We've started using Google Maps offline, and 'My Maps' features when we plan our trips to pick out places to go. It's really helpful because we can see them offline on our phones and navigate much more easily. I've included Cardiff below, and I'll post others as we do each of the trips. If anyone wants to use some of our ideas when they travel, please help yourself.
Cardiff
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QxFuYdAck_Og8ZvKxZ6n-kasrDA&usp=sharing
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Cardiff Day 2 - Lots of History
Sorry for the delay posting the second half of our Cardiff tour update... I had school work that got in the way of my travel and blogging. How inconsiderate.
One really cool thing I wanted to add to Kristin's post from the first day. The words on the front of the Wales Millennium Centre, with the mix of Welsh and English.
As Kris posted, the Welsh reads: Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace. The English reads: In these stones, horizons sing. But when the Welsh and English are read together, it reads:
"Creating truth in these stones, like glass horizons, from inspirations furnace sing". Quite a poetic way of embracing the two different cultures and languages.
We got an early start on our second day, by heading out to a car boot sale going on near our AirBNB. This is essentially a garage or rummage sale, but where everyone comes to one big parking lot, and opens up the boot (trunk) of their car to show off what they're selling. We figure we got there too late (about 9 am, when it started at 6 am), and, as with many garage sales, the best items were picked up early, so we struck out.
Although the bag of mini-donuts we bought while walking around were very good, they didn't do enough to count as a breakfast, so we found a little breakfast restaurant, called The Pot, to fuel up for the rest of the day. I had 'the Full Welsh' breakfast, which included black pudding. My first time trying this British specialty, which is a pork and oatmeal sausage that has the pork blood added to the mix. I guess it was a way of not wasting anything. Honestly, I'm undecided on them.
After breakfast we went back to the main square where the Christmas market was the night before to check if we'd missed any of the shops and stalls the previous night. It's a really enjoyable atmosphere to walk around with a hot coffee (or mulled wine, but maybe not at 10 AM), and poke into all the different booths.
Once we'd had our fill there, we made our way up to St. Fagans National History Museum. In order to preserve some of the rich history of Wales, they have set up a museum where old buildings of historical importance can be relocated and used as a life sized exhibit. In some cases, where the building is made up of irregularly shaped 'bricks' the building will be dismantled and each brick, each fitting, every stone and beam numbered, so that it can be reassembled when it arrives. We wandered through some homes that were hundreds of years old, and whose history has been documented throughout that time.
They have some great examples of trade workshops like an operating grain mill, and a blacksmiths forge. I personally liked the blacksmiths forge. Really felt a connection there.
In some cases, they have to recreate elements of the design from nothing more than grainy photos that were taken to showcase something completely different. The stained glass windows in the photo below were reconstructed from a photo of a group of members standing in front of the building with the doors open, and the memories of a caretaker long since retired. I forget where the pattern for the tiles was discovered, but they were personally cast for this restoration. Really amazing to see how much detail and pride that the museum staff put into their work.
We stayed longer than we'd intended at St Fagans, and ended up missing the last tour of Castell Coch, a fairytale like castle, which was the 'summer home' of John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who is also responsible for many of the most "recent" updates to the Cardiff Castle.
As we were heading that way on our way back to Loughborough, we stopped in anyway, and walked up to the castle. Kris got a bunch of really striking photos. We'll have to go back to tell anything about the interior.
One really cool thing I wanted to add to Kristin's post from the first day. The words on the front of the Wales Millennium Centre, with the mix of Welsh and English.
As Kris posted, the Welsh reads: Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace. The English reads: In these stones, horizons sing. But when the Welsh and English are read together, it reads:
"Creating truth in these stones, like glass horizons, from inspirations furnace sing". Quite a poetic way of embracing the two different cultures and languages.
We got an early start on our second day, by heading out to a car boot sale going on near our AirBNB. This is essentially a garage or rummage sale, but where everyone comes to one big parking lot, and opens up the boot (trunk) of their car to show off what they're selling. We figure we got there too late (about 9 am, when it started at 6 am), and, as with many garage sales, the best items were picked up early, so we struck out.
Although the bag of mini-donuts we bought while walking around were very good, they didn't do enough to count as a breakfast, so we found a little breakfast restaurant, called The Pot, to fuel up for the rest of the day. I had 'the Full Welsh' breakfast, which included black pudding. My first time trying this British specialty, which is a pork and oatmeal sausage that has the pork blood added to the mix. I guess it was a way of not wasting anything. Honestly, I'm undecided on them.
 |
| My 'full Welsh Breakfast', and Kristin's Chicken bacon sandwich and French Onion Soup |
After breakfast we went back to the main square where the Christmas market was the night before to check if we'd missed any of the shops and stalls the previous night. It's a really enjoyable atmosphere to walk around with a hot coffee (or mulled wine, but maybe not at 10 AM), and poke into all the different booths.
Once we'd had our fill there, we made our way up to St. Fagans National History Museum. In order to preserve some of the rich history of Wales, they have set up a museum where old buildings of historical importance can be relocated and used as a life sized exhibit. In some cases, where the building is made up of irregularly shaped 'bricks' the building will be dismantled and each brick, each fitting, every stone and beam numbered, so that it can be reassembled when it arrives. We wandered through some homes that were hundreds of years old, and whose history has been documented throughout that time.
They have some great examples of trade workshops like an operating grain mill, and a blacksmiths forge. I personally liked the blacksmiths forge. Really felt a connection there.
 |
| This was a 'test' of the Iron Brands for the blacksmith. They would use it to mark their tools, so temporary workers couldn't steal their tools. |
In some cases, they have to recreate elements of the design from nothing more than grainy photos that were taken to showcase something completely different. The stained glass windows in the photo below were reconstructed from a photo of a group of members standing in front of the building with the doors open, and the memories of a caretaker long since retired. I forget where the pattern for the tiles was discovered, but they were personally cast for this restoration. Really amazing to see how much detail and pride that the museum staff put into their work.
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| Kris especially liked how this sign apologized for having a site prepared for a new building. |
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| A record of the tolls due to all passerbys, Fun to see how a horse cart is more expensive than a donkey cart etc. |
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| And the kitchen of a 'pre-fab' house. Popular immediately after the war, these were common houses for returning soldiers, and a way of keeping the factories running when the war effort was over. |
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| They also had shops from the era, with samples that would be found in the shop. |
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| Aaron, I thought of you for this one. |
We stayed longer than we'd intended at St Fagans, and ended up missing the last tour of Castell Coch, a fairytale like castle, which was the 'summer home' of John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who is also responsible for many of the most "recent" updates to the Cardiff Castle.
As we were heading that way on our way back to Loughborough, we stopped in anyway, and walked up to the castle. Kris got a bunch of really striking photos. We'll have to go back to tell anything about the interior.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Cardiff Part 1 (Doctor Who/Torchwood Bonanza)
Last weekend Justin and I headed over to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. We left straight from work (Justin walked to the train station, took the train down to Leicester, then walked to my clinic for closing time - unfortunately in the pouring rain!) and got there around 11pm. It's a 2.5 hour drive, but we stopped for some fish and chips and mushy peas at a service station that honestly makes OnRoutes look like whatever the 400 series highways had before OnRoutes. This service centre had two separate Starbucks, a tiny casino, a convenience store similar to a duty-free in size and offerings, and really nice seating in a mix of benches and tables. Kudos to the cleaners too - that place was spotless!
We stayed at an AirBNB in Cardiff (if you're not already doing this, you should. We've had such great experiences both hosting and travelling - message if you'd like a invite to save us both a bit of money) and had a lovely attic room all to ourselves. This kitten was not too happy that we stole her room and didn't let her sleep on our faces - she got as close as possible when we closed the door for the night!
It was a quick 20 minute walk to the waterfront on Saturday morning. We stopped by Roald Dahl Plass for some pictures as it was beautiful and sunny out (but super cold and windy!). Roald Dahl, the author of all of your favourite books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, The Witches, Matilda, etc, was born in Wales and christened at a tiny Norweigian church right on the waterfront. The Oval Basin was renamed for him in 2002. We passed through again at night, so there's a mix of waterfront pictures here! The architects who work in Wales must be really happy in their jobs as there was a LOT of unique architecture.
If you have ever watched Torchwood, a Doctor Who spinoff, a lot of these pictures will look very familiar! That's because most of the main set pieces can be found by going to the centre of the Plass and slowly turning 360* - it was neat to see all of these places so close to each other. And, showing the town's awesome sense of humour, this shrine has been set up for a character on the show that passed away six years ago, and is not only still in place, but has a permanent plaque explaining the shrine to non-fans!
One of the main things I was looking forward to in Cardiff was the Doctor Who Experience! If you're a fan of the show and you're nearby, you must go. The attention to detail in the building is outstanding, and it's really neat to see people dressing up for it - there was an adorable little boy in the cafe dressed as Eleven in a bow tie, blue button-down and red fez! The experience starts with a multimedia tour which I won't spoil here, then you're let into a two-storey museum full of costumes, props, and sets from the show! Warning - lots of pictures ahead.
That's probably enough for one night (the poor blog is pouring out metaphorical smoke trying to keep up with the uploads) so I'll let Justin handle the rest of the trip!
Just in case anyone is worried - we had planned to go to Brussels this coming weekend. For obvious reasons, we've postponed the trip (and got full refunds, thanks to reasonable and helpful people) and will look forward to visiting Belgium in the future.
We stayed at an AirBNB in Cardiff (if you're not already doing this, you should. We've had such great experiences both hosting and travelling - message if you'd like a invite to save us both a bit of money) and had a lovely attic room all to ourselves. This kitten was not too happy that we stole her room and didn't let her sleep on our faces - she got as close as possible when we closed the door for the night!
It was a quick 20 minute walk to the waterfront on Saturday morning. We stopped by Roald Dahl Plass for some pictures as it was beautiful and sunny out (but super cold and windy!). Roald Dahl, the author of all of your favourite books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, The Witches, Matilda, etc, was born in Wales and christened at a tiny Norweigian church right on the waterfront. The Oval Basin was renamed for him in 2002. We passed through again at night, so there's a mix of waterfront pictures here! The architects who work in Wales must be really happy in their jobs as there was a LOT of unique architecture.
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| The beautiful Millenium Centre (concert hall, theatre). The left side is Welsh: Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace (boggling to try and understand Welsh, by the way - completely different alphabet) and the right is in English (In these stones, horizons sing). The centre is a really great symbol of Welsh identity - all of the components from the slate and metal to the workmen and designers are local. |
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| This is the Norwegian church - now a cafe! |
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| Wales' National Assembly (Senate) looking onto Cardiff Bay |
If you have ever watched Torchwood, a Doctor Who spinoff, a lot of these pictures will look very familiar! That's because most of the main set pieces can be found by going to the centre of the Plass and slowly turning 360* - it was neat to see all of these places so close to each other. And, showing the town's awesome sense of humour, this shrine has been set up for a character on the show that passed away six years ago, and is not only still in place, but has a permanent plaque explaining the shrine to non-fans!
One of the main things I was looking forward to in Cardiff was the Doctor Who Experience! If you're a fan of the show and you're nearby, you must go. The attention to detail in the building is outstanding, and it's really neat to see people dressing up for it - there was an adorable little boy in the cafe dressed as Eleven in a bow tie, blue button-down and red fez! The experience starts with a multimedia tour which I won't spoil here, then you're let into a two-storey museum full of costumes, props, and sets from the show! Warning - lots of pictures ahead.
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| Squee! |
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| This is that Targis thing, right? (Justin was a very good sport for someone who's only watched a few episodes) |
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| All made of Lego! |
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| Don't Blink! |
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| Exterminate! |
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| Some of the old costumes clearly were not made for high definition... |
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| I did love the displays of costumes and props contrasting old and new designs! |
That's probably enough for one night (the poor blog is pouring out metaphorical smoke trying to keep up with the uploads) so I'll let Justin handle the rest of the trip!
Just in case anyone is worried - we had planned to go to Brussels this coming weekend. For obvious reasons, we've postponed the trip (and got full refunds, thanks to reasonable and helpful people) and will look forward to visiting Belgium in the future.
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