day, I went to Queen Street station to get a train to Caerphilly for the day... Only to realise that the next train was an hour and a half away! Turns out there aren't that many trains to Caerphilly.

 

So I went back to wander the lanes for a little while before returning to the station. Caerphilly is a lovely (if small) town. The castle is very cool, the largest in Wales and second largest in the UK. It took a good couple of hours to explore the Castle properly and read all the stories... And there were dragons too!

 

 

Then I got the train back to Queen Street. I headed to Castle Street (funnily enough, the street outside the Castle), to do a little souvenir shopping, before heading back to the hotel for a rest. I found myself walking past a place called Science Cream, so I had to get myself some liquid nitrogen ice cream! Brown sugar and cinnamon flavour, with toasted marshmallow on the side... Delicious.

 

Once el Husbando returned, we got dressed up ready for dinner. Tonight, we headed into the city rather than to the bay, and we noticed the difference. The city was more... Busy, but also more run down, more drunk people and things. Anyway, we found a lovely pub for a drink (I drink gin and tonic now) and a delicious meal (chip shop platter). Then, more ice-cream for the walk home, followed by another drink at the hotel bar. Now, time for bed.

 

 

Weekend Away: Cardiff

It's another bank holiday weekend! This weekend, we've escaped to Wales, to spend the weekend in Cardiff. I've visited once before, on my gap year, and have fond memories of my last visit.

It was a very early start - I was up at 5:30, headed to Paddington station for the 7am train to Swansea. The journey was very uneventful, in that I dozed until the train stopped at a station, then jolted awake thinking it was my stop, before dozing off again. Every time.

I arrived at about 10am, dropped off my luggage at the hotel, then wandered to the city to explore a bit. I walked around the outside of the Castle, but didn't go in because I needed to get back to the hotel to meet el Husbando, who had left London the same time as me but rode his motorbike.

 

We headed back to the city, found a pub for lunch (delicious fish sandwich), then went into Cardiff Castle! We checked out all the filming lessons from the Castle (including Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock), and the rest besides. It was a little windy, but it had stopped raining, so that was a definite improvement.

 

After the Castle, we really just meandered out way back to the hotel, both ready for a rest. On the way, we picked up some Welsh cakes (basically, scones cooked on a griddle), which were yummy. Tasted exactly how they sound.

 

We went to the Bay for dinner, ended up at an Italian place near the water. Then, a quick walk along the water, visiting Ianto's shrine. Still quite an emotional place! Then it was back to the hotel for bed...