Laura and Lars Travel: Cardiff Birthday Times

After boarding the bus we settled in for the ride. A non-eventful few hours later and we arrived in the middle of an unfamiliar city, good thing we had Google Maps. Arriving at the B&B just before midnight meant that we had to arrange a late check in. This was fine, and turned out to be the key sitting at the front door with directions to our room. The room being in the adjacent building through no less than three locked doors (and past our first encounter with the Ozzie Couple, but more on that later).
Being a Bed and Breakfast, that next morning we decided the 'breakfast' part was a good idea. It was a gloomy morning, so we had a while to wait for the clouds to clear.
Laura opted for Salmon Eggs Bene, while I got overly excited and had cereal with fruit, toast with marmite (not proper marmite, but weird light brown British Marmite), yoghurt, tea, and Welsh Pancakes (which was just regular pancakes, but made in Wales!). I think the reason I got so excited for breakfast was because the last 'motel breakfast' I had was in America, and consisted of purple goop, and fake everything else, more on that here: Turkey Jerky In Albuquerque.
At breakfast was our second encounter with at least one of the Ozzie Couple. She was feigning content at the lack of tofu, right-o!

The clouds continued to gently piddle on the town as we made tracks towards Cardiff Castle. We planned on shooting there for about an hour before coming back in the afternoon. As we were setting up however Laura let out a little yelp... Now since we've been here we have been meaning to look up two things in particular; what Stinging Nettle and Poison Ivy look like, and what to do if encountered. We'll, we no longer had to look up what Stinging Nettle looked like. My mind first raced into 'science mode', I wanted to know what it felt like, how it was affecting her, and I was half tempted to follow in the footsteps of Newton and experiment on myself. Finally my brain snapped in to 'useful' and 'helpful mode' and I doused Laura's hand in water.
After our eventful morning, and with the skies parting, we jumped on a bus and headed down to the waterfront and the main attraction: The Doctor Who Experience. Happy Birthday to Me!

The Doctor Who Experience was really well done. You start off by going on an adventure with The Doctor. Entering the TARDIS and helping to pilot the famed Police Box away from the attacking Space Squid. We then crash landed on Skaro, and were chased by Daleks. All before being sucked into a dark forrest graveyard, full of Weeping Angels. Finally we ended up in I.M. Forman's Scrap Yard, November 1963. The first scene in the very first episode, re-created with loving detail.
Universe saved, and the far wall opened to reveal the museum.
The museum was awesome, full of Doctor Who props and costumes harking back to the 1960s. Dozens of Daleks, tones of TARDIS's, masses of monsters. This place was great. Somewhere even the most uninitiated Whovian would approve of.
A quick hop through the gift shop (Happy Birthday to Me!) and we were satisfied. Allons-y!

By the time we left the exhibit the sun was out and Cardiff was shaping up to be a nice afternoon. We wandered around the Millennium Centre on the water front, chatted to an interesting old man, and just soaked in the sun and good vibes. But something was calling us back to town; Cardiff Castle.

Back at the Castle and this time we had longer to explore. The Castle itself is comprised of a massive outer wall with various turret and a multitude of slots for firing your arrows. Nearly half of the western wall was made up of an architectural bastard of a cathedral. Amazing to took at, but this thing has clearly been added to and added to. Slightly north west of the centre sat The Keep.
Surrounded by a deep moat and drawbridge, and sitting atop a steep artificial hill, The Keep looked like what a child would draw if you told them to draw a castle. It was amazing.
And there was the Ozzie Couple again. They pretty much tailed us for the rest of time we were in the Castle.
We climbed the steep steps and ascended the even steeper inner steps to the top of The Keep, reserved for the Red Dragon backed by Green and White. The view was amazing. If you are in Cardiff, then a visit to the castle is a must.
As we were climbing back down the stairs however Laura and I were being dorks, as usual! Laura turned and in the most sassy, albeit silly, tone told me "excuse you!" Much to the shock of a poor American tourist who happened to be squeezing up the steps past Laura. Quickly righting her mistake Laura kindly explained that she was talking to me. The American laughed, Laura laughed, then I laughed. I'm pretty sure even the Ozzie Couple laughed.
A good time was had by all.

Flash forward past some delicious craft beers (and the Ozzie Couple again) in the sun, and getting ready to dinner. We wandered back down to the waterfront to find somewhere to eat. Bill's was the best look and we ventured inside where we were ushered up to the top balcony. The moment Laura stepped outside in front of me her hair shot out in all directions. She looked like she was holding on to a fork in a socket. The static build up on the balcony was insane! Everyones hair was on end, every time you touched someone, or something conductive you got a zap. It made for an entertaining dinner experience. Coupled with the best Whiskey Sour and a delicious duck pie, and I was truly satisfied.

Bed, Sleep, Wake, Sunday!

Sunny. Sunny. Sunday! What a day! We work up early and skipped the 'breakfast' part opting of a on-the-go-meal as we waited for the train. The train came and we started on the 20 minute journey north, out of the city, towards Castle Coch. By the time we arrived at the small station platform surrounded by green, it was sweltering. The Castle was only a few K's walk though a cute little town, full of cyclists. We figured there must a cycle-way from the city.
The Castle itself was situated atop a steep hill, with unclimbable cliffs on three of the 'four' sides. In the 1870s the current fortress was rebuilt atop a 13th Century castle ruin, by William Burgess. He was obsessed with all things medieval and built the perfect fairy tale castle.
The exterior is a fairly accurate representation of what the original may have looked like, with a few added flourished. However the interior is complete Victorian fantasy, which of course makes for incredible Disneyland-esque decor.
We spent a few hours wandering around, and taking in the visual overload, all whilst listening to the audio guide explain the various Victorian motifs and the abundance of architectural features.
The sun was in full swing by the time we needed to start heading back to town. So a quick ice cream stop and we were off.

By the time we boarded the bus back to London we had spent the last two hours enjoying the 26˚C day, sipping coconut water, and munching on sandwiches. An amazing send off for an amazing weekend.