’13 Aug: Scotland and Wales

…and you can see some of the old castle walls around.

Scattered through this very large property are many sections of buildings moved here from somewhere else that are set in context and fitted out from a particular time.

Farm buildings, cottages, chapels, a waterwheel and grainary, the castle, cider making, and many more. It was interesting. It needed something though. Like better signs or more demonstrations or people dressed up in costumes .. something to make it livelier and more engaging.

St Fagan’s is quite a way out of town so I had to come back in on the bus and took a different bus out to Cardiff Bay to see The Dr Who Experience.

Cardiff is nuts for Dr Who since there’s a big BBC production facility here and they do most of the Dr Who filming around Cardiff. Bill, yesterday’s guide, said everyone fanatically watches every episode looking for themselves and people they know in the background.

That’s the Experience out there in the blue building.

It was a bit of a walk from the last bus stop and I passed through the newly developing Cardiff Bay.

Another one of Bill’s stories (and oh my goodness I have thousands. I hope to remember tens.) was about how all the older people still call this area The Docks. Cardiff and the docks were home to a raging economic boom back when Coal was King and then they fell upon very hard times.

Another view of Cardiff Bay.

And pirates! Cardiff was the pirate capital of Europe for decades with the cooperation of all political types. When the government finally decided to crack down the pirates just set sail for the Caribbean and set up shop there.

Here we are, Dr Who.

What happens: they gather a group, and you might have to wait, to all go in together and you walk together through rooms where you are put in scenes from Dr Who. One of the rooms has a 3D component, one of the rooms is a Dalek attack, there’s the control room of the Tardis, something else I can’t remember.

The main character in The Experience was the 11th doctor, Matt Smith to whom I never entirely warmed since I am still carrying a torch for the 10th doctor, David Tennant.

After walking through the rooms there’s a large display area with models of all the villains, costumes and make-up, story boards, and all things Dr Who.

If you’re a hard-core Dr Who fan and find yourself within 100 miles of Cardiff you’ll definitely want to immerse yourself in all this Who-ville.

If Dr Who never made it onto your radar then this place is not for you.

Local beer! We drove past the brewery on the way to the Bay. I had become obsessed with finding a Brain beer since I couldn’t find one when I looked. Even though it’s made right in Cardiff not all the pubs carry it. And there it is, Brain in the window! It had a sharp taste and I liked it.

The guy at the pub gave me six fabulous Brain beer coasters for which I am overly excited.

The view from my room at the Maldron. You can see the Bay in the far distance.

I stayed at a Maldron back at the very beginning of this trip, in Dublin, and both experiences have been good. It costs some more than I like to spend but it’s a real hotel with decent amenities. You still have to bring your own shampoo.

Tomorrow: LONDON!