Today is my last day as an intern at Peartree Languages, which means that tomorrow I will have spent 6 weeks in Cardiff. It has been a great time and I have definitely enjoyed myself so I thought I’d let you know about my favourite things in the capital city of Wales!
Even though Cardiff is a rather large city, its nature is amazing. It is known for being one of the greenest cities in the UK, and not only in terms of taking care of the environment. The best thing in my mornings was going past Victoria Park in Canton on my way to Peartree! Victoria Park is full of beautiful flowers and seeing it every morning made my days start on a good note during my time here. Although Bute Park is the biggest park in Cardiff, and a part of my top-three-list, I must say that Alexandra Gardens is my favourite one.
Not only does Alexandra Gardens have the most stunning Magnolia trees, it is also located in Cathays Park, close to the National Museum and Cardiff City Hall which gives it some very beautiful surroundings.
After visiting the shopping centres in Cardiff I decided to send almost all of the clothes in my luggage back to Sweden when my mother visited. Saint Davids shopping centre has all of my favourite international stores and I have loved walking around there for hours. It is also a very beautiful building with a high glass ceiling and lots of light. Since I am a big fan of cheap makeup, some of my favourite stores are Kiko Milano, Boots, H&M and Primark. And if you are a shopaholic like me, make sure you don’t go to the big stores like Boots and Primark unless you have some time to spare!
seeing actual medieval castles was a thrill! The enormous size of Caerphilly Castle really shocked me and it was extremely beautiful. Compared to the £12.50 entrance fee at Cardiff Castle, £7.95 (Caerphilly Castle) and £6.50 (Castell Coch) is in my opinion very reasonable.
The pedestrian street in the City Centre is probably my favourite place in Cardiff. Walking towards Cardiff Castle in the early evening with the sun setting behind you and the big Welsh flags waving in the wind is an experience everyone should have. St Mary Street is also where you find Mc Donalds, Starbucks, House of Fraser, a Tesco Express and an endless list of pubs and night clubs. Whether you are looking for a nice walk or an exciting bar crawl, it is simply the place to be!
The Swedish word fika, pronounced “feekah”, is “when you eat e.g. a sweet cake, cookie or even regular sandwich, normally with some kind of beverage” (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fika). I have done a lot of this in Cardiff, and found myself repeatedly returning to Starbucks. There are exactly 17 Starbucks in the entire country of Sweden (there are 33 in Wales) and all of them are at least 260 km (~160 miles) away from where I live. The realisation that a Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks is cheaper than the one I’d usually get in Sweden made my time here so much better! Therefore, my last tip to people travelling to Cardiff is to visit Starbucks. I love it.
All in all, Cardiff is a wonderful city and I sincerely hope I will come back soon. I will miss it!
Sanna
Sources:
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks
https://www.starbucks.co.uk/store-locator?map=51.643057,-3.931818,13z
Images:
https://cdn.getyourguide.com/img/tour_img-239554-145.jpg http://www.visitcardiff.com/seedo/butepark/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_Park_Canton.jpg http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/541327/alexandra-gardens-cardiff/ https://www.clogau.co.uk/stores/cardiff/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joncandy/5542615197 http://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/visittheroyalpalaces/drottningholmpalace.4.396160511584257f218000368.html
http://www.hitched.co.uk/chat/forums/thread/fonmon-castle-or-caerphilly-castle-south-wales-45494/
http://www.showmewales.co.uk/thedms.aspx?dms=3&venue=1011890 http://mapfight.appspot.com/se-vs-wales/sweden-wales-size-comparison
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| One of our favourite places in Cardiff - Cardiff Bay |
The parks
Shopping
After visiting the shopping centres in Cardiff I decided to send almost all of the clothes in my luggage back to Sweden when my mother visited. Saint Davids shopping centre has all of my favourite international stores and I have loved walking around there for hours. It is also a very beautiful building with a high glass ceiling and lots of light. Since I am a big fan of cheap makeup, some of my favourite stores are Kiko Milano, Boots, H&M and Primark. And if you are a shopaholic like me, make sure you don’t go to the big stores like Boots and Primark unless you have some time to spare!Tourism
Although I haven’t spent too much time visiting Cardiff’s tourist attractions, I did go on the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus! It was a beautiful ride with witty live commentary. I am very glad I got the opportunity to see more of Cardiff than just my route to work and the City Centre. When my dad and his girlfriend visited we went to two Welsh castles, Castell Coch and Caerphilly Castle. Coming from Sweden, a country in which the royal dynasty looks like this:
seeing actual medieval castles was a thrill! The enormous size of Caerphilly Castle really shocked me and it was extremely beautiful. Compared to the £12.50 entrance fee at Cardiff Castle, £7.95 (Caerphilly Castle) and £6.50 (Castell Coch) is in my opinion very reasonable.
St Mary Street
“Fika” and Starbucks
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| A comparison between the sizes of Wales and Sweden |
All in all, Cardiff is a wonderful city and I sincerely hope I will come back soon. I will miss it!
Sanna
Sources:
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks
https://www.starbucks.co.uk/store-locator?map=51.643057,-3.931818,13z
Images:
https://cdn.getyourguide.com/img/tour_img-239554-145.jpg http://www.visitcardiff.com/seedo/butepark/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_Park_Canton.jpg http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/541327/alexandra-gardens-cardiff/ https://www.clogau.co.uk/stores/cardiff/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joncandy/5542615197 http://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/visittheroyalpalaces/drottningholmpalace.4.396160511584257f218000368.html
http://www.hitched.co.uk/chat/forums/thread/fonmon-castle-or-caerphilly-castle-south-wales-45494/
http://www.showmewales.co.uk/thedms.aspx?dms=3&venue=1011890 http://mapfight.appspot.com/se-vs-wales/sweden-wales-size-comparison
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