A Geek in a Castle

Cardiff trip number one!

Yesterday, me and most of the family drove to Cardiff to celebrate my Welsh mum’s niece’s second birthday. The trip also allowed me to do some of the things I wanted to do while in Cardiff.

The morning was spent exploring the Cardiff Castle. Hours passed quickly exploring the castle yard and the corridors inside the walls, climbing to the top of the Norman Keep, and examining a 13^th century trebuchet. We also did the House tour in the Castle Apartments, saw some magnificently decorated rooms and heard of the place’s history. Especially towards the end of the tour, history was present in many ways - we ended the guided tour in the house’s library, which is also the library in the TARDIS in Doctor Who episode "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS"!

The Norman Keep

Lord Bute had eye for details

The bookshelves that offered Clara a hiding place

After exiting the castle premises, I carried on with my geekery and crossed the road to go to the Forbidden Planet store. At first, I couldn’t find anything I really liked, but as I spent more time looking at the merchandise in the store, I found so many things I wanted to buy, and as I didn’t really like anything more than others, the choice on what to actually buy was really difficult… In the end, I ended up not buying much, just a Doctor Who magazine, and small figures of Jon Snow and Madame Vastra. I’m not sure if I chose well or not, but most of the stuff I liked was Doctor Who themed and I thought I could wait until I return to Cardiff next week and see what the shop at Doctor Who Experience has to offer… I guess I could return to throw more money at Forbidden Planet if I really wanted to. At least I really need a sonic screwdriver!

Apparently there was also a geek meet close by. I learnt this from a Kakashi whom I met at the Forbidden Planet. Unfortunately I could not attend, as my day was already planned, but I wouldn’t have traded my lovely rest of the day anyway. Spending time in the park, and later gathering at the birthday girl’s family’s home for cakes and tea. A day well spent!

An unexpected encounter

P.S. Long nails are not ideal when catching a rugby ball - ended up with a torn nail in no time. Worth it though!