Day 42 - Cardiff

Another chilly, frosty morning greeted us as we set out to walk the 20 minutes or so to Paddington station to catch the 10.15am train to Cardiff. Unfortunately due to recent flooding and landslides in Wales the train was cancelled! Luckily another train went half an hour later which was a relief as we thought we may have done our dough - £67 each. Because they had to re-route the journey it took two and a half hours to get there but it was very pleasant – they even have personal entertainment screens like on international flights.

 

We were pretty peckish by the time we arrived in Cardiff so went and grabbed lunch at a pub. I had chicken & leek pie – you’ve got to eat the local delicacies! So after a lovely break there we wandered around to look for Cardiff Castle and finally stumbled upon it – OK, maybe we should have asked directions, but we figured it was pretty big and we would find it eventually.

 

As time was marching on we high tailed it into the castle and looked around. I climbed to the top of the Castle Keep while Carly chose to stay down the bottom. Wise woman – I’m sure I’m getting worse with heights every day! We looked all over the complex and then spent some time in a souvenir shop – the only one we saw all day – that must be a record.

 

Unfortunately we had missed the last hop on hop off bus so we decided to make our way back to the station for our return journey. Although it was only 4pm it was getting darker, colder and we also felt a few drops of rain so it seemed time to move back under cover. Because of the disrupted service, half of the trains were cancelled so we were only able to squeeze on to the train and were standing, crammed in like sardines, cursing the railway (and the first class passengers where the carriages were half empty). This is how revolutions start! Thankfully we were both able to jag seats at the first stop when some people got off – I don’t think I could have stood up for 2 and a half hours!

 

Back in London and we decided it was time to do some laundry – we found a good laundrette close by to the hotel et voila one hour later we had sparkling clean (well…cleaner) clothes. We grabbed some pre made meals from Marks & Spencers and warmed them in a microwave at the hotel for dinner – very yummy and very cheap! It has got very cold & icy - looking forward to the football tomorrow – maybe the crowd will keep us warm.