Number 34: Go To A Big City For The Day With Friends

Destination?

The news that BB, IG and I were going to a big city together for the day was greeted warily by many people... Some even threatened to warn all residents. Nevertheless, we made it there and back in one place!
Started off the day with a train journey- obviously- which was spent pulling faces through the chairs then completing my 'What The Ladybird Heard' activity book (present from my tutor on leavers day).
When we got to Cardiff, our first stop was the Lego shop, where we spent quite a while! Look at all the lego ^.^

 Whilst there, BB saw a model sheep, and asked one of the assistants if he could buy it. The assistant said it wasn't for sale- then thought about it, went off and returned with three 'build a sheep' sets, given to us absolutely free!! Good times!! Here's my sheep ^.^

 

Next, we went to Hamley's, which was fairly amusing, then just browsed around the shopping center in general. Bumped into this very friendly bear, who was more than happy to be hugged.

The next plan was to go to Cardiff Bay for lunch. This is where things got interesting. We checked the timetables, and found a bus that would take us to Cardiff Bay, stopping outside a Tescos. IG, the only one to have really been to Cardiff before, assured us that the bus did indeed need to stop outside a Tesco Metro, so it must be the right one. Whilst waiting for the bus, we decided that getting cheaper tickets by getting three child tickets would look too suspicious, so we'd get two children and an adult. When we got on the bus, I bought a child's and an adult's ticket- making me look like BB's mum! IG then ended up with an adult ticket. A few minutes later, however, we saw a sign that proclaimed 16-18 year olds counted as children anyway. Meh.
We'd been on the bus for around 10 minutes when we realised that it wasn't going towards the bay, but further into Cardiff. We were a bit confused, but thought that it would be fine. Ten minutes later, we stopped outside the biggest Tescos we'd ever seen. Not a Metro! We realised that we'd got on the bus- but it was definitely an 11 we needed, so we figured that if we just stayed put it would eventually get there.
Back we went, passing everything we'd passed so far, back past the station- and again, nowhere near the bay. When we voiced this, the man in the seat in front of us said 'This is a 13, not an 11'. Whaat?! When had that happened?!
We got off that bus pretty sharpish, and eventually ended up on the right one. After an hour on buses, we finally got to the bay!

Our first concern then was getting something to eat- cue Nandos. We had a very nice lunch, made rather amusing by the appearance of two army members, in full gear, who entered as if it was something they did every day. Maybe it is!
After, we went for a walk around the bay, past the Welsh Assembly and up to the Doctor Who Experience.

I wanted to see if we could walk to Roath Lock (BBC studios- where Casualty is filmed- ie, Charlotte Salt) but we decided against it, and instead took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the three of us!

Went back to the bay, and looked around a few shops, finishing with a Krispy Kreme doughnut each. I also got a root beer ^.^ One of the best things about America! ;)

We had some time to kill, so I managed to persuade the others into going back to where we thought we'd seen the BBC studios. IG wasn't so happy, and moaned a lot- whilst BB just kept saying 'We're actually stalking Charlotte Salt!' and took photographic evidence. For the record, it wasn't stalking. It was finding.Took us a while, but I was determined, and we eventually reached Roath Lock!!

Here's proof that we did get there ^.^

After some deliberation, we decided to ask at reception as to whether it would be possible to actually meet Charlotte Salt, as I knew some people had done previously (up to then I'd just been itnerested in getting to the building). We asked, and were told that we couldn't. However, the receptionist was very very nice, let us take a picture of the Dalek and agreed that it had been worth a shot to ask!

By then, it was time to go. Took a bendy bus back to the station, grabbing a few last pics on the way.

We then waited at the station for a bit, where I took the opportunity to build my sheep. That got us some glances! Finally, home!