Wales

A couple of weekends ago, Kit and I went to Cardiff Wales for the weekend. He had to work on the Friday and Monday there so we decided to make a weekend of it. We headed out on Thursday night on the train. It was raining when we left Leicester but it got to be nice as the ride went on.

Kit was taking pictures left and right, but none of them really turned out. Except these of us on the train.

Me being silly

the two of us.

We got to Cardiff, the capital of Wales late on Thursday night. We stayed with our friend Kate's parents. They  were so lovely. They made us feel like we were at home. The next day Kit and Kate went to work and I went to shop around Cardiff. It was a beautiful city, with all of these arcades through out. (they are covered outdoor shopping areas) If you would like to read about them go here. On Saturday we had breakfast, walked through the arcades, found some amazing vintage shops and this coffee shop below.

My grandpa's name was Harley, so I had to take a picture in front of it.
 We also found the worlds oldest Record shop. Kit spent some time in there while I went to the vintage stores.

We walked around the city, exploring. (those are the welsh flags below)

And we made our way to the Cardiff Castle!!! Some of you might not know, but I love castles. I'm pretty sure I lived in one another life. We bought a ticket and explored the grounds and took a tour of the castle. There was also a jousting tournament going on in the grounds. I was in heaven.

The castle 

the wall around the outside of the castle was build by the owners, who was a lover of animals. Instead of gargoyles he put in different animals he loved.

We also took a walk through Bute park, which is behind the castle. The park use to be the castle grounds. It was a beautiful park with a river running through it.

As we were walking along, we saw some standing stones. Kit and I have read and re-read Diana Gabaldon's book series called Outlander. Where Claire the main character goes back in time through some standing stones. I just read that these stones  were put there in 1978 to celebrate the holding of the Welsh National Eisteddfod. Which you can read about here.  We were excited and hoped they were really old.

We debated spending the weekend in Wales, but we are glad we did. We had an amazing time and it really was the happy country.

 

pictures of the inside of the castle and the grounds to come soon.