29 May 2014

Cardiff

Robyn had her hair cut in "Zen" hairdressers in Taffs Well today. It looks good too, though she was gone over an hour. I didn't ask how much it cost.

After that we decided to take the train to Cardiff. The train station is 10 minutes walk from our cottage - supposedly. at the After walking up to nearly the southern end of the town, we turned around and came back. We used the pedestrian walkway above the line, and looked south to see the station in the distance. It took ten minutes from there to reach the station.

The train journey took only about 15 minutes to Cardiff Central. We changed trains and went on to Cardiff Bay. It's a pretty place. The photos show a bit of it.

It only looks grey and rainy because it was. The weather cleared later, and was nice really.

 

The Pierhead building with a merry-go-round in front of it. The two are not connected.

We went to the Pierhead building - a bit of a mixed up museum. It was originally the offices of the Bute Dock Company. Today it is an exhibition centre for the Welsh National Assembly (Parliament). It contains an odd assortment of displays, which have no other home.

　

Lunch was at a very good Japanese restaurant at the bay. The food was the same as we'd had in Japan. That's the best compliment I can think of.

A short walk around the bay led us to the old Norwegian church. Roald Dahl was christened in this church. Robyn took photos, and later had a cup of tea here. Every tourist attraction in Britain has its own tearoom, and this one is no different.

The Norwegian Church which was moved around the bay a bit to its present location.

Our next stop was the Doctor Who experience. Instead of going into the exhibit, we went to the shop and had a look around. Really, it was no different to any other gift shop. There was the usual stuff, but it was all more expensive than usual. I suppose that just shows how popular the doctor is.

This Dalek is actually made of Lego. Who would have thought a child's toy could be intergalactically dangerous ?



I went on to the World of Boats, and Robyn went back to the previously mentioned Norwegian Church tea room. The boat place only cost a fiver to get in, and it was well worth it. There were many (dozens) small boats displayed, all with a board to explain what each one is. There were boats from the pacific, South America, Africa, and all around Europe. There was even a New Zealand-built replica of the launch that Captain Bligh was put into after the mutiny on the Bounty.

The replica of Bligh's launch. He sailed over 4,000 miles in the original boat to reach Timor (Indonesia).

There is a boat service from Cardiff Bay back to the centre of town. The boats travel up the mouth of the Taff River for about a mile. There were about 250 swans on the river, mostly feeding in the shallows. The bloke who checked our tickets said that a girl had count 285 that morning !

There were white swans - lots of 'em.

The city dock is at the back of Cardiff Castle; right in the middle of the city area. We got out there and walked around Bute Park a bit, watching the grey squirrels bounce and bound along on the ground. They really are all tail.


We decided to go our separate ways for an hour or so, to look around Cardiff one more time. I spent most of this time finding the railway station and then coming back to the meeting point. The reason I took so much time is that the GPS in my phone locked up (and has done this before). I was trying to put the train station into the phone as a favourite so that I could navigate back there. In the end I did, but I'm still not happy with the navigation of the phone.

By the time I met Robyn, who had of course gone to the shops, I just wanted to go home. Catching the train was simple, and the walk home at the Taffs Well end was OK. Another day in Cardiff has passed ( and I didn't mention the weather ! - which was goo today).

More tomorrow.

Lex and Robyn.