Spring Break : Cardiff (Days 8-9)

After a lengthy bus ride to Cardiff, I was ready to take some time off of exploring and just relax. On the bus ride I changed buses in Birmingham and quickly got a few pictures. There was a strange looking mall I got lunch at before catching the bus that would take me the rest of the way.

This was the halfway point of my trip and it was in a less touristy city, so I was going to take the opportunity to get some real vacationing in. The city itself was beautiful and peaceful, which I could tell as soon as I got off the bus. The bus station was in a park just a few minutes walk from the city centre and my hostel. I crossed a bridge and saw the stadium on my way to the Safehouse Hostel. This was a cute hostel in a Victorian building. It wasn’t modern but had really friendly staff and an interesting older style. The beds were custom made for the hostel.

While I was ready to relax, after a bit of rest time I decided to walk across the city to the bay at night and see everything lit up. I was surprised by how beautiful the city was since so many people along the way had suggested I skip Cardiff.

The next day I walked around town more. Cardiff is famous for its arcades, which are basically covered streets with shops and cafes. I saw some of these along with Cardiff Market, a bigger shopping centre with small vendors. I also found a few Doctor Who filming locations since Doctor Who (and many other British shows) are filmed in Cardiff. After checking these out I headed to Cardiff museum.

There was a lot to see in this free museum. I checked out the art and natural history exhibits then moved on to the bigger site, Cardiff Castle. Cardiff Castle was very close to my hostel, which reminded of my stay in Edinburgh. It was a little pricey to get in but well worth the money to see the castle.

I paid a few pounds extra to take a guided tour of the mansion on the property. It was one of the more interesting tours I went on and well worth the money. The guide detailed the art in every room and gave us a history lesson of Wales and the castle.

After the guided tour was over, I checked out the main part of the castle and got a great view of Cardiff from the top of the tower.

I had one more sight I wanted to see before taking more time to relax. I took a short bus ride to the beach. I passed through a cute park on the way.

After the park I had my last Welsh sight: a beach in Wales. This may not have been the best spot to see a beach in Wales but it was still beautiful. Instead of a sandy, this beach was rocky. I stayed here for a bit before returning to the hostel.

On the way back I picked up groceries so I could make dinner for myself in the hostel kitchen. I made pasta and ate it during the hostel’s movie night. I also took advantage of the hostel’s cheap laundry service. I paid 6 pounds and they washed and dried a bag of laundry for me overnight. After dropping this off I went up to my room, watched some Netflix, and went to sleep early. The next day I had to be up a bit early to catch the bus to London.