Cardiff - Day One

 August 31, 2011

Why is it that I always gets sick before going off to Cardiff? This traveling vacation really didn't begin on the right foot anyways and I probably should have staid at home another day to get everything sorted but I didn't want to waste time. My goal was to see as many placed as I could and to spend the lease amount possible. I already gave up Rome and Paris my more ambitious plans but trying to decide where to go and how to get there have proven difficult. I keep rearranging everything but its gotten me into trouble price wise. I had to spend the whole fo yesterday packing my room so I didn't spend the amount of time I needed on planning as such I only have plans through to unday where I'm seeing Jimmy Carr in Liverpool. But I'm going to try and not worry about it. So far for the next three days I'm in Cardiff my favorite city - let's see if it lives up to my own hype and memory.While there I'm going to visit Cardiff castle, Caerphilly castle and Tintern Abbey. I just want to really enjoy the town and relax. Tonight I'm going to go and see Harry Potter - I've put it off for long enough. : ) On Saturday I'm making my way to Disley to visit Lyme Park the outdoor location of Pemberly from the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice. I'll spend the night at home before once again setting off for Liverpool. Hopefully by then I'll have more time to think through my plans - I can't leave without going to Ireland. I think I'll really love it when I get ther but at the moment I'm more interested in going home than traveling. Basically this dissertation has worn me out and I'm physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. At the same time I don't want any regrets. And I suppose since I've been looking forward to going back to Cardiff its a good place to start.

My first day of traveling and I'm already sick of it. I'm just super tired and sore. Today I walked through the shopping malls to find Tesco's for lunch and batteries. I ate lunch and then headed for the castle. I looked again at the oven mitt that I had wanted but wasn't impressed. I did find a tea cosy I liked but what would I really do with that? I might however begin my own shot glass collection as I found a Cardiff one I liked. I paid a bit extra for the tour of the castle which I'm glad although I wasn't a big fan of the tour guide but the audioguide bored me after a bit. The tour covered the apartments which had been made up in a medieval style in the Victorian era. I preferred the untampered Georgian room and the library which was exquisite.

I toured the castle keep trying to listen to the audioguide but there were loud tennage girls. You had to take a spiral staircase up and people were going both directions at once - not a good idea. I did see something super cute though. I waited as a mother and her two sons were going past. The mother was clearly scared and having trouble going down and was making sure her older son going down first was okay but it was so cute cause he was like I'm fine I just want you to be okay. AHH! How sweet! She thanked me for waiting and commented that they shouldn't have done that. Wanting to see everything has made me give up my fear of heights which is a good thing but i 've got plenty of other fears to take over.

After the keep your I had a pot of tea and then returned to my audio guide to watch a film that wasn't all that entertaining. from there I got to see the war tunnels which was amazing and gave me goose bumps. They had the recording of sounds playing and its amazing to think what people had to live through. At the end of that I walked back on top of the tunnels. I also saw some cool birds, falcons and owls there which was cool.

After a bit of shopping I walked to the the hostel. I really should have got the bus but I was being stubborn and paid for it with my hurt feet. i got a bit worried I was lost but made myself remain clam and arrived without incident. I got checked in - staying in room 7 the 'Eccleston' room.

All the rooms have Doctor names but they don't match the # of the doctor - at least not all of them. The first 5 fit (although 3 doesn't have a name) and I can understand not having 2 Bakers but they totally skipped #8 Paul McGann. I laid down for a bit to try and rid myself of my headache but it didn't help. I made a cup of tea and found a place to eat from the menu folder provided. A fish and chip shop claiming to be the best chips. Award winning chips. I was sold so I set off again and again wondered if I was lost but found it and a Tesco's. I wasn't that impressed by the fish eating only half of it and the chips weren't award worthy but it was a meal. I had a bit of a chat with the other hostel people and then tried to go to Roath Park but it was closed so I came back and planned to sleep to get more stuff done tomorrow. I have a variety of stuff to do tomorrow when I was worried I had planned too much time here! I didn't manage Harry Potter today but maybe tomorrow.

(transposed from a written journey written throughout the day)