London to Cardiff

Happily, the trip continues to go smoothly, after making the trip from London to Cardiff, where I will spend just less than a week before heading back to London.

I was lucky to be able to jump off the train and walk down to where my accommodation is (right on the River Taff!). The apartment is part of a newly finished development just down from Cardiff Bay, so it’s brand new, fully furnished, and makes for a pleasant change from the student accommodation I had in London (I have my own bathroom and kitchen…)

The view from my apartment

 

I headed down to Cardiff Bay for dinner, fish and chips again (the meal I think I’ve eaten the most since getting into the UK, all of which have been very good). Taking in some of the Doctor Who/Torchwood sights whilst I was there

Torchwood seems to have taken on a new image, with the water tower donning a strawberry theme.

I had almost forgotten that there was supposed to be a local Rugby match in Cardiff last night! It was pretty good timing, as it was the first game of the season, as well as the first game for the Cardiff Blues at the brand new Cardiff City Stadium, which has around the same capacity, and eventual crowd (around 8,500) as Canberra Stadium. Being more enclosed than Canberra, the crowd came across much louder (and very passionate!) compared to a Raiders match.

It was an exciting match too, with Cardiff only just losing out to Edinburgh by 1 point (22 to 21). The Blues had been trailing by 6 points for most of the second half, but managed to score a try with about 3 minutes to go, but unfortunately missed the conversion.

Similar to the signs around the town, all of the match announcements were made in Welch before being said again in English. Its nice to see that the local language is still being supported.

 

About to head out to see the Doctor Who exhibition at the Red Dragon centre this morning. In preparation, and for education, I thought I should try marmite for breakfast this morning. Despite it smelling horrible compared to Vegemite, and having a consistency similar to honey, happily it didn’t taste too drastically different from vegemite.

Westminster and TARDIS – Part 2

As today was the last day in London before leaving for Cardiff (returning to London again in about a week), I decided to make a quick trip out to the apparent tourist Mecca of Westminster, home to the Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. As there are quite a few images to show, I’ve split the post up into 2 parts. This is part 2.

After leaving Westminster Abbey, I sort of made a loop around the Westminster area, which is very nice! (I saw my first Aston Martin DB9 parked in one of the streets). Definitely looking forward to staying near Pimlico, just a little south when I return to London.

I eventually made my why around to 10 Downing Street, which was a little disappointing as it is closed off to the public, with the building hidden away, I figure you’d probably see more of The Lodge in Canberra whilst driving past than you could see of the British PM’s residence.

    

About as good a view as is possible.

Continuing my walk around Westminster, I finally made my way down to Buckingham Palace, which was a little uneventful, as the changing of the guard ceremony had been cancelled for the day. Oh well, a good excuse to go back for another visit.

   

The grounds and gardens that surround the palace (especially St James’s Park) make for nice areas to walk whilst enjoying a view of the palace itself.

 

One thing I was amused to find was the Australian gate to the Palace forecourt (which I almost missed after actually entering the area through this gate, it was only after seeing the African and Canadian gates that I realised there would probably be an Aussie gate too). I thought it was funny that Australia was represented by a bloke with his arm around a kangaroo (there was a second with his arm around a sheep), as though that’s a normal thing for Aussies to do.

  

On the way back to Old Street, I decided to make a stop out to Earl’s Court where I knew there was only of the last remaining police boxes, aka a TARDIS! I attempted to have someone to take a pic of me with it, but I think she thought I wanted a pic of the pub behind it. Despite cropping the image, it didn’t turn out all that well, so I’ll have to make another visit once and make my brother take a better pic! It was also at this point that I realised I’ve left my Sonic Screwdriver at home…

I’ll leave my last picture from London for the time being as a shot of one of the Space Invader guys that appear around Old Street where I’m staying. It gives a pretty good indication of the kind of neighbour hood Old Street is. Kind of rough and basic, but being close to Shoreditch, the people are friendly, yet quirky, with lots of fashion/arts shops around the area. Its been a fun place to stay, but I’m looking forward to moving on to Cardiff and Wales tomorrow!

Westminster and TARDIS – Part 2

As today was the last day in London before leaving for Cardiff (returning to London again in about a week), I decided to make a quick trip out to the apparent tourist Mecca of Westminster, home to the Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. As there are quite a few images to show, I’ve split the post up into 2 parts. This is part 2.

After leaving Westminster Abbey, I sort of made a loop around the Westminster area, which is very nice! (I saw my first Aston Martin DB9 parked in one of the streets). Definitely looking forward to staying near Pimlico, just a little south when I return to London.

I eventually made my why around to 10 Downing Street, which was a little disappointing as it is closed off to the public, with the building hidden away, I figure you’d probably see more of The Lodge in Canberra whilst driving past than you could see of the British PM’s residence.

    

About as good a view as is possible.

Continuing my walk around Westminster, I finally made my way down to Buckingham Palace, which was a little uneventful, as the changing of the guard ceremony had been cancelled for the day. Oh well, a good excuse to go back for another visit.

   

The grounds and gardens that surround the palace (especially St James’s Park) make for nice areas to walk whilst enjoying a view of the palace itself.

 

One thing I was amused to find was the Australian gate to the Palace forecourt (which I almost missed after actually entering the area through this gate, it was only after seeing the African and Canadian gates that I realised there would probably be an Aussie gate too). I thought it was funny that Australia was represented by a bloke with his arm around a kangaroo (there was a second with his arm around a sheep), as though that’s a normal thing for Aussies to do.

  

On the way back to Old Street, I decided to make a stop out to Earl’s Court where I knew there was only of the last remaining police boxes, aka a TARDIS! I attempted to have someone to take a pic of me with it, but I think she thought I wanted a pic of the pub behind it. Despite cropping the image, it didn’t turn out all that well, so I’ll have to make another visit once and make my brother take a better pic! It was also at this point that I realised I’ve left my Sonic Screwdriver at home…

I’ll leave my last picture from London for the time being as a shot of one of the Space Invader guys that appear around Old Street where I’m staying. It gives a pretty good indication of the kind of neighbour hood Old Street is. Kind of rough and basic, but being close to Shoreditch, the people are friendly, yet quirky, with lots of fashion/arts shops around the area. Its been a fun place to stay, but I’m looking forward to moving on to Cardiff and Wales tomorrow!