Live, Laugh, Love, London: Oh, What's Occuring?

I was super excited to be headed off to Cardiff, Wales, this weekend with Fulbrighter Christy. I visited Wales back in July with the People to People travel group I was chaperoning, but we only spent two days in Wales, and much of my time was spent with injured kids (including a LONG night in the A&E aka ER). This time, I was looking forward to having a more productive visit and seeing what the city of Cardiff has to offer. Turns out, it has fabulous shopping, tons of hen/stag do goers and a pretty cool castle. It's also very close to a little town called Barry, which was the setting of my favorite UK TV show "Gavin and Stacey." Christy is actually the person who introduced me to "Gavin and Stacey," a romantic comedy program on from 2007 to 2010 about an Essex boy who falls in love with a Welsh girl. The show is quirky and pretty hysterical in a really simple way. I love it. Visiting Barry to checking out some filming locations was a top priority for both Christy and I on our weekend getaway.

Friday actually marked the start of another half-term holiday for me (poor Christy doesn't get as many holidays up in Scotland as we do down here in England). So when I headed out to the train station Friday afternoon, I was not only excited to be headed to another new place but also extra happy to be off school for the next nine days! I almost missed my train and literally had to run for it, but luckily enough, made it just in time and the train left literally two minutes after I stepped on. Whew! I met Christy in Cardiff, and we had a nice, relaxing evening, strolling around the city and stopping for dinner in a Jamie Oliver restaurant. I've been wanting to try one of his chain restaurants before I left the UK, and since I hadn't had the chance yet, so Friday was perfect.

Reunited in Cardiff!

Thought this pub looked interesting. Where's the rest of the
block? Shouldn't there be a building on the right?

The next morning, we took our time getting ready and eventually set off to do some exploring. After a stroll through the shops nearby, we hopped on a train to go out to Barry Island (which isn't actually much of an island but just a peninsula off Barry with a little beach community).

Off to Barry Island

We've arrived in Barry Island!

Earlier in the week, I found an amazing "Gavin and Stacey" bus tour, but when I called to book, they were already full. We were so heartbroken, but decided not to give up! We emailed to see if there were any cancelations, and while there weren't, the company told us to try to just show up and hope for a cancelation on the spot. We weren't at all guaranteed to get on the tour but decided to give it a go. While we waited for the meeting time, we spend an hour or so exploring the pier and checking out a few "Gavin and Stacey" sights on our own.

The cafe where Stacey worked

Look who we found!!! Smithy, Gavlar, Stacey and Nessa!

Yay! The arcade where Nessa worked!

There's Nessa's booth!

We decided to try to win a Peppa Pig in the claw machine...it didn't work...

I love Peppa and really wanted to win one! But the darn claw kept opening
as soon as we'd catch one! Rigged, I tell you! Rigged!!!

Glamour shots on the beach!

Then it was time to head up to the train station to meet the tour and (hopefully) join them! As some of the first people to arrive, we waited and waited and waited. And when Dave's coach (yes, it's actually Dave's bus from the show!!!) pulled up, we were so excited and nervous to see if we could join in.

Turns out a group of 8 hadn't showed up! The tour guide took our money with the warning that while we come on the bus while she gave her opening 5-10 minute introduction and if the group didn't arrive, we could take their spot. Here we are on the bus looking SO happy!

We listened to our lovely guide give her schpeal in her cute Welsh accent and just as the bus driver closed the doors and we were about to pull away, a girl literally came running up the bus...and we had to get off! SO sad! If only that darn bus had pulled away just two minutes sooner, we would have made it. We were so very close...With heavy hearts, we headed to the first pub we saw for a cheeky half pint to drown our sorrows before reworking our plan for the day.

Very sad about getting kicked off the tour of our dreams!

We decided to take a walk up to the street where the characters lived on our own. Who needs a stupid, expensive bus tour, right? So with my handy Google Maps ready to go on my iPhone, we set off on a nice walk into Barry proper. Along the way, we saw some neat things like this:

Cute men playing cricket!

Creepy boat "graveyard" in the marshes

About a half hour and a couple hills later, we arrived on the street where the characters lived and found the homes of Stacey, her nosey neighbor and her crazy uncle Bryn (my fav character). Tidy!

Uncle Bryn's house

Stacey's house on the right and the neighbor's on the left

Then we headed back to Barry Island for a some more fun along at the seaside before catching our train back to Cardiff.

Me and Peppa

A beachside chippy aka a chip shop aka a fry shop

Chips by the sea, a British tradition

Typical Brits at the seaside.
Note how many people are wearing long pants and shirts!

The next day, we did a bit of wandering before Christy had to go catch her plane. Since my train wasn't until later, I decided to go explore Cardiff Castle. I really enjoyed the castle, especially wandering around the nice grounds on such a sunny day!

Our hotel

Christy shared a Coke with me!

The red dragon is the symbol of Wales

Cardiff has lots of what they call Arcades, which are
little indoor shopping malls.

I found a fantastic used book store in an arcade and was excited to find
a couple old books to add to my collection that I've been gathering
from around Europe.

I don't have a clue what the yellow one is about but loved the cover and it's
in Welsh, so I bought it. The little blue one is an old book of Welsh short
stories, written in English. I really wanted to find a cool old Dylan Thomas
but didn't find the right one. This little book has two Thomas stories in it!

Approaching Cardiff Castle

The first place I visited in the castle is the outer walls where during WWII
they set up an air raid shelter. Very cool history with great propaganda
on the walls throughout! I thought the London Tubes were neat
shelters, but the castle was even more interesting.

The apartments

I climbed up the round keep up to the very top to see the gorgeous views.

Mid-way up the keep, listening to my audio guide.

The Old and the New. Just beyond the castle walls, you can see the rugby
stadium (behind the clump of trees on the right) as well as some tall modern
buildings. Such an interesting juxtaposition.