We boarded the coach early Monday morning en route to our destination! Only a three hour drive..not too bad. The coach though....was so uncomfortable:( My poor body...
Arrived in Cardiff around 11:15 am, in which time we began to walk to our hostel to check in. Our hostel was in the perfect location....less than a five minute walk from the bus station from which we were dropped off, and walking another 5 minutes in the opposite direction took you to the main downtown core. The very first thing we noticed however, was the what seemed to ba a brisk change in weather when compared to London "winter" weather! It was actually legimatly cold in Cardiff! We were all surprised, and the sidewalks were quite icey.
The first thing we did of course was check into our hostel. I thought it was actually quite nice, and decently priced, as well as the perfect location!! The receptionist was also very welcoming and offered us alot of great travel information for the time we had in Cardiff.
Off to our room then to settle down, and get ready for our day of sightseeing and travelling around. Finding our room was abit of an adventure...upstairs, downstairs, and upstairs again:)
The first destination we decided to visit was the Cardiff Castle..right downtown..hence the slightly higher price to get in. Speaking for myself...it was amazing to actually be on the grounds of a castle! A CASTLE!!!! How cool is that!! Yes, it was alittle chilly, and very icey, but we defintely made the best of it. Lots of great pictures were taken inside, and outside of the castle!! We were not allowed into the one part of the Castle...the Shell Keep. due to health and safety concerns...I can understand whu, the walk way to get into it was completely frozen over uneven rocks, with no railing to hold if someone slipped...they would end up in the cold, icey water in the mote.
After we toured the Castle....may the shopping throughout Cardiff begin!! Honestly..fabulous shopping in the rather tiny, but very classy downtown Cardiff...and pleasantly busy...not OXFORD STREET STYLE BUSY!!!! Shopping in Cardiff was actually quite enjoyable.
That night, the four of us went to Pizza Express, in which we all had fabulous pizza/pasta dishes!! Our waiter was fabulous! Very friendly and humorous...and a good salesperson! He told us that the BANOFEE pie was the best thing on the menu...so we tried it:) OH IT WAS AMAZING! He definitely did not lie about that...just mouthwatering!
That evening finshed off with playing Pictionary accompanied by a few soicable drinks before bed time around 1 am:)
Day 2/Last Day In Cardiff!!
Our last day (Tuesday) in Cardiff, after we enjoyed the free continential breakfast that was included with our reservation at the hostel, we then went about our day, and decided to take a bus right across town to the "Castell Coch". Because we had to sign out by 11 am that morning, but were not leaving until 7 pm that night, we were able to store our belongings at the hostel which was very helpful!
Off we go to explore abit before our bus arrived to go to the Castell! The bus ride was actually farily lengthy and went into a different part of town, but it was beautiful! Where we got dropped off, there was lots of greenery, actually some frost on the grass, and it was quite hilly...just very very pretty...felt like home!!!
Little did we know, we had a hike to get up to the Castell:) Oh, we got our workout for the day! Needless to say, coming down after our visit was alot easier:) The Castell itself was quite beautiful, and reasonably priced to get in:) There is so much history embedded within the Castell too that it is amazing (Castell= Castle in Welsh...). There were also so many neat little hidden entrances and pathways within this Castle. We spent a few hours touring around in it..of course snapping pictures every chance we got. The landscape surrounding the Castle was breathtaking as well...not to mention, the sky was a bright, sunny blue that day too which made everything even better!!
After completing the treck back down the hill then to the bus stop--which was so random sitting on the street, we didn't know it was a bus stop:)... we headed back into Cardiff for our last few hours of...SHOPPING!!! The shopping there was just wonderful! It wasn't busy like Oxford street either ( that would take alot)...but it was nice and relaxed. Although it was chilly, it was nothing unbearable.
Around 6 pm, we made our way back to our hostel to pick up our belongings, and head back to our bus, back to London. To be honest, I was in no hurry to get back to London and out of the fresh air.... Overall..fabulous experience though.. . I would go back in the Spring/Summer to see more of the Castles..as we learned, there are many! Not only that, but it would be absolutely beautiful with all of the flowers blooming!!:)
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