A surprise weekend at Cardiff , South Wales. The drive from London to Cardiff has to have a coffee break, else Bapi M 's car will not move! J However we end up with coffee and a happy KFC break. Second Severn Crossing , bridge over River Severn , reminds me of Bandra Sea Link, can't help but see a bit of Bombay wherever i go ! Croeso to Caerdydd aka Welcome to Cardiff! Welsh sure is a bhery phunny language , humare baas ke bahar. The way they pronounce and write , is perplexing.... Celtic languages ke kya kehne, i say !
Arrive at the Novotel , check in , grab a city map and off we are for a drive through town towards Mermaid Quay, overlooking the Cardiff Bay . A stop at Wales Millennium Centre, locally called "The Armadillo". The theatre has 'Swan Lake' playing , wish we could have watched it ! However it does not stop us from having a cuppa coffee and browsing the shops! It sure is a proper art centre , giving Cardiff a complete Cultural high! Then a walk across the Roald Dahl Pass to get to the quay!
Mermaid Quay , the atmosphere is here! Buzzing with activity ! Perfect ! Cardiff comes here to party!
We are welcomed on the waterfront by the statue of Ivor Novello , composer , actor , and a whole lot more, who watches the people swing on the Twister , some ride this is ! Various sculptures adorn the length of the Bay. The sunset is a perfect backdrop to the entire Quay ! Its a place to relax , to party , to shake a leg ..... ideal evening getaway! We have a drink , soak in the energy ! Enjoy a meal, which takes us forever to decide coz of the multiple choices of restaurants, and browse through some of the shops! A delightful evening bids good night, not before we shake a leg to the band thats playing at the front.
Saturday morning, we head straight to the fitness Centre .... Swim, Sauna,Jacuzzi .... the day is all set to begin! Its hearty breakfast at the City Centre, with the entire milieu filled with a flamboyant look of Red & the sporadic green colour! Its a football match between Wales & Argentina, with the Home team all geared up for a Victory & the Fans all set for Celebrations!
While the Wales supporters move towards the Millennium Stadium, we walk. Walking through the high street area, we sample some local wines, walk towards River Taff, giving Cardiff Castle a miss, since we are short of time. We walk through Animal Gate, part of the castle while admiring the Castle's ornate Clock Tower, to the Bute Gardens. Make a stopover at The Old Library, the cute pub for a drink and watch Wales win the match. Walking back towards the car, we have to stand in a corner allowing the throngs of happy, boisterous crowd leave the stadium, to either go home or celebrate at the pubs with mugs of Beer! Evening we relax at the hotel and I drink the most Divine Mojito & Irish Coffee ... full credit to the Bartender, sahi drink after a long time !:-)
Sunday begin with an early check out, a drive around the city towards Barry Island. Less than an hour and we are at this small but quaint sandy beach island!Its reverberating with activity , the kids on the pleasure park, families chilling out at the beach , swimming , the works, activity all around ! A scenic walk from the main area to one of the tips of this island , to watch the beach from the opposite side has its own beauty! And is interesting to bump into various groups of Indian tourist , who i would presume have come from London and a few from India. We had half a mind of sitting down with a group of them who had opened up their picnic petara with all kind of desi goodies!
But there was no ways one was killing ones appetite coz we had driven all the way here to sample & pig out at Boofy's for the bestest tastiest ever, Fish & Chips with mushy peas! Yummmmmm ...... absolute and pure happiness!
Now we can exultantly head back to London !
