Mystery Weekend Saturday 02 March 2013

We have a guided tour of Cardiff this morning starting at 10:00 at the hotel but I’m up at seven and soon down for a fatboys breakfast. Delicious!

I want to make sure I can get to the coach in plenty of time and also need to clean the windows which are filthy after yesterday’s journey.

I go off and buy a paper and then ask the hotel to call me a taxi as there aren’t any on the rank by the hotel.

A nice man drives me and gives me a history of Cardiff along the way! He didn’t stop talking! £8.00 later I’m dropped off at the bus, sitting all on its own outside the BBC.

I have plenty of time to wash the windows and give it a hoover and also for a quick chat with the parking man who has come along to make sure everything is okay. He is not working tonight but informs me he will tell his mate I am parked here and to keep an eye on the bus. Top man!

The drive to the hotel is a lot quicker than yesterday and I’m parked up just around the corner by 09:30. Margaret, our guide, is there to meet me and go over our itinerary for the day and also gives me some advice for tomorrows trip.

She kindly walks back to the hotel to round them all up as you can’t see the coach from the hotel and at 10:00 we begin our tour. At 10:02 we have our first stop and they all get off to follow Margaret. The tour is interesting and very easy as there is very little driving required. Margaret is very good and makes my job simple this morning. We finish by the castle where half the group go off with Margaret while the other half remain on board and I take them back to the hotel. It is now lunchtime and the rest of the day is free to explore at leisure.

I go off back to Tiger Bay and my own little parking spot and find a bus waiting at the bus stop. I’m quickly locked up and sat on the bus back to the hotel. The £1.70 fare is a little cheaper than the taxi and overall cheaper than parking at Sophia Gardens.

To help me get my bearings I follow the route the bus is taking on my phone, the first time I have used this app and it is great. The bus is a blue flashing light that moves along the map of Cardiff. Technology! Fantastic!

Back at the hotel I drop my laptop back in my room, quickly change and then go off for a wander in the sunshine. Yes it is sunny!

The centre is extremely busy with shoppers showing there doesn’t appear to be any kind of recession in Cardiff. The shopping centre is excellent with most of the shops outside on pedestrian streets, although there are a couple of large malls, and also lots of arcades with shops and cafes and a lot of character. I am really impressed.

I decide to have my lunch in a pub and find a delightful place in the centre called the Duke of Wellington.

My cheese sandwich comes out on a bread board with a load of chips! Not bad at all and they have Peroni on draft!

I call home to hear Hollie has arrived home safe and sound from here holiday in New York. Lucky girl.

After my lunch I take a gentle stroll back to the hotel and my room where I can watch Sky Sports, an added, but unusual, bonus on the television.

I am not eating in the hotel tonight as I’m going to go out and see what Cardiff has to offer of an evening.

A good thing really as I nod off listening to the football results and wake two hours later at 19:00!

Another great shower, I have a large and little shower together, and I’m suited and booted ready for my night out! Well jeans and trainers but you know what I mean!

I fancy a curry and there is a road past the castle that has a rook of curry houses all together. I start to walk here but it is a bit far so turn back and walk into the centre of a throbbing Cardiff. It is very busy with lots of stag and hen parties but no hint of trouble and it feels very comfortable strolling about.

There are also party busses about! These are either minibuses all decked out in pink with disco lights inside and loud music or double deckers with the bottom deck transformed into a disco.

These girls must be freezing with the clothes they aren’t wearing! Or am I just getting a bit old!

I return to my local, Duke of Wellington, for a couple of beers before going to an Indian I had earmarked on my stroll about.

This restaurant is one of many all together close to the pub and in the heart of the city and all of them look lively and inviting, although strangely I didn’t notice them earlier today.  It all comes to life at night.

I saw one lad, obviously the intended groom, strolling about in his underpants and a pair of shoes! And it is very cold this evening.

I enjoy a lovely meal before going back to the hotel in time to watch Match of the Day!

Cardiff at night is busy, lively, exciting and not threatening.