Day in Cardiff
We started our day with a walk to the Cardiff Bay. Immediately upon arrival we basked in the beauty of the day and the well-known public spaces.
But, nice as the Millennium Center is, we had another goal in mind this morning...
And all signs were good we would achieve our goal...
OH. YES. PLEASE.
Honestly, I don't even think I need words. The only words I need say here are: These are all original props used in the show.
And that exhibition was just the "so much more" they tacked on as something to do after the Doctor Who Experience. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the Experience but rest assured it was SOOPER DOOPER FUN and I smiled and giggled the whole time like a grinning idiot. I may have not been the only one in my party doing same.
Honestly if I'd gone straight back to the hotel room after that and spent the rest of the day lying about and reading I would have been utterly satisfied with my day in Cardiff. Dear lord I'm a dork. But it wasn't. We had a leisurely lunch at a brasserie, then a quick bus ride back to city center to check out the castle. Except we didn't. We walked in and thought about getting tickets but the £12 they wanted for them after all the ones we'd seen over the last week for about £3 each just kind of took it out of us. Our interest, I mean. I snapped a pick at the entrance gate but having already seen so many amazing castles I couldn't muster the will to go into Cardiff Castle. Strangely, this is the second time I've been to Cardiff and this is the second time I've declined to visit their castle. I dunno, it's just not doin' it for me.
Instead we ambled on to the Cardiff Market, a market that's been in business since the 1700s.
The Castle Quarter is rife with arcades and shopping markets so we amused ourselves with some browsing. I needed some reading material for the flight home and Cardiff had exactly what I wanted (and many more books I couldn't justify carrying around but took pictures of so I remember I wanted to buy them when I get home). I know, I know, we're going to Hay-on-Wye tomorrow so I ought to have waited, but there was a specific book in a series I needed to get and I didn't want to leave it to the vagaries of the secondhand trade.
We then retired to our room for an afternoon rest and early evening picnic. I've learned over the years that I actually don't enjoy eating in restaurants all that often, which is not a problem when we're staying in hostels but I also have a diminishing tolerance for drunken Australians the older I get, so hostels are no longer my go-to accommodation option when I travel internationally. So we do a lot of shopping in local grocery stores and having picnics. One of our favorite ways to dine, actually.
Around 7:30 we headed out for an early evening stroll around the castle and through Bute Park. That's where we came across this pretty boy.
But, nice as the Millennium Center is, we had another goal in mind this morning...
And all signs were good we would achieve our goal...
OH. YES. PLEASE.
Honestly, I don't even think I need words. The only words I need say here are: These are all original props used in the show.
And that exhibition was just the "so much more" they tacked on as something to do after the Doctor Who Experience. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the Experience but rest assured it was SOOPER DOOPER FUN and I smiled and giggled the whole time like a grinning idiot. I may have not been the only one in my party doing same.
Honestly if I'd gone straight back to the hotel room after that and spent the rest of the day lying about and reading I would have been utterly satisfied with my day in Cardiff. Dear lord I'm a dork. But it wasn't. We had a leisurely lunch at a brasserie, then a quick bus ride back to city center to check out the castle. Except we didn't. We walked in and thought about getting tickets but the £12 they wanted for them after all the ones we'd seen over the last week for about £3 each just kind of took it out of us. Our interest, I mean. I snapped a pick at the entrance gate but having already seen so many amazing castles I couldn't muster the will to go into Cardiff Castle. Strangely, this is the second time I've been to Cardiff and this is the second time I've declined to visit their castle. I dunno, it's just not doin' it for me.
Instead we ambled on to the Cardiff Market, a market that's been in business since the 1700s.
The Castle Quarter is rife with arcades and shopping markets so we amused ourselves with some browsing. I needed some reading material for the flight home and Cardiff had exactly what I wanted (and many more books I couldn't justify carrying around but took pictures of so I remember I wanted to buy them when I get home). I know, I know, we're going to Hay-on-Wye tomorrow so I ought to have waited, but there was a specific book in a series I needed to get and I didn't want to leave it to the vagaries of the secondhand trade.
We then retired to our room for an afternoon rest and early evening picnic. I've learned over the years that I actually don't enjoy eating in restaurants all that often, which is not a problem when we're staying in hostels but I also have a diminishing tolerance for drunken Australians the older I get, so hostels are no longer my go-to accommodation option when I travel internationally. So we do a lot of shopping in local grocery stores and having picnics. One of our favorite ways to dine, actually.
Around 7:30 we headed out for an early evening stroll around the castle and through Bute Park. That's where we came across this pretty boy.