Cardiff

We spent the first weekend of the year in Wales. Our first stop was Barry Island, which is the setting of one of our favourite British TV shows, Gavin and Stacey. The weather was windy and rainy but it was still beautiful. 

Even though the weather was terrible there were actually a lot of people out on the beach. There were loads of people walking their dogs and some people were even out horseback riding. Below are a few more photos from Barry Island. 

In the TV show, Gavin and Stacey, Nessa works in a change booth at an arcade. Below is a sign outside that arcade. We definitely went in and took some photos of the change booth and checked out the souvenirs. 

We ate fish and chips at Boofy's. It was some of the best fish and chips we've had since moving to the UK! Boofy's is another location featured in Gavin and Stacey. 

After our time on Barry Island we took the train back to Cardiff. We went to the Cardiff Market. It wasn't the best market I've been to but we were able to get some bakery goods there. 

We really wanted to try some Welsh cakes and we found some at a bakery at Cardiff Market. We tried lemon curd, jam, and chocolate chip cakes. They tasted a lot like baking powder biscuits but with sweet fillings. I liked the chocolate chip cakes the best but Warren preferred the lemon curd cakes. 

Below is a photo of Welsh lovespoons sold at a store in Cardiff. Lovespoons were traditionally given to a young woman by her suitor. The tradition dates back to the 17th century. Today they are often given as wedding and anniversary presents.  

Sunday morning we went to another market, the Riverside Market. This place was awesome! We found a spice stand and stocked up on tons of inexpensive spices and seasonings. We also got some desserts at one stand with baked goods. We tried the brownie pwdin (Welsh for pudding) and the meringue with passionfruit custard. Both were unbelievably good! And compared to prices in London they were very reasonably priced.

Below is a stand with breads from the Riverside Market. We didn't try any but everything looked delicious. 

We spent most of the day on Sunday at Cardiff Castle. Along the wall of the castle are these animal statues with glass eyes. There were so many different animals (birds, racoons, monkeys, lions, etc). Below are photos of just a few of them. 

Below are a few photos from inside the Norman Keep at the castle. 

We also did the House Tour at the castle. The house was used by the Bute family for only three weeks during the summer. The entire castle and some parklands were donated to the city of Cardiff by the 4th Marquess of Bute. 

Below is a photo of the ceiling of the Arab Room which was the women's sitting room inside the house. 

Another impressive room in the house was the Great Hall. Our guide told us that they recently hosted a dinner that both the UK prime minister and the US president were in attendance in this great hall. 

I always love libraries and the one at Cardiff Castle did not disappoint. It was beautiful!

We went to The Potted Pig for lunch on Sunday. We wanted to try some traditional Welsh foods and they had a lot of the items we wanted to try. This first photo is of Welsh rarebit which is like a fancy version of cheese on toast. This one had truffle oil so I didn't really care for it but Warren loved it. 

This next one is cockles with bacon on laver bread. We both really liked this one!

I ordered the roast belly pork and it came with a Yorkshire pudding and gravy. It was delicious. 

The sides included cauliflower and cheese, roasties (potatoes), and seasonal vegetables. Everything we had at The Potted Pig was amazing!

The Welsh language is fascinating--there are so many consonants! Every sign is in both English and Welsh. Below is a photo of a litter bin from the beach at Barry Island with both English and Welsh writing. 

Another thing I loved about Wales was that there are dragons everywhere! This one was on top of a building in Cardiff. There is also a dragon on the Welsh flag. 

This stained glass dragon was at the Prince of Wales pub in Cardiff. 

In the evening we walked down to Cardiff Bay. Below is a photo of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. 

The Dr Who Experience is also in Cardiff Bay. We didn't get there in time before they closed but I was able to get a photo of the Daleks that were in the lobby. 

Wales was amazing! It made me a little homesick for Nebraska. The people were incredibly nice, the food was inexpensive, and there were several huge malls.