Newport and Caerphilly

Last Saturday, I had a nice little trip out of the country and visited Wales! This was a trip taken partly for practical reasons and partly for touristic reasons; my morning was spent in Newport, seeing what the city would be like as a potential place to move to, and my afternoon was spent visiting Caerphilly Castle!

My job is based in Bristol, and I go into the office twice a week, so I need to live somewhere within reasonable commuting distance, but not necessarily in Bristol itself. At the moment, I'm living in a flat share in Bristol, and to be honest, I've found I've gone off this city to some extent since moving here, even though I always enjoyed visiting before. There are lots of issues with things like drugs and homelessness, and it also has one of the highest costs of living in the entire country. When Claudio comes over here, I'd like us to live in our own place together (which would be super expensive in Bristol), and I'd also like to us live somewhere that feels less seedy and depressing. Newport doesn't have the greatest reputation, but it's cheaper than Bristol, so I decided to go and see what it was like.

Overall, it was better than I expected. There's a nice old-fashioned arcade with shops and cafés, as well as a big market/food court, which reminded me of one I used to go to in Valletta.

The city centre also has a shopping area with a cinema and all the shops and restaurants you'd expect to find in a British city. Generally, I felt like the city centre was safer and cleaner than Bristol's.

The part of the city I liked the most was the riverside, which is where you can find Newport Castle! A castle is definitely a plus point for any city, as far as I'm concerned, and I found the riverside quite picturesque in general.

During my morning in Newport, I walked up a massive hill to get to St Woolos Cathedral. It's more of a church than a cathedral really, but it was interesting to see it, and to get more of a feel for the city.

I wanted to make a bit of a day out of my trip to Wales, so in the early afternoon, I took a very crowded train to Cardiff, followed by a very clean, comfortable and quiet train to Caerphilly (which reminded me of trains I've been on in continental Europe).

I was very excited to go to Caerphilly, as its castle is the largest in Wales, and that's saying something, considering how many castles there are in Wales!

The town of Caerphilly itself seems quite unremarkable when you come out of the train station, but once you get to the castle, you can't help but be impressed. It's so huge, and the fact that it's surrounded by a moat makes it even more spectacular.

At the moment, the castle's great hall is being reconstructed to make it look as it did at its peak in the 1320s! They're also making the site more accessible and building a café and toilets there, so in around a year's time, it's going to be an even better place for a day out than it is already. As it is now, you can go up inside some of the towers, and onto the rooftop of the main part of the castle, which is still a pretty decent amount to see, and took me a good hour or two to go round.

It was really fun to step into history and explore the interior of the castle - it was built in the 1200s and a lot of it seems to have not changed since then, particularly the steps to go up and down the towers! The place had a lot of atmosphere, and the typical Welsh weather and Halloween decorations further added to that.

Of course, one of my favourite parts of my trip to the castle was seeing some dragons - always a must when visiting Wales! You can even press a button to listen to a story about the dragon family either in Welsh or English. 

To conclude, my day trip to Wales was a nice little escape to a different country, and felt like a bit of a holiday, even if part of the trip was for practical reasons.

Actually, since I took this trip a week ago, there have been some potential new developments that have come up in terms of what Claudio and I will do and where we'll live in the near future, so I'm holding off scouting out new places to live close to Bristol until we're more certain about that. I definitely don't see myself living in this part of the world long term, but I could be here for several more months, so I'm keeping Newport as an option for now.

Well, that's all for today, but I'll be writing again sometime soon, probably with some travel adventures from around the Bristol area. And next month, Claudio and I should be spending some time abroad, which will be exciting! See you back here soon!

My Day Trip to Cardiff

Last week, I left England for a day to visit Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. I'd been there before in 2012 when my family and I were lucky enough to get tickets to watch an Olympic football match at the Millennium Stadium. That was a great day, but I don't remember seeing that much of the city itself. Recently I started wanting to go back, after finding out about Cardiff Castle. I love visiting castles, so when I had the opportunity to take a day trip last week, I decided it was the destination I most wanted to go to!

On the train to Cardiff, we passed through Newport. There were great views of Newport Castle next to the river. I tried my best to take a decent photo, but it wasn't easy!

Stepping out of Cardiff Central Station, I was immediately reminded of the fact that I had arrived in a capital city. The station is located in a big square with the headquarters of BBC Wales directly opposite. For me, it's a great thing that within two hours, I can go from my house in a small village to a big city in a different country (sort of)!

My first sightseeing stop was the castle. Apparently, Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country! Last year, I enjoyed seeing Chepstow Castle, so I was intrigued to find out how Cardiff's version compared. I definitely wasn't disappointed. Even its outside wall is an impressive sight.

I'd bought a ticket online, so I was able to start exploring the grounds of the castle straight away. Firstly, I went up inside the keep, which is probably the most famous part. From the top, there are amazing views across the city. You can see the Millennium Stadium and the City Hall, depending on which part you look out from.

The Welsh dragon in the centre of the grounds is a nice touch! Afterwards, I went into the main building to look around the castle apartments, which are very ornate. My favourite room was the Arab Room, which is decorated in a beautiful Arabic style.

Next to the castle, you can find Bute Park. Along the park's wall is a series of statues of different animals. Unsurprisingly, this is called the Animal Wall!

Next, I made my way to the National Museum. On my way there, I saw the City Hall, which is a beautiful building.

The National Museum is a great place to visit. What makes it even better is that entry is free! Dippy, the dinosaur skeleton replica from the Natural History Museum in London, is currently on display there.

The museum has a natural history section as well as an art gallery. The art gallery has a brilliant selection of paintings by some of the most famous artists of all time. I especially liked the Impressionism section, where you can find two versions of Waterlilies by Monet.

I had wanted to visit the Norwegian Church Arts Centre at Cardiff Bay, but it's a long distance from the city centre, and I wanted to get the train back before rush hour. But I had time to see the River Taff before going home.

I really enjoyed my trip to Cardiff and I'm sure I'll return in the future. 

Over the next month, I'm going to be busy getting ready for my big move back to Chile. Before going to Santiago, I'll be spending a few days in Buenos Aires, and I've also got a day trip to Uruguay planned, so I'm very excited about it all!