Helen and I decided some time ago that it was rather ridiculous we hadn't visited Cardiff recently (or in my case, at all). It is after all the capital of Wales so we figured it deserved a visit.
We also just wanted a girls' weekend away for peaceful gossip.
Anyway, we were blessed with a beautiful journey down by train (passing through Chepstow and along the river). We stayed at the Barcelo Cardiff Angel Hotel
... and thanks to H's superb skills in hotel booking we got a great deal that gave us dinner as well for 50p extra each -- that's 25p per two course meal. It was yummy.
Here are some shots of the visit:
Cardiff Memorial - we started Saturday by taking a good walk from the hotel past Cardiff Castle and up to the University and old Assembly Building district.
Deciding that a walk to Cardiff Bay from the city centre was a bit much (especially as we expected to be on our feet all day) we hopped on a bus down to the bay. And Glorious Sun came out!
It's hard not to think of this area AS Torchwood, especially as the buildings are so iconic...
As you can tell, I can't resist an arty photograph:
The closer you get to the edge of the bay, the more odd the juxtapositions: for example, this is the old Pier Building, a surviving relic of the area's former life...
And this is the new Welsh Assembly building.
Being a bit dippy, I was convinced we wouldn't be allowed in the building, but Helen persisted in her belief there were people inside and approached the doors. It is an incredible building and I will hopefully add some pics from H later on (she took some crackers of the inner chamber).
We really enjoyed being out and about and the weather was fabulous (even if cold).
And as we killed a couple of hours in the area, we were able to come out and catch the view of the Roald Dahl Plass by night...
Next day, we dreaded rain but thankfully it was bright if clouding over gradually as we left. We strolled round the corner from the hotel and walked down past the Riverside Market (did I see Julie Gardner there? Not sure...) and past the Millenium Stadium. Of course, as the stadium commemorates all manner of sporting nations, I could not resist photographing New Zealand:
We ended our visit with a walk past Cardiff Castle: it's a real jumble of gothic styles with a Victorian vision.
And so endeth the visit!
