A Day In Cardiff

Farewell London, it's time to move on! When Londoners asked us what cities in the UK we were visiting, they always looked at us funny when we mentioned Cardiff. But if you're a fan of Doctor Who or Torchwood (like my husband, and I've seen enough to know what's going on), you make room for it in the itinerary. We were also inspired by our friend Ken's visit to Cardiff a few years earlier.

London to Cardiff

We dragged ourselves out of bed at 7:45 a.m., because we had a train to catch! After packing up and checking out of the hotel, we walked a few blocks to the Marble Arch to catch a bus to Paddington Station. That turned out to be quite easy, and we ended our time in London with £1.50 left on our Oyster cards. Good planning! We located the railway office, picked up our tickets for the next few days (purchased in advance when fares were low) and then grabbed a quick takeaway bagel breakfast. The train arrived a few minutes later, and we were on our way. It was an easy two hour ride to Cardiff.

Our train arrived promptly and we had a pleasant walk along the river past the rugby stadium to reach our hotel. Along the river walk there are mosaics representing various countries. We got a kick out of the USA symbols, which included a hamburger and Mickey Mouse.

Our rooms weren't ready when we got to the hotel, but they were able to store our bags. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Cardiff City Centre. This hotel was chosen because it cost us 35,000 IHG points instead of $157.60 for a single night. It also happens to be right across the street from Cardiff Castle. We didn't make it there on this trip, but it certainly would be convenient if that was your first visit of the day.

Lunch and Beer Tasting

It was lunch time, so we walked to The Grazing Shed, which I'd read had the best burgers in Cardiff—and they were locally sourced!

I had a veggie burger with goat cheese, chutney, and arugula, and it was fantastic. It seemed a bit pricey though, at over £30 for lunch. Perhaps I can blame the exchange rate (we were visiting pre-Brexit).

After lunch, we went next door to The Gravity Station, a bottle shop and tasting room. We tried six beers, and Aaron picked up two for later. (Apparently there were some landlord shenanigans that occurred just a few days after we visited, and the Gravity Station is now at a different Cardiff location.)

It was a great little place, and they have live music some nights. Beer nerds should check this out.

Both of these places were in the city centre, which is largely a pedestrian zone. There are lots of shops, vendors, attractions new and old, and many people out and about. The area is also adjacent to Cardiff Castle, which unfortunately we didn't get to visit on this trip. I don't know what colors the Londoners' view of of Cardiff, but I think it's a lovely place to spend a few days.

Doctor Who Experience

It was soon time for the main event....the Doctor Who Experience! We took a bus from the centre and arrived at what was clearly just a giant, painted warehouse. No one was around. Even after entering the lobby, everything was very quiet. I went to see the woman at the ticket counter, and then things started to make sense. I had purchased time tickets that said to arrive between 2:00 and 2:30. This was because they weren't going to let us into "The Experience" until 2:30. It was 2:05. We were very early. We poked around at the few items out for public display, and then plopped on a bench to wait.

Look out, there are daleks in the women's bathroom!

People started to arrive. Wow, they were nerdy. And most of them were full-grown adults. Upon going through the attraction, I realized it was designed with young people in mind. Yet, on this Wednesday afternoon, "mature" adults had flocked to the home of Doctor Who.

The Experience took about 30 minutes, and then we had time to explore the museum. That was what we really came for. We saw various models of the tardis, costumes from the show, and I got to operate a dalek!

We spent a little under 90 minutes here, but I suspect most people could do it in an hour (we seemed to be stragglers). I was surprised by how many items—including the Doctor outfits and a tardis interior—were on loan from private collections. Apparently some people really like Doctor Who.

After leaving the Experience, we explored Cardiff Bay, which didn't seem to offer much on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon (although it seems like that would change on a sunny summer day). Aaron did look for the time rift from Torchwood, but came up empty. We took another bus back to the centre, checked into our hotel, and took a nap. We were tired, but we had dinner reservations at 8:00 p.m.

Dinner at The Meating Place

Well-rested, we left the hotel at about 7:40 to walk to The Meating Place. Originally, our reservations had been at the Potted Pig, but we were informed just before we left that they had an unfortunate kitchen incident that forced the closure of the restaurant for a few weeks. Their sister restaurant clearly had a meat theme, and offered meat skewers they would hang from a hook above your table as you dined. We passed on that option. Aaron had roasted lamb served with lovely light pillows of gnocchi, and I had a filet mignon cooked perfectly medium rare.

On the walk back we popped into a pub that caught Aaron's eye and admired the artwork on the cask plaques and the call out of "vegan friendly" beer. We learned that gelatin was often used to clarify cask ales, and the has strict food labeling rules. After just one pint, I suggested that perhaps we should go back to our hotel. We did. We walked 14,683 steps today, and only climbed 5 floors (no underground stations or monuments).

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