Croeso i Gaerdydd! Welcome to Cardiff!

Yes, Croeso i Gaerdydd means "Welcome to Cardiff" in Welsh.  I have very effectively translated this using the banner on the Cardiff home page... *ahem*

Okay, I know this is WEEKS past due, but in my defense I had three enormous essays to write, so it was necessary.

Anyway!  My first proper trip since I've been here was to Cardiff.  It was just luck really, since my roommate, Rob, was taking his girlfriend to see the university there, so one of my other roommates, Jeremy, and I tagged along.

The plan was to go to the Doctor Who Experience, spend a few hours there, get something to eat, and then find our way over to an American candy store I had heard of.  From there on out, it was just going to be sort of hanging around, seeing whatever there was to see, etc.

Here's what actually happened:  We went to Doctor Who, which was great!  It began with a campy, silly little video, and then you walk through the Tardis, meet some Daleks, and end up in a small museum which eventually spits you out into the gift store.  It was fairly quiet, just families and kids.  It was fun, though definitely more family oriented than I had expected.  Aaaand it was also only an hour or so tops before we were done.

So we went and grabbed a bite to eat at a little french place where I payed for a bowl of mushroom soup with an arm, a leg, and my first born child, and then we made our way to the candy store.

This was something I had been seriously looking forward to: reeses, lucky charms, hersheys, all the terrible junk food I miss.  Well, needless to say it was crap.  It had the distinct feeling of a place that is seldom visited, they were asking £9 for a box of Lucky charms, and aside from Hersheys, the candy they had is all available here.  No reeses, either.  Just twix, m&ms, starbursts, and so on.  Not only are they pretty much all available here, but I can walk down to the Spar around the corner and pick up a Twix bar for 65p, and they were asking £2 at this candy store.  I left annoyed and without candy.

But here's the problem:  it was pobably about one pm at this point.  Rob and Aggie wouldn't be done until 5pm at the earliest.  Jeremy had already been to cardiff, so he led me to a museum nearby.  We were going to go to a wetland preservation area, but then... Wales, rain, wet, cold, indoor museums suddenly start to sound very nice.

We got about halfway to the museum when we decided to check out a few shops and arcade areas, where we ended up spending too much money.  I found a shop that sells unique liquors by the ml and bought 750ml of Rose Liqueur for £7.50.  I also got a bunch of postcards which I'll be sending out over the next month or so to everyone I promised postcards to!

After the arcades, Jeremy wanted to go to Cardiff Castle to buy a tshirt for his brother.  Since it cost £14 to actually go into the castle, I figured I'd settle for seeing it from the outside and the giftshop.  Of course, once we were inside, I realized how badly I needed to see it.  It was staggering.  Enormous, majestic, beautiful, the embodiment of history and age.   I opted out of the tour, so it was only £11 entry, which seemed way more affordable than £14 for some reason.

We went first to the inner castle, the parts we were allowed to see, anyway, and which were furnished to look like they would have then.  We were allowed to take photos, but not with flash and since it was quite dark, none of the photos were coming out.  So naturally, I used my little point-and-shoot camera to take videos of everything, which I have compiled into a lovely bit of loveliness for you:

It was really just a wonderful day and I will never forget it.  After leaving the castle, we met up with Rob and Aggie again, who unfortunately were unable to go to the university.  I avoided talking about how awesome my day was, because they seemed pretty put out by their somewhat less exciting day of adventuring.  I suppose for them it was about as interesting as going to Sacramento for a day would be for me.  For me and Jeremy, however, it was fascinating, instructive, and awesome.

Some other photos from the day:

Doctor Who Experience!

 View from the Tardis

Memorial statue that was just outrageously amazing

Important sort of... red brick building that I can't remember why is important....

It's Jeremy!  He's a history major, so the red brick building was obviously somehow historically significant....

Cardiff Castle again!

View from the Keep.  This photo doesn't do it justice... the view was amazing.

Giant chimney!

 Seriously, look how huge this was!

 Did I mention there was a trebuchet?

Selfie time!

Bonfire Night!

So last night was bonfire night.  I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't hordes of people swarming to the cricket stadium near my house, gathering on the beach, lighting small bonfires, and watching a truly spectacular fireworks show.

For starters, one of my roommates thought that it might not be as big here as some other places, since we are in Wales.  Another of my roommates was talking about joining a bonfire put on by the club he's part of.  But most importantly, leading up to, say, the fourth of July, it is all anyone can talk about.  "Do you have plans for the fourth?" "We're going here for the fourth." "We're bbqing/picnicking/tailgating/camping for the fourth."  Here, I maybe heard two or three people in total mention it at all.  Thus, I had no idea that the cricket ground was putting on this huge fireworks show.

Walking home from class at six I immediately noticed something was going on.  Traffic was backed up halfway down Bryn Road and all the way along the Mumbles road, so that I had to sort of leapfrog across the street.  I heard music playing from the field, and as I passed the bowling green, I realized that they had opened the parking lot to members for something.  I realized it probably had to do with bonfire night, but I figured it was just for members of the bowling club- perhaps they were going to have their own bonfire in the parking lot.

Then further along the road, a police officer was standing beside a guardrail blocking traffic to the rest of Bryn Road, and by extension, the cricket ground.  It was then that I realized what was happening.  I passed the ticket office and there was a line of people trying to pay for entry.  A small group of people had already gathered inside, and groups of people were setting up outside with lawn chairs, blankets, and scarves.

After dinner, all of my roommates were talking about going out to the beach to wander and see what was happening.  We left the dishes, bundled up, and went out.  The beach was covered- and I mean covered in people.  We are talking more packed than a public park offering a free firework show on the fourth in the states.  Almost immediately open arrival, or maybe before we arrived, I can't quite remember, the fireworks show began.  It was decently long and pretty spectacular.  There was music, but we couldn't hear very well.  So instead we watched and had fun and I explained to my roommates that thanksgiving has absolutely nothing to do with America's independence from the british monarchy, which apparently is something that at least one of them thought.

When the show was over, we turned to the beach and wandered.  Everywhere people were setting off bottle rockets and roman candles and grouped around beach fires.  The air was full of smoke and the smell of cordite.  People were laughing and cheering and setting off fireworks or writing in the air with sparklers.  It was amazing...

fair warning- I swear right at the beginning, so maybe don't watch this with the audio up high while in a library or something...

Update: This video took me a million years to figure out how to get up here, since apparently Murphy decided to cite his law to mess things up.  Of six videos taken last night, only this one was remotely worth posting, and it of course was the one video that was also broken.  Enjoy!