Adventures in Cardiff

[music_coaster2010]

Ignore the rambly bits and look at the piccies:


by bandgeek05

If you are still with me,

*Whew* It's finally Saturday. It's a nice looking day out in Cardiff. We started off with breakfast, I had the bacon sandwich and some fruit again and Laurie had the Boiled Eggs and Soldiers. We couldn't crack the shells. I'm sure if anyone else would have seen us trying to pull the shells off they would have been laughing at us hysterically.

But then some random girl who had been there alone before comes in with a guy. We figure by process of elimination, since it's Laurie and I in one room and those two in another, and blackbird_song and her hubby are upstairs, that these to random people were the ones that enjoyed themselves a lot last night.

blackbird_song and her hubby came down not too long after that and asked if they were being too loud talking. We assured them that it wasn't them that was the issue, lol.

We then went our separate ways for the day. Laurie and I headed out to Queen Street to try and find this larger WHSmith, and hope that they have some more Doctor Who books, and possibly the expanded Writers Tale.

We get there, and we see this:



They are street performers. Instantly I thought they looked like cybermen. But they were awesome.



Then there was this one:



When I put money into his bucket he grabbed my hand and pretended to give it a kiss and then twirled me around.

A picture of Queen Street:



And look there is the WHSmith in the picture! We found it. They had Doctor Who books, so we bought them, but no Writers Tale. Then a couple stores down was HMV, I bought Hamlet and DW Series 3. Cause I'm shallow and I wanted the Doctor and the Master on the Cover. So I epically failed on getting anything that was on my buying list because they just didn't have it. You would think Cardiff would have had more stuff, but I was wrong.

Walking along we looked up a road and look at what we found on our own. The Theatre!





We met some nice German lady who's been following John's career for years. We stood and talked and then she told us to go in and pick up our tickets for Sunday to save us some time and hassle on Sunday. Good thing we did because they had to reprint our tickets. (Guess that's what happens when you know they've probably been printed and sitting there for like a year, lol.)



Some cool houses/buildings near the Theatre



The National Museum of Cardiff:



(ie, another Doctor Who filming location. This was used in Planet of the Dead.)

Now does the Museum look familiar?



Overall the museum is cute. Kind of geared towards kids, reminds me of the Franklin Institute in Philly. After we were done in the museum, the lovely lady working there, guided us back towards the castle, and pointed out we were just making one big loop, and that the city wasn't that hard to navigate around :)

Some pictures on our way towards the castle:









-Ok, we saw the phrase civil partnerships and thought of John and Scott. Yes, I'm a dork. Moving on.





See we made it back to the Castle:



Since the weather so wonderful, the bus back to the B&B was EXTREMELY crowded. We decided to drop off our stuff before we grabbed a small bite to eat, before dinner and bowling.

We got off at the church on the 9a route and the church was gorgeous:



The road in front of the church was used in the episode as well:



(Used in Doctor Who, Series 1, Episode 8, "Father's Day")

Luckily we did head back to the B&B, we were just getting ready to walk out the door and in walks shamazipan and Debs. I think we squeed and huged and all that. We let them get settled in for a couple minutes and Debs suggested a quick bite at the McDonalds.

While waiting for Shar and Debs to come down, I had some fun with Max, trying to take his picture. Just like every other dog, he knows exactly when I'm going to click the camera and purposefully looks away. I swear it has to be the doggie 6th sense.





At McDonalds shamazipan gets a happy meal. Here she is playing with her new toy. It was cute, but it was a bit quiet for a Happy Meal toy. Oh well we had fun with it. After food, we went into the pet store, and looked around, and then went into Boots. (A pharmacy type chain, like a CVS or Walgreens here in the US). (Also remember Boots don't sell boots...(don't ask, you had to be at the panto)).



Back at the B&B, we have some time to chill before a taxi comes to pick us up to take us to dinner. So of course I take a picture of my tickets for tomorrow.



We get the taxi to TigerTiger, and Debs had done the online booking form, but that's really not a booking form, it's an enquiry form. So there were no tables. They told us if we can eat in an hour, we can have a table. We got our food on and ate within the hour. Just because we're awesome like that.

Laurie decides that since she's in Wales, she needs to get a pint of Cider because we've heard Shar talk about it.



Shar and Debs



Pic from shamazipan



It says Utopia on it. We all giggled a lot. Because we were in TigerTiger, where bar scenes for Torchwood and Doctor Who have been filmed, and the utensils say Utopia.

Another artistic photo from shamazipan



The pretty flower that was on our table.

Laurie's almost finished her pint:



And look now she's done!



Group shot:



Outside of TigerTiger:



We decided to walk down to the bay to you know "burn off those calories" or the fact we just didn't want to pay for a taxi, or find where there was bus stand that went to the bay. We were walking along, and even though we did go down the wrong way, the walk really wasn't as bad as we were anticipating. Along the way, we came across a statue and Shar dared one of us to do something.

Pic from shamazipan



So by the time we got to the bay we headed down to the Red Dragon Centre because we had to use the rest room. But we were too early to sign in for bowling. So we headed down to the bay.



Group shot at the water tower.

Water Tower at night:



The Plass at night:



You know how earlier I stated my one picture of the Millennium Centre was my second favorite picture? Well this one is my favorite:



Random Shoes...



One of the funny pictures on the Tourist Entrance:



Outside the tourist entrance:



Shar being sad:



I like this shot:



And while we were walking along heading back to the bowling alley, Shar wanted us to scream "Doctor" A la Jack in Utopia. After some persuasion, we obliged. Though I definitely win on the effort fact :D (pictures from shamazipan)






In the background there, talking with Shar is Gabriel, who is doing the Casmir Effect. He and Lydia are awesome people.



Our lanes:



part of team 1:



My alcoholic beverage that I was not carded for:



Me bowling (and we will ignore the fact that I look absolutely hideous):



No words for Harrie:



They are supposed to help you be a better bowler:





Debs:



Suzy:



Defeated:



Team 1's scores (it should be noted they had bumpers on their lanes):



Team 2's scores:



After we finished bowling, most of team 1 left to go wander around the bay. Team 2 talked to Gabriel and Lydia, and a couple other people for a while. While there, we bought some Casmir Effect merch. Which was wonderful, cause then I didn't have to pay for shipping, lol.

Most of team 1 was long gone by the time we left the bowling alley, so we decided to head to The Waterguard. (ie, the place that was used as Jack's house on Boshane in Adam, and no piccies cause it was dark). We had good discussions about movies and books. I fear I was a bit quiet as I hadn't seen or read anything that was discussed. Oh well.

We then got another taxi to the B&B, and crashed for the night.

The next installment: PANTO DAY!!!!