Wales - Day 1 (Part 2)

Bristol was disappointing. It was more modern than we had expected. Not a quaint and historical English town that we tend to gravitate towards. Although, we stopped at a Premier Inn to check out the rooms, the price was good at 65 pounds but were just weren’t feeling excited and decided to move on. We had Bath in mind, but navigating through England, as we have learned is tricky. Streets are not clearly marked and one streets turns into another in a flash. So instead of heading south to Bath, we ended up heading north, from where we first came into Bristol and in a fit of frustration for missing the signs, Rick made the call to carry on to Cardiff. We were heading there anyway.

Getting to Cardiff didn’t involve taking a ferry after all. Instead we crossed a long bridge that curved like a smile along the bay. Once in the city we found another Premier Inn just on the outskirts. They were all booked up but they did have rooms at their downtown location, which opened only two weeks ago. I like the sound of that. No old and lumpy mattresses to endure. I am sadly the Princess and the Pea when it comes to sleeping on a less than comfortable bed. Before going ahead and booking the first place that was available, we decided to get some supper at the restaurant next door and boot up Channing’s computer to search for other options. After a couple of phone calls, we liked the Premier Inn even more as the other places were charging upwards of 90 pounds per night.

Trying to land a parking spot on the downtown street, however, entailed circling the block at least 3 times while incorporating cutting over a curb, travelling in a bus lane, pulling into a spot that is marked for taxi’s only, and Rick telling “Buddy” to get off his tail, before scoring a space in front of the hotel. Keep in mind that there was a parking lot that was easily accessible from the hotel but that would have cost us 10 pounds and the street parking was free overnight and about 3 pounds for half a day. What can I say? Rick is thrifty.

We hit the sack early and hoped for bit of a sleep in as our plan for Tuesday was to get to the Dr. Who exhibition when it opened at 10 am.