After having seen Stonehenge, I took the train to Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
I had been wanting to travel to Cardiff for a few years, ever since I got into ‘Doctor Who’.
Cardiff had been the home and main filming location for the British science fiction program since it’s return to television in the early 2000s, and that remains true to this day.
I wanted to look for shooting locations, soak in the atmosphere, and visit ‘Doctor Who Exhibition Cardiff’ before they would close down a few months later.
Cardiff were also the setting for the ‘Doctor Who’ spin-off show ‘Torchwood’, and it did not take long for me to start recreating scenes from it.
One of the first things I noticed when I arrived in Cardiff Bay was the very Norwegian-looking building by the sea.
I was not expecting to see anything looking like that before returning home at the end of my journey.
Turns out that the building had in fact been built by the Norwegian Church Abroad organisation in 1868, to serve the religious needs of Norwegian sailors and expatriates.
The church has is known as both the Norwegian Iron Church and the Little White Church, and one of my favorite writers, the Welsh-Norwegian Roald Dahl, was baptised there as a child.
Located nearby, there was a giant face-sculpture!
It is called the Merchant Seafarers’ War Memorial, and the other side of the face looks like the hull of a merchant ship.
While writing this post, I looked up the history of the sculpture, and it is really interesting. Give that a look 🙂
Located a bit more inland, in the middle of Cardiff city centre, I found Cardiff Castle.
When the Normans built the castle, they incorporated parts of an old Roman fort. But also made many additions of their own, like a small shell keep on a motte.
The reconstructed Roman walls no longer keeps out enemies, but instead keeps the city outside at bay, making the castle grounds serve as a very relaxing and interesting park.
The Doctor Who exhibition was fun, and I had it mostly for myself since I was traveling during October, a long way away from the tourist season.
Cardiff was lovely, but I had to leave before too long.
Because, I was heading to Hogwarts!
Ah, I have Cardiff on my list… not because of Dr. Who but a much loved grandmother who came from there. Enjoyed the post. Thank you.
You should absolutely go sometime 🙂
It is a very calm sort of capital, with a lot of beautiful things to look at.
Perhaps I will. 🙂
You are making a fantastic journey through some most “fantastical” places. May the joy of discovery long continue.
It was great 😀
Longest journey I have ever been on 😛
We love Cardiff, such a shame they have now closed the Dr Who exhibition. Did you see the Torchwood memorial in the bay?
For Ianto Jones? Sadly no :/
At the time, I was annoyed at people being angry at the showrunners for killing off a character, so I actively avoided it.
I have later understood the fun to be had in a fake memorial, and that most of the people contributing to it were probably not the same people who got bent out of shape by a fake person dying.
And now that Torchwood is only around in audio form, the memorial functions as a memorial for the show as much as for Ianto himself.
If I ever return, I’ll be sure to visit 🙂
For people who don’t know what we are talking about: https://www.citymetric.com/horizons/ianto-shrine-cardiff-landmark-commemorates-man-who-never-was-1965
I found it a bit strange our daughter was keen to visit it! But its is quite interesting though it change a bit over the years.
I totally get it, but I did not get the people getting abusive toward writers because of their creative decisions of killing a character, and then I mixed the two reactions together :p
She enjoyed it? 🙂
I think so she has been back a couple of times!
Cool, looking forward to seeing it myself 🙂
I went to uni in Cardiff so lived there for 3 years and I adore it. But the Bay wasn’t there when I lived there and I’ve yet to see it! Thanks for sharing x
Lovely city 😀
Your welcome 🙂