By the numbers
21,709 steps
16.26 kms
The day started with a decent breakfast at the hostel. I had
literally crashed the night before as I must have really needed the sleep. I
never heard another person enter the room as they were in another of the four
beds not on top of mine. Breakfast did cost me, although well worth it as it
was all you can eat that included coffee. This one was better than all the
European ones as it was a real continental breakfast with baked beans. I was
happy for that as I needed a decent breakfast before I wandered off.
When I did wander off out into Cardiff, I took my bag tag
out of the power slot as I did not want that to go missing at all even though
it had my name on it. I don’t know if all the power in the room goes out when I
pull it, but I didn’t wait and see. One of the places I went to visit were two
locations that I knew of for the show called Torchwood, which is a spin off
from the Doctor Who series that seems to be filmed in and around Cardiff. This
place was down at Mermaid Quay on the water front. It was a nice walk even
though I had started with a jumper and soon tied it to my waist where it was
for the entire day. I found the Roald dahl plaza area that had the tv show
locations and I even found the church that Roald dahl had been baptised in, which
was all basically next to the Legislative buildings, although I wasn’t very
sure if the pollies would come here. I had a look around the area for a little
bit before heading to another film shot.
The next bit was a walk to the museum even though it was
shut on the Monday, I walked the 20 mins to where it is located, which is next
to the town hall. I sat in the part for around 10 mins before having a look. I
circled the building to see if there was anything recognisable from Doctor Who,
although I think most of the shots took place inside. I did see what looked to
be a bee keeper on the roof, but he didn’t stick around in sight for long. A
man and his daughter were looking for some building and one guy walking past
ignored him. I replied that I am not local so I have no idea. He did thank me
even though I was not helpful. I should guess that it was in the town hall
building if he is in the area.
There was one thing I wanted to do and that was to visit
Cardiff Castle. I was close to where it was and I rushed over there to get my
ticket. A free audio tour came with the ticket. A lot of the ground you could
not access as they were pulling down things from the day before as they had an
event. I soon learnt the castle had a very long history as it was once a Roman
fort as they had found the walls, which is behind where you get your tickets.
That was interesting as people had thought before the wall had been found the castle
was from the Norman era, which is still pretty old. The whole complex has been
landscaped and renovated as time has gone on. Luckily the Norman keep wasn’t
knocked down, but basically turned into a ‘feature’ in the garden. You could
walk up and have a look inside even though there is no longer a roof over the
top. In the mid 1900s the castle and some of the grounds had been donated to the
city, although I think this is why you can now visit the castle and apartments.
The apartments were interesting as there was some really nice carvings in them
especially in the dining room. There were paintings on every wall that told a
story including carved angels on the roof. The library had similar too and I
was impressed by all the stuff. During World War 2, the castle area was used
for air raid shelters as under the battlements were tunnels where you could
stay. It was interesting to walk through that area as it was dark and they had
sounds of an air raid going on to add to the atmosphere.
By this time I wanted to get back to the hostel as it was
mid afternoon and I wanted to do the washing before I headed to Dorchester the
next day. I went looking for several more Doctor Who filming locations and one
of them I actually walked past without realising it. There was a gap between
building that was an alley that featured in a character called Clara who was
about to die and she found an alien shopping area. You could see it better from
across the road instead of being on the same side. By this time I headed back
and when I got back I was able to have a shower. The guy staying in the room
offered me a glass of wine as he pointed out he will be drunk just drinking the
bottle. I turned him down on the drink. I wanted to wash and then sort my bags
ready for the morning. Plus to check the train timetables to make sure
everything is correct.
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