Weekend road trip - to Cardiff!
Sunday, 16 August 2009 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
byslantedlightIt's probably not really a roadtrip when you're basically just driving to somewhere, is it, but... I'm pretending, okay? And it was a long drive, cos Cardiff is in a whole different country! And the other side of this one. *g* And, while I was stuck on the M25 for over an hour I finally figured out how to plug my shiny new mp3 player into the radio-thingie so I could play my (six) mp3 songs all the way to Wales! Whoohoo! (And I'll have you know it's trickier than it sounds cos there are two leads, and only one connection on the mp3 player, and... turns out, one on the radio thingie. *g* Anyway...) So the M4 was alive to Blue Gillespie and Eels and Crash Test Dummies... over and over again while I got over that excitement...
And then... ...check immunisations, check passport......
I was in Wales! Aaaand...
Roald Dahl Plass! Just like...
Roald Dahl Plass! But without the Torchwood pterydactyl. As far as I know. (See it? *g*) But there was...
I can haz invisible lift! With invisible person! *g* (Apparently the giant strawberries are cos it's summer... and they were clearly using clever-tricksy angles in TW too, cos if I'd slid my pic further around I'd've got those other buildings instead. And if I'd had a fancier lens. *g*) Hmmn - it looks pretty at night too (and you know, with Cap'n Jack standing there... *g*) - we didn't go and see it at night. Next time... *g*
Loved the Millenium Building though - gorgeous stone, apparently from different quarries across Wales, and the inscription means "Truth is as clear as glass forged in the flames of inspiration"... See the way the roof sort of flows? The whole city felt like that to me, very organic, and flowing - the old buildings didn't, of course, but the care that was put into building them worked beautifully with the newer flow-y curved-line designs, and just... didn't feel like it was... There's art all over the city too, which made me very happy - I love it when cities do that. How come Cambridge, clever-clever city, barely does that, eh?!
(And I've just now seen writing on the fishes' tail - The Lured fish in... something! Darn - will have to go back and check!)
Anyway - I'm not doing this in a very orderly fashion, am I? Over-excited, much? So... I was guest of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
llywela_13 who showed me many gorgeous parts of Cardiff. We got into town early, and wandered through the Plass, and it was grey-clouded but not wet, and Llywela was very patient with my squeeing. *g* And just a bit further down, there was this...
The door to the Mermaid Quay Tourist Office, which is really the way into the Hub, of course... and is now memorial for Ianto! Apparently the offerings have changed sincellywela_13 took her pics of it, and... well, just...
I guess there are worse things to do than write letters to a fictional character and leave them at a tv location, right? It's a little batty, but on reflection there are definitely worse things (threatening the writers of said fictional characters, for example...)
I did like that they'd left some of the set intact too:
So, we carried on around the quay, past this gorgeous building...
...past the industrial side of the docks, which I also love to see - I hope they leave it there!
...to the statue of Captain Scott, late of the Antarctic, which stands (rather cruelly, perhaps...) in front of the Norwegian Church...
...and past the magnetic poetry wall (it looks boring in this pic perhaps, but how fun is it to actually make giant poetry in a public place?!)...
...and all the way over Cardiff Bay Barrage, past cormorants on poles and rushes of thrushes diving from one berry bush to another, and views back over the city and the hills behind...
And then the other side of the barrage - down to the Severn, and over to Flat Holm and Steep Holm Islands (the former owned by Torchwood, of course... *g*), across to England, and the most gorgeously dramatic skies above everything...
There are three locks separating the freshwater bay and the salt water inlet, and a "fish pass" for salmon to reach their breeding grounds, and keep an eye on those yellow lines you see...
...because from the single right angle on the other side of the locks...
It's more art! How cool is that! *g*
Also, as we were standing watching to see what the locks did, there was a sudden blare from a megaphone - Would the Yacht Blah-blah please leave the harbour area NOW as you can see there is another vessel waiting to enter! And we just thought hee, cos some fancy boat had been faffing around by the entrance, and what was waiting to come in was this:
A gorgeously apocalyptic Mad-Max type of vessel, which looked like it was bristling with guns and harpoons and all sorts, but which turned out to be a dredger... *g*
And then we got the boat back! Very cool it was too, and rather amusing to see the entrance to the Hub from the water, and the way people were stopping and pointing and so on! *g*
By this time it was noon-ish (I know!) so we had lunch at the Norwegian Church (I had Welsh rarebit - yummy) and I gaped a wee bit at these people walking past...
Gawd bless 'em... I could never do the matching t-shirts thing, just... so not me. And the less said about the UNIT caps the better... *g*
Now, bear in mind I just said that cos after Turkish Delight and chocolate ice cream at Cadwallader's (I'm hitting the highlights here, you notice *g*), we made our way back and into...
The Doctor Who Exhibition! *vbg*
With scary skull-things and daleks that moved
And a very scary no-headed Jack (cos he's got feet and hands, you see, just... no head...)
And d'you remember this? Ooooh... (it moved here too... *g*)
But then there was Cap'n Jack and K9 (K9!) to make you feel better again, so that was all good... *g*
Doctor Who exhibition! *g*
Walked up to town next, which was about 20 minutes away from the Bay, through real town-like places - back to the real world... *g* Although the real world town was gorgeous too - old buildings with gorgeous fronts, and hanging trees of flowers!
And heee cos those pics are all leaning away from each other! Past the last one, in similar gorgeous building, was the museum, and after coffee and feet-break we wandered sculptures by Rodin and Degas, past paintings by Manet and Cezanne, Turner and Constable, and yeay photography exhibition by Diane Arbus. I need to go to more photography exhibitions, they're my favourite kind...
And then, we took our poor tired feet back along the road to the Bay where I'd left Little Car, and we drove our happy tired selves back to Llywela's, and watched dvds all evening! (Cos it's not like our feet were going to move again, you know? *g*) I have now actually seen the first ep of Supernatural, and the first three eps of Rome - the problem with the latter being that I'm now eyeing the box set from Amazon... *headdesk* Good though! *g* SPN was fun too - gorgeous lighting and shots - and I'm not averse to watching more, although I can wait a few more paydays, you know? Did enjoy it, though.
Just... phew! And then today, we went to visit the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans, and that was ever such nice strolling for a Sunday morning...
There was one building that was very unfairly closed up, but the door would open a wee bit, and I could squeeze my camera lens around, and this is what it saw...
Cartwheels, in various stages of undress! *g* Don't you love exploring? *g*
Goodness but I go on, don't I? I was going to post this and then watch Doctor in the House, but can you believe that it's now past 11pm? It takes me so long, but then it is rather fab re-living it all, and I did really want to show off Cardiff cos it turned out to be just... really nice. Really, really. The pics don't do it justice in any way - it must be stunning on a sunny day - and it had a really good atmosphere, you know? I'd definitely like to go back some time, wander some more, maybe stroll through some of the arcades in town, which were really pretty too, just sort of... wiggle in a bit, you know? Big, big thank you tollywela_13 for putting up with me and showing me around - I had a lovely time! *g*
So I will catch up with DitH tomorrow, after work (le sigh) and now I will take my tired eyes to bed...
And then... ...check immunisations, check passport......
Roald Dahl Plass! Just like...
Roald Dahl Plass! But without the Torchwood pterydactyl. As far as I know. (See it? *g*) But there was...
I can haz invisible lift! With invisible person! *g* (Apparently the giant strawberries are cos it's summer... and they were clearly using clever-tricksy angles in TW too, cos if I'd slid my pic further around I'd've got those other buildings instead. And if I'd had a fancier lens. *g*) Hmmn - it looks pretty at night too (and you know, with Cap'n Jack standing there... *g*) - we didn't go and see it at night. Next time... *g*
Loved the Millenium Building though - gorgeous stone, apparently from different quarries across Wales, and the inscription means "Truth is as clear as glass forged in the flames of inspiration"... See the way the roof sort of flows? The whole city felt like that to me, very organic, and flowing - the old buildings didn't, of course, but the care that was put into building them worked beautifully with the newer flow-y curved-line designs, and just... didn't feel like it was... There's art all over the city too, which made me very happy - I love it when cities do that. How come Cambridge, clever-clever city, barely does that, eh?!
(And I've just now seen writing on the fishes' tail - The Lured fish in... something! Darn - will have to go back and check!)
Anyway - I'm not doing this in a very orderly fashion, am I? Over-excited, much? So... I was guest of
llywela_13 who showed me many gorgeous parts of Cardiff. We got into town early, and wandered through the Plass, and it was grey-clouded but not wet, and Llywela was very patient with my squeeing. *g* And just a bit further down, there was this... The door to the Mermaid Quay Tourist Office, which is really the way into the Hub, of course... and is now memorial for Ianto! Apparently the offerings have changed since
llywela_13 took her pics of it, and... well, just... I guess there are worse things to do than write letters to a fictional character and leave them at a tv location, right? It's a little batty, but on reflection there are definitely worse things (threatening the writers of said fictional characters, for example...)
I did like that they'd left some of the set intact too:
So, we carried on around the quay, past this gorgeous building...
...past the industrial side of the docks, which I also love to see - I hope they leave it there!
...to the statue of Captain Scott, late of the Antarctic, which stands (rather cruelly, perhaps...) in front of the Norwegian Church...
...and past the magnetic poetry wall (it looks boring in this pic perhaps, but how fun is it to actually make giant poetry in a public place?!)...
...and all the way over Cardiff Bay Barrage, past cormorants on poles and rushes of thrushes diving from one berry bush to another, and views back over the city and the hills behind...
And then the other side of the barrage - down to the Severn, and over to Flat Holm and Steep Holm Islands (the former owned by Torchwood, of course... *g*), across to England, and the most gorgeously dramatic skies above everything...
There are three locks separating the freshwater bay and the salt water inlet, and a "fish pass" for salmon to reach their breeding grounds, and keep an eye on those yellow lines you see...
...because from the single right angle on the other side of the locks...
It's more art! How cool is that! *g*
Also, as we were standing watching to see what the locks did, there was a sudden blare from a megaphone - Would the Yacht Blah-blah please leave the harbour area NOW as you can see there is another vessel waiting to enter! And we just thought hee, cos some fancy boat had been faffing around by the entrance, and what was waiting to come in was this:
A gorgeously apocalyptic Mad-Max type of vessel, which looked like it was bristling with guns and harpoons and all sorts, but which turned out to be a dredger... *g*
And then we got the boat back! Very cool it was too, and rather amusing to see the entrance to the Hub from the water, and the way people were stopping and pointing and so on! *g*
By this time it was noon-ish (I know!) so we had lunch at the Norwegian Church (I had Welsh rarebit - yummy) and I gaped a wee bit at these people walking past...
Gawd bless 'em... I could never do the matching t-shirts thing, just... so not me. And the less said about the UNIT caps the better... *g*
Now, bear in mind I just said that cos after Turkish Delight and chocolate ice cream at Cadwallader's (I'm hitting the highlights here, you notice *g*), we made our way back and into...
The Doctor Who Exhibition! *vbg*
With scary skull-things and daleks that moved
And a very scary no-headed Jack (cos he's got feet and hands, you see, just... no head...)
And d'you remember this? Ooooh... (it moved here too... *g*)
But then there was Cap'n Jack and K9 (K9!) to make you feel better again, so that was all good... *g*
Doctor Who exhibition! *g*
Walked up to town next, which was about 20 minutes away from the Bay, through real town-like places - back to the real world... *g* Although the real world town was gorgeous too - old buildings with gorgeous fronts, and hanging trees of flowers!
And heee cos those pics are all leaning away from each other! Past the last one, in similar gorgeous building, was the museum, and after coffee and feet-break we wandered sculptures by Rodin and Degas, past paintings by Manet and Cezanne, Turner and Constable, and yeay photography exhibition by Diane Arbus. I need to go to more photography exhibitions, they're my favourite kind...
And then, we took our poor tired feet back along the road to the Bay where I'd left Little Car, and we drove our happy tired selves back to Llywela's, and watched dvds all evening! (Cos it's not like our feet were going to move again, you know? *g*) I have now actually seen the first ep of Supernatural, and the first three eps of Rome - the problem with the latter being that I'm now eyeing the box set from Amazon... *headdesk* Good though! *g* SPN was fun too - gorgeous lighting and shots - and I'm not averse to watching more, although I can wait a few more paydays, you know? Did enjoy it, though.
Just... phew! And then today, we went to visit the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans, and that was ever such nice strolling for a Sunday morning...
There was one building that was very unfairly closed up, but the door would open a wee bit, and I could squeeze my camera lens around, and this is what it saw...
Cartwheels, in various stages of undress! *g* Don't you love exploring? *g*
Goodness but I go on, don't I? I was going to post this and then watch Doctor in the House, but can you believe that it's now past 11pm? It takes me so long, but then it is rather fab re-living it all, and I did really want to show off Cardiff cos it turned out to be just... really nice. Really, really. The pics don't do it justice in any way - it must be stunning on a sunny day - and it had a really good atmosphere, you know? I'd definitely like to go back some time, wander some more, maybe stroll through some of the arcades in town, which were really pretty too, just sort of... wiggle in a bit, you know? Big, big thank you to
llywela_13 for putting up with me and showing me around - I had a lovely time! *g*So I will catch up with DitH tomorrow, after work (le sigh) and now I will take my tired eyes to bed...
