Cardiff

-- pictures from Cardiff (normal) --
-- pictures from Cardiff (exceedingly geeky) --

Another weekend, another adventure -- this time in Wales. One of the first things we (me and Beth) did was to go to the Cardiff castle, which basically has everything you would want from a castle plus an extremely dramatic intro video. The rooms were lavishly decorated, the keep was ancient and awesome, and it was generally much better than the Nottingham castle. We explored the neighboring park, the city hall area with its winter ice rink, the waterfront, and pretty much all the major attractions.

Saturday I had to make a slight detour on my own... a bit of a science fiction pilgrimage. Cardiff is the home of Doctor Who, which is the British classic scifi. Step one was the Doctor Who Exhibit: home to costumes and monsters from the new seasons of the show. Step two was to buy myself a tiny TARDIS (time machine in the shape of a blue British police box). Step three was lingering around the Millennium Centre and some of the nearby buildings, which have all been filming locations. Step four was to take silly photos with my new toy (I only took one so far, but more will come).

That night, the Christmas tree by the waterfront was being lit for the first time, so there was a bit of a festival to go along with that. We hung out in the area, got some take-away fish and chips, and rather leisurely concluded our time in Wales.

Other highlights of the weekend include helping a new acquaintance from Iowa braid red dreadlocks into her hair for the Wales versus Canada rugby game, watching Meet Joe Black and Zoolander, and enjoying the delicious granola that came with our hostel breakfast.