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.
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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.
1 comment:
Lenny is going to love this post once he's up!
Is the Norweigian church like a denomination over there or were there a lot of Norwegians in Wales at one time? That seems so strange.
Good call on the Belgian trip timing. I hope you're able to set up some more adventures! I love the pictures and the stories.
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