Jess and I a few weeks ago decided to book a midweek getaway to Cardiff. Why? Well many reasons. We like leeks and Tom Jones and Los Campesinos! and Torchwood and Doctor Who and funny accents... so really there was no way Cardiff could disappoint. Boy oh boy.
We arrived obscenely early on Tuesday morning and wanted to nap but we couldn't check in to our hostel til 2 so we went straight to Cardiff Bay.
Jess looking like a tourist.
Cardiff Bay is home to the Torchwood institute and the Doctor Who museum. Hysteria was certainly heightened by sleep deprivation.
Tried and failed to get into the HQ. It was SO AWESOME. I rang Beth while I was there, rather giddy, and gushed about how cool it all was. We are mental.
Pretty.
Then we had lunch at the Bay and as we left, it occurred to me that maybe if went down and walked along the docks we might come across the visitors entrance to Torchwood... and woah holy moly! This is what we came across!
Its a memorial to Ianto! Right where the visitors entrance is filmed. AMAZING. All these crazy fans from all over the world have written messages and left them there for Ianto. This city rules.
Couldn't resist. Poor Ianto. Best discovery of the day.
To the left of the memorial is this:
The restaurant used in the first season when that Slytheen tries to blow up Cardiff and she has her last meal with the Doctor. Woohoooo. So many fun Dr Who sites!
Aaaaand
Wooohoooo! We were such mental children that day. Lovely.
Best purchase of the trip. A Doctor each! Woooohooo!
All that excitement had left us rather weary so we hung out at the hostel for the evening. Such a lovely hostel. The owner Charlie made us cookies and hot chocolate!
Day Two: a trip to Cardiff Castle. It is a mega cool castle. It seems straight out of a fairy tale. This structure is a Norman keep. Very very old.
The lily pads in the moat were particularly fairytale.
You can climb up! A lovely view at the top.
The buildings in the background were lived in right up until the 1947 when it was gifted to Cardiff City. In the Victorian era it was owned by the richest man in Europe and then some other very rich dude - consequently it looked like a treasure chest threw up on it.
This Arabian gold leaf ceiling is worth £8 million and the whole room - which was only the size of a bathroom was worth £15million. Yeeesh. And the room was only used for sitting in occasionaly. Excessive much? All of it was so over the top. We had no idea such ridiculousness existed inside those walls.
Jess Pearce - wildlife photography extrordinare.
At the Castle one of the tour guides spoke to us in Welsh. It was so exciting! All the street signs in Wales are in English and Welsh. According to a brochure I read about 20% of Welsh people are fluent in Welsh. Interesting.
Cardiff has all these cool aracdes in the city centre with shops and cafes.
I liked Cardiff a lot. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful. It was really relaxed too. Lovely lovely. We spent the afternoon wandering and shopping and hanging out. Then we went back to the hostel and watched Iron Man. Awesome.
Only one week and 2 days left in Glasgow. Freaky! Lots to do before the big adventure. Going to see the Temper Trap tonight! Yay!
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