I caught my flight to London, and spent the night there. My original intention had been to go straight through to Wales, but then I thought - "Well, I haven't been to London or the area around in multiple years. So, why not a day trip to Oxford?"
For those of you who know me, you may know that I absolutely love Oxford. Something about getting off the train there and coming into the older (university) part of the city just makes me feel like I belong. I used to say that "if I believed in reincarnation, I would have to say I lived there in a prior life". Now, I'm not so sure I'm a total skeptic anymore. About the linearity of life, about the possibility of multiverse, about all kinds of possibilities.
In any case, I took the train, and just wandered. I didn't even pull out my phone to take pictures, I just basked in the feeling. Ate lunch in a pub, walked into bookstores, sat by the river. Just a lovely, peaceful, feeling completely comfortable and at-home day.
I took the train the next day to Cardiff on Thursday (arriving late-afternoon) and checked into my hotel just beside Cardiff Castle. In fact, here are a few of the views out of my hotel window.
Friday, I went to the castle. It is impressive, and since the last time I was in Wales (many, many years ago) I hadn't been to Cardiff, it was nice to see a place I had heard so much about. I did the 'general' tour, not the extended tour that took you into places with lots and lots and lots of steps up circular stone staircases. Some days my knees are up to that but other days, not so much.
There was still lots to see, and still quite a few steps. Here are some pictures of the various buildings and parts of the grounds that I saw.
From the outside (the main castle)
Inside. Guess which parts were my favorites!
If you guessed the library photos, you are right! I just love walking in to rooms with books in them.
This is the Keep Gatehouse. Looking up the steps, from inside the enclosure, and a picture of the water surrounding it.
This sculptured mural sits opposite what remains of a Roman wall from the 3rd century AD. The wall is just another wall, but this mural was pretty amazing.
It started raining just about at this point, so I headed back to my hotel ... and did some actual work. I also spent some time figuring out how to get from Cardiff to Dublin, Ireland to meet my upcoming tour.
Nothing was particularly convenient. I finally decided, because I wanted to be able to take advantage of the tour 'transfer for the airport to the hotel', to book a flight from Bristol Airport to Dublin. In order to get there in time for the beginning of the tour (orientation, information and dinner with the group), I booked onto a 8:15-ish flight. Bristol is a ways from Cardiff, so I arranged a car service to an airport hotel for late Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, I repacked my stuff into the minimum number of bags (that's my carry-on suitcase, which I check usually on flights this trip), my laptop & other electronic stuff bag, and a 'personal' item bag) I can manage. It was a beautiful morning, and I had a couple of hours to kill, so I left my luggage at the hotel desk and headed out for a walk. Maybe a boat ride on the bay. I found a beautiful park, and wandered for a while, and then said "Time for a boat ride!"
As I started toward the area to meet the boats it started sprinkling. Then raining. Then pouring.
And I hadn't brought my raincoat with me on this walk. It was beautiful, and I was only going to be gone a short time. BIG mistake. Even with this kind of coat/sweater that I did have with me, I was pretty wet. My shoes were really wet. And everything was packed and I was checked out of my room. I did my best to repair the damage, used the hand dryer in the ladies to try to dry the back of my dress. And met the car.
That evening, after changing at the hotel and having dinnier, I received an email that said my morning flight had been cancelled. Bristol is kind of notorious for problems. In any case, I was rebooked onto the evening flight. Which meant that I hung around in the hotel (with a late check-out) and then in the airport for several hours - to find out that the evening flight was late. Instead of arriving in Dublin at 9:40am on Sunday, I arrived in Dublin at 10:30pm, and at the hotel about 11pm.
Oh well, I guess I can't really complain; this is the first problem with travel I have had in almost five weeks. And now I'm here and ready to start the Irish tour tomorrow.
[Yes, I know this is outdated and it's a week later, but at least you guys know how Cardiff was.]
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