Escape to Cardiff

It's been a hectic few weeks for me in my little part of Scotland.

Jack has had two chest infections, had an emergency visit to A & E after falling out of his bed, had a urine infection and is now onto another one. As I type this post, I am waiting for him to pee so that I can send a sample away. He hasn't gone for over 8 hours!!! It is 11pm so it looks like it is going to be a long night.

Whilst all this has been going on, I managed to get away for a few days to Cardiff in Wales with Virginia whilst Jack was in respite.

Virginia's main reason for wanting to go there, was the castle, as it is steeped in history which she has a real passion for. I am ashamed to say she knows more about Scottish history than I do!

We managed to get really cheap flights to Bristol and from there we had an hours train journey to Cardiff. Our accommodation was about 7 mins walk from the train station, 5 mins walk from the city centre and we were right across the road from the Millennium stadium.

Pic from here

Our accommodation was nice but the walls were paper thin. On our first night we could have joined in with the conversation the two guys next door were having, it was so clear. I did resist the urge...honest!

We had great fun visiting the castle. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would have been like to live there. The rooms were so beautiful and ornate it took your breath away. Who would have the patience to paint all those intricate details I ask you? I would have gotten bored and gone in search of chocolate long ago!

Me in the stocks at Cardiff Castle (pic taken by Virginia)

We spent the whole morning at the castle. The eeriest bit for me was walking through the secret tunnels within the outer wall of the castle. These were used in World War 2 as air raid shelters for the towns folk. As you walk through them, there is an old radio broadcast playing Dame Vera Lynn's song We'll Meet Again and real recordings of bombs being dropped. All through the tunnels there are signs about putting on your gas masks, benches for sitting on, bays with beds in them and a soup kitchen. I am so glad I didn't have to live through that.

After the castle, we did the city tour via the Hop on Hop off bus. Virginia had never been on one of these before which made me laugh cos as a tourist it is the first thing I would do. Holly and I make a point of going on these buses in every city we visit. It gives you a more in depth insight into the place you are visiting and your ticket is valid for 24 hours so you can hop on and off as much as you like.

Next we visited the National History Museum. We spent over two hours in there looking at wales in ancient times, fossils and dinosaurs. By the time we came to the art section I was getting restless.

Looking at some of the modern art, I was bemused to say the least. Some of it looked like it had been made by toddlers! I jokingly said to Virginia, that if this was modern art, then someone like me could easily create a masterpiece. All I had to do was pee, poop, bleed and vomit on a canvas, call it Life's A Bitch and I would win the frigging Turner Prize!!!! I laughed so hard at my own joke, I nearly peed myself!

The jokes didn't end there either. After wandering through paintings of landscapes, buildings and splashes of colour that didn't look like anything, we finally came to the historic art section which was full of portraits by 18th century welsh artists.

We had looked at quite a few, when I happened to mention that the men were a bit pale and feminine looking in those days, a bit puffy around the face and really not eye candy at all! We had quite a chat about this, so much so, that we actually sat down on a bench to discuss it further when after a pause I said "I bet they had tiny penises too!"

I thought Virginia was gonna die laughing as she spluttered "how did we go from them being feminine and pale to talking about the size of their penises!!!! Who makes that kind of leap in their thinking?"

Emmmmmmm....well that would be me!

She said this so loud that people's heads whipped round so fast, giving us such a look, it was comical. I was nearly crying with laughter and it got worse when I came across a painting a minute or two later in which the poor unfortunate man was so not bonnie! I grabbed Virginia and said "don't look at that one, he looks like he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch!!!"

The two of us were helpless with laughter and were getting quite a few looks so we thought, maybe it is time to leave. Who knew you could have so much fun in a museum?

We were only there for 3 days but we packed as much in as we could. We had afternoon tea at a lovely little cafe by the park with tiny sandwiches and scones, served with fruit tea and a slice of cake. Just heaven.

We wandered through the Historic Arcades, peeking in designer boutiques, cute little cupcake shops and lots of other unique little stores. We spent a morning wandering around Cardiff Bay, caught a glimpse of the BBC Wales studios where Casualty and Dr Who are filmed and wandered around a really gorgeous craft shop where we both could have spent a fortune on jewellery if only we had the money.

If you ever get the chance to visit, you should. The place is lovely but what makes it special are the people who are so friendly and welcoming.

But all good things must come to an end. Heading home was fairly uneventful until I lost my phone getting into the car at the airport. My dad drove off with me hanging out of the car trying to catch the door and it probably fell out then. I retraced my steps but alas, the phone had disappeared into the big blue yonder, taking with it all my contacts, photos and events in my calendar. I was extremely upset but what can you do apart from phone your insurance and get a new one!

I am barely home a week and Jack is unwell again hence the reason I am up so late. It is now 1.30am and Jack has finally given up that urine sample I was after and is again sleeping peacefully.

Now I just hope that the rest of the night continues that way. Hope all is well in your world my little gigglers.