Me On Monday: A Full Weekend

The idea of Me On Monday was created by Sian from High in the Sky whose blog I regularly used to follow. Sadly she has had a prolonged break from blogging and I am pretty sure that I am not the only one to miss her. The purpose of her Monday slot is that everyone recounts their new experiences of the weekend. It is a long time since I participated but after a busy weekend with no time for blogging it seems like a good time to pick up the thread.

Saturday morning I took the train to Cardiff for the day. I like travelling by rail for a bit of a change and I knew I wouldn't need my car when I got there so I could sit back and relax. I met up with Student Daughter and we headed to one of the Victorain Shopping Arcades for brunch in Barkers Tea House. We were not disappointed.

SD insisted that we chose different dishes so that we could do a swop half way.

                 

Then it was off to Cardiff Castle  for a good look around.  I have passed the gates many times but never been inside. Here is a taster photo but there will be more later in the week.

We then headed by taxi to Cardiff Bay for a bit of a wander.

The bay consists of a large freshwater lake created by a barrage where the old Cardiff Docks were situated. Once a busy dockyard exporting Welsh coal it fell into disuse before being regenerated at the turn of the century.

It is now a thriving collection of shops, restaurants, recreational facilities and upmarket housing. Some old buildings remain such as the Norwegian Church where Roald Dahl was christened.

Another building of some note is the Pierhead Building which used to be the headquarters of the Bute Dock company.

It was then time for further refreshments.

Suitably repleted we headed to the Cardiff Millennium Centre to see The National Theatre's War Horse. We had both seen it some years ago but it held up well to a second visit.

It was then time after a quick supper to return home.

On Sunday we had 11 for a family lunch with several more family members in the afternoon. Fortunately I had prepared most of the food earlier in the week. My brother entertained all with his model steam traction engine.

There were rides for young and old.

Plus a bit of competition from a plastic tractor.

A good time was had by all.