Those of you who follow me on a wide variety of social media platforms (mainly twitter and instagram) already know that I spent the weekend in Cardiff, as a guest of Visit Wales as part of their #xmascardiff campaign, soaking up all the festive spirit that I possible could . Although I’d been to Wales before, this was my visit time in Cardiff and I was absolutely thrilled to be there! My previous knowledge about Wales was fairly scanty, I’m ashamed to say. Welsh cakes not included.
On Friday I touched down, only to be swept off to St Fagan’s, before settling in to the hotel (Cathedral 73) for dinner and drinks. If you are going anytime soon, order the Spiced Apple Martini. You won’t regret it. The eggs benedict at breakfast are also a huge success!
On Saturday we awoke bright and early to explore Cardiff Castle (Which I’ll be blogging in depth about later. The same goes for St Fagan’s actually.) Followed by an incredible cheese platter and lamb cawl (lamb stew) at Madame Fromage. Then we explored the markets, ice skated in Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland and topped the evening off with yet another fantastic meal.
Cardiff Market is an incredible Victorian building that has a glass roof and sells pretty much anything you could ever want to buy. From hardware, to yarn, to pets, to groceries the Market had it. It also had a giant panda statue that I personally, really appreciated.
I had a blast ice skating, though my ice skating skills may never be truly praised. That being said, I only fell down once, and during that fall I only took down one small child with me. I consider that a pretty good outcome. A lovely lady on the trip with us, Sara, bravely went on the giant swings at Winter Wonderland.
On Sunday I explored the Cardiff Bay area and even managed to get to see the start of the Great Cardiff Bay Santa Dash that raises money for Welsh Hearts.
Mermaid Quay.
A shrine to Ianto for any Torchwood fans out there!
The Wales Millennium Centre. The inscription means: “creating truth like glass from the furnace of creation”.
Cardiff Bay
The Millennium Stadium as viewed from the Norman Keep at Cardiff Castle.
Bute Park
Cardiff Market.
Swings at Winter Wonderland.
The Cardiff Bay Elf and Santa Dash.
A cozy fireplace to curl up next to at Cathedral 73 after a long day out in the cold.
Dinner at Cathedral 73
Suggested activities for exploring Cardiff:
Go to Winter Wonderland
Walk in Bute Park
Explore Cardiff Castle
Have a peak inside the National Museum of Wales
Browse through Cardiff Market
Eat lots of Welsh Cakes
The church where Roald Dahl was christened
The Doctor Who Experience
Have you ever been to Cardiff?
