Andy and I went to Cardiff and more specifically to Penarth (there is a nice old peir there) to visit his sister Ansley and her partner Chris to celebrate their daughter Caitlin's first birthday.
We flew down from Glasgow Airport to Cardiff International Airport on the morning flight with BMI and it all went well. There was a short 20 min delay but nothing too terrible.
Ansley picked us up at the station and drove us to her home, about 20 mins away at Penarth.
It was a really warm and sunny day, so after spending a bit of time there we drove to Barry Island and wandered around the front, had a coffee and ice cream and played on the sand. It was a first for Caitlin - she hadn't been on sandy beach before. Not sure she liked having her toes covered in sand. The history of Barry Island and that area of Wales is quite fascinating - apparently it was 'the' place to go when the miners broke up for their summer holidays in the past.
We all went back to Ansley's home after spending a great time at the seaside and ordered a chinese for dinner which was great. Then Ansley drove Andy and I to Dingle Road railway station (about 5 mins from her house) where we caught the train into Cardiff Queen Street Station.
We checked into the hotel for the night. IBIS in Cardiff town centre - really close to Cardiff Castle. It was quite a basic hotel room - no fancy shampoos and not even a hairdryer, but suited our purposes fine - close to train station and in centre of town town. We just needed somewhere local to rest our heads for the night. Turns out there was a festival of sorts on in Cardiff town centre and we were in the hotel in time to get a view of the fireworks over the castle so that was pretty lucky.
We returned to Penarth on Sunday morning (caught the 1026 train) after having a continental buffet breakfast at the hotel and the trains drop to 1 every 2 hours on a Sunday so we had to be careful not to miss the early train.
About 1230 the birthday bbq began. About 30 friends and family came round to Ansley and Chris's home celebrate the birthday bbq. It was quite nice weather when it started, but then it became a bit cloudy later on in the afternoon and started to drizzle a bit. Caitlin had a great time opening all her presents and playing with all the kids and adults.
By the time Ansley was driving Andy and I back to the airport for our flight later in the evening the drizzle turned into a bit of a downpour.
We flew down from Glasgow Airport to Cardiff International Airport on the morning flight with BMI and it all went well. There was a short 20 min delay but nothing too terrible.
Ansley picked us up at the station and drove us to her home, about 20 mins away at Penarth.
It was a really warm and sunny day, so after spending a bit of time there we drove to Barry Island and wandered around the front, had a coffee and ice cream and played on the sand. It was a first for Caitlin - she hadn't been on sandy beach before. Not sure she liked having her toes covered in sand. The history of Barry Island and that area of Wales is quite fascinating - apparently it was 'the' place to go when the miners broke up for their summer holidays in the past.
We all went back to Ansley's home after spending a great time at the seaside and ordered a chinese for dinner which was great. Then Ansley drove Andy and I to Dingle Road railway station (about 5 mins from her house) where we caught the train into Cardiff Queen Street Station.
We checked into the hotel for the night. IBIS in Cardiff town centre - really close to Cardiff Castle. It was quite a basic hotel room - no fancy shampoos and not even a hairdryer, but suited our purposes fine - close to train station and in centre of town town. We just needed somewhere local to rest our heads for the night. Turns out there was a festival of sorts on in Cardiff town centre and we were in the hotel in time to get a view of the fireworks over the castle so that was pretty lucky.
We returned to Penarth on Sunday morning (caught the 1026 train) after having a continental buffet breakfast at the hotel and the trains drop to 1 every 2 hours on a Sunday so we had to be careful not to miss the early train.
About 1230 the birthday bbq began. About 30 friends and family came round to Ansley and Chris's home celebrate the birthday bbq. It was quite nice weather when it started, but then it became a bit cloudy later on in the afternoon and started to drizzle a bit. Caitlin had a great time opening all her presents and playing with all the kids and adults.
By the time Ansley was driving Andy and I back to the airport for our flight later in the evening the drizzle turned into a bit of a downpour.
No comments:
Post a Comment