Speaking of when we were last in the United Kingdom, we had a few pounds left at the end of that trip and I had squirrelled them away until now. Unfortunately, much to my embarrassment the currency has changed and our old paper pounds are no good any more! The lady must have thought that I was a bit soft in the head as I kept pulling them out of my wallet. (Please read this with a broad accent)“No love, not the paper ones, they’re no good any more”. I just didn’t click that they were soft paper and not the new plasticise notes. “How about this one?”
“No love, not the paper ones, they’re no good any more”.
”What about this one?”
“No love, not the paper ones, they’re no good any more”.
Finally I clicked.
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| It is very hard to pass on the beautiful photo opportunities |
Driving north we meandered through part of the Cotswolds until both ends needed attention. Food and toilet.
A U turn was required in Tetbury as we passed the Hare and Hounds who declared themselves open.
It was a bit of a fib really because they were only open for tea and coffee, but if we waited 25 minutes we could partake in something more sustainable. So wait we did. I had the best coffee so far and it came with a delicious piece of home made shortbread. And we feasted on their free wifi until the chef was ready.
We each had a rare beef and salad sandwich, salad and thrice cooked chips. Once again I chose horseradish and Lance mustard.
The sandwiches were okay, not scrumptious, but not bad.
And the toilets were very nice!
Back on the road we set the GPS to take us directly to Cardiff. And again it was an easy drive through to Bristol and over the Prince of Wales Bridge which was an impressive 5 kilometres long!
Suddenly the signs were in Welsh and English. At least you had English I hear you say. But some signs had the English first and others had the Welsh first, so you found yourself scanning the whole sign every time.
Our first stop was Castell Coch which was perched on the hillside nestled in an ancient beech forest, and looked like Rupunzel’s locks should come tumbling out of the tower.
The first castle was built in 1081 and was rebuilt around 1267, and then again in 1850.
It really was an intriguing castle and had lots of character.
Loads of families were visiting on this sunny and warm bank holiday Monday.
After a quick drive down the hill and into Cardiff we found our Hotel Indigo which was situated smack bang in the middle of the city with offsite parking available. This was a public car park and felt a bit dodgy. We would not have liked to approach it at night and the stairwell smelt of stale urine. However, our car was safe when we returned and the hotel offered a parking discount.
Our Hotel room was great. Large and modern and really well appointed. We would stay here again if we were in Cardiff.
We are really enjoying the hotels that have thought about their guests and have things like USB ports and full length mirrors. I don’t know why some have face cloths and others don’t. Fortunately I have a travel face cloth.
While Lance rested I had a poke around in the street below. At one end of the street a large merry go round was operating. The street was pedestrian access only and harboured quite a colourful array people. Many families were out for the day, and people were happy. But I did feel the need to keep my hand on my bag.
At the other end of the street, only meters from our hotel was Cardiff Castle!
That evening we dined at Marco Pierre White’s restaurant that was located in our hotel. The menu was extensive and parts of our meal were excellent we had a lovely evening.
Next morning we alighted the Hop on Hop off bus for a tour of the city. It was quite a drab tour. The information was interesting, but it was quite industrial with pockets of history. The bonus was that because we are both over 60 we received a discount! This was the very first senior citizen discount that we have ever received!
Time now to explore the castle! At the main entrance there was a sign apologising that we could not use that entrance and needed to walk right around to the North gate to enter. Strange really because people were walking in the South Gate, and so did we. And then we walked all the way through the castle to the North gate looking for the ticket office. The only bonus was that the park at the other end was beautiful.
Lance had enough so went back to the hotel. And I had another go. Strangely the ticket office was right beside the South Gate and open. I just don’t know why the signs were there?
It was a castle worth looking at and include a beautiful house built around 1423 by the then Earl of Warwick. Since then it has had many editions, the latest being in the late 1800s.
I wandered on and found a great spot with lots of bars and restaurants and also St David’s Dewi Saint which is Cardiff’s largest shopping centre. My purchase was a pair of Birkenstock sandals which were half the price we would pay in New Zealand!
The day was so warm I decided to bag my current shoes and walk back to the hotel in my new Birkenstocks. Alas as I arrived at the hotel it felt like a bee had stuck my foot. Arrgghh, a nasty blister! Fortunately Boots the chemist was just across the road and I purchased special blister plasters.
The pair of us hobbled down the road for dinner. While it was frustrating that everywhere we liked was booked, we thought it was pretty good business for them on a Tuesday night.
I wandered into a French place to see if they had room for us, but they were not opening until the following Saturday. Lucky for us the guy directed me to Cafe Citta around the corner and it was fantastic! Read my review here.
The next morning we were up and off for a long drive to York. On our way out of Cardiff we passed though some really lovely areas with quaint villages and lovely homes. Quite the opposite of the city.
Before leaving Wales we stopped in to Caerphilly Castle. Not another bloody castle I hear you groan. The thing is that so far the castles have all been very different. And this was no exception. It appear much more authentic and was larger than the others.
As we paid for our tickets the man apologised that one of the towered was under repair and because we could not visit it we could have one of their books about the castle. Usually they don’t apologise … they just take your money!
When we stopped at Caerphilly I had to negotiate the parking machine once again. This time I went straight to pay by cash. A message came up to chose my language and of course I chose English. It took me a few puzzled seconds to realise that I was suddenly trying to read Welsh! Which is almost impossible and could very well have been Greek! Fortunately I managed to cancel the transaction and continue in English.
All in all we enjoyed Wales and found the people really lovely and chatty, and once we got used to the accent we could chat.
More pics of Cardiff Castle.
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