Back to reality?

Eventually got back down to Cardiff after a long haul from Edinburgh. Took a different route, this time thru Midlothian & Lanarkshire. Fantastic scenery included steep mountains, massive hills and odd, undulating glacial valleys. Must go back to the ‘lowlands’ – they’re awesome!

Arriving back here, an over-whelming thirst & a need to extend my holiday to the very last minute led me to head for the local hills, and to The Star, my local. Pear cider was an essential medicine. Led me to a rapid recuperation! Upon reflection, the week seems to have flown by, and I’m looking forward to Easter, when I’ll no doubt go somewhere else on my travels. I’ve never been able to stay at home – I love to get away & always do whenever I get the chance.

Today, the return to work was OK. I was shattered at the start of the day, but gathered energy as it progressed. Oddly, I even managed to stay focused during a meeting – and even contributed. Was amazed actually. Normally, I become bored instantly and glaze over during such events. Within seconds of sitting down, my mind wanders & I enter a parallel universe, within which, sleek bikers on superbikes, Andrew van Wyngarden and the entire cast of Torchwood float effortlessly by, interacting seamlessly with people from my real world. It’s a fascinating place to be, though unnerving at times, especially when one returns, briefly to the real world as a result of hearing my name being called loudly, or by the sound of my own asthmatic snoring.

Having had tea (jumbo prawns & Morrison’s ‘serve yourself’ salad) I’m now trying to work out how to organize my evening. I have to shower, do some planning & also sort out some paperwork. I also have to update my iPhone... need to delete some overplayed tunes and add some new stuff. The Medic Droid & White Lies will be on there first, and I think Weezer & Throbbing Gristle may be given the sack!

I also want to look at what bikes cost these days.. two years without one, and talking to Jack recently has rekindled my desire for a new one.

Later in the week, two long evening meetings which will be as stimulating as root canal treatment, a meal with Ash which will be awesome and a BIG Wales game to watch on Friday, no doubt that’ll be a nerve-racking experience!

Gotta go.. work to do!

Some tips if you fancy visiting Wales' Number 1 city!


Cardiff Bay is clearly a must, as it's the main location for Torchwood
and features frequently in many episodes of Doctor Who. Also, all Bay locations are within easy walking distance from each other.

The Bay is highly attractive, and is a great place just to wander, and take in the atmosphere. It has been describe as one of the UK's most iconic locations, and attracts hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of Welsh, UK and international visitors each year.

Within the Bay, there's Plas Roald Dahl, and of course the Millennium Water Tower (Torchwood Hub) plus the Millennium Center, used as the Cat Nurse Hospital in the New Earth episode of Doctor Who. This is well worth a visit, and a great place to have a coffee, or a meal.

Mermaid Quay is the heart of the Bay, with an incredible number of international restaurants, including The Bosphorus (Turkish) where Doc who took Margaret Slitheen for a 'final' meal. There are also trendy & more comfortable bars, great for a refresher, or a drink in the evening.

There's also the Welsh Assembly Senedd & Pier Head Building, all which you can visit, free of charge. On a nice day, you can walk round the Bay, past St. David's Hotel and via a boardwalk to a saltmarsh nature reserve, complete with birds & attractive views. This is approximately a 20 minute round-trip on foot from the Senedd.

If you're feeling more adventurous, you can walk past the Norwegian Church Gallery & Cafe (worth a photo or two) and the Cardiff Bay Museum (looks like an alien space pod, and worth a 20 minute 'look' and it's free) and along the new route, thru Cardiff Docks to Cardiff Bay barrage. The Barrage featured in Torchwood, and is a spectacular structure of locks & machinery with fantastic views back to the Bay, and across the Bristol Channel. On a good day, you can see the Severn Bridge, and Weston-super-Mare.

You can walk across the Barrage to Penarth Marina, again, worth a pic or two, and then either get the Aquabus back to Mermaid Quay (£2) or onwards to the Millennium Stadium in the heart of Cardiff city.

This walk & Aquabus trip would probably take an hour, plus any 'lingering' time, and would be well worth it. If you had less time – you could take a return boat trip (£4.50) from Mermaid Quay to the Barrage, and either come straight back on the same Aquabus, or break your journey in Penarth and come back on the next bus.

Near to Cardiff Bay (5 mins walk) is the Red Dragon Center. It's all under cover, with inexpensive restaurants and bars, bowling, cinemas and.. the Doctor Who museum. This is not a big place, be warned, and it does cost a fiver to get in, but for Doctor Who groupies & officianados, like me, it's probably worth a visit, though half an hour and fifty photographs will probably see you out & ready for coffee!

Cardiff City is not easily walkable from the Bay. You'd need to take a bendybus or Aquabus to get you there easily. In the city, there are obviously lots of shops, and a couple of decent malls. More interestingly, there are loads of Victorian shopping arcades, mostly off the High Street & The Hayes. These are attractive, eccentric and just great places to soak up the atmosphere of Cardiff and its history. There's also Cardiff Market - typical & traditional, and near some very good pubs & eateries! Try a pie at the Cornish Pie Shop!!

There's Cardiff Castle, it costs to get in, but you can walk in the park around it free of charge. It's in the center of town, so easy to see. There's also the National Museum of Wales (free) set in a beautiful park, and surrounded by majestic buildings. I hate museums, but this one even gets me interested, and would be a great place to spend an hour or longer, and then to have a picnic in the park outside. Everybody does it!

Car parking is expensive in Cardiff city, so it's best to come in on foot, by train or by bus.

For a longer stay, or if you want to wander, there is...

1.Penarth – 4 miles. Cosy Victorian seaside town with small pier & sea front!

2.Barry & Barry Island – 6 miles. Seaside town with good sands but too many chavs. Some nice walks though, and it's very cheap & cheerful!

3.St. Fagan's museum of Welsh life & heritage (free) – 3 miles. Fantastic place to spend half a day. Massive site, buildings from all ages moved from their original locations and moved to St. Fagan's. There are also displays & reinactments and lots of Welsh is spoken. It's a must if you have the time!

4.Rhondda heritage park – 15 miles (£4) Built on the site of an old coal mine, your chance to explore life as it was in the Valleys. You get a guide too. Well worth a couple of hours too, if you have the time.

Further afield, Swansea & Gower (awesomely spectacular) – 50 miles are great locations for your next trip to South Wales!

Finally, accommodation in Cardiff center can be very expensive, but it's cheaper in the suburbs and in Penarth. I can't really recommend, cuz I've never used hotels and B&B here, but I am told that even expensive hotels offer bargain deals if you book in advance, or more easily, via places like expedia.com or lastminute.com.

I've heard that the Big Sleep is OK and reasonable, and I know more reasonable places are found in Roath & Canton, but I'd definitely want to see pictures & read reviews before I booked.

I think if you're prepared to look around on the internet, you'll pick a decent room up for perhaps £45, but that would involve availing of offers & deals. However, a day is too short, and if you have the cash to stay, it may be worth investing in a night or two's accommodation so as too make the most of our great City!

 

Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff Bay. Spectacular by day and by night!

Sadly, this is not a joke!!

A couple go into a restaurant full of Brits, Europeans & Americans. The service is lousy, and the food abysmal. Their food is over salted and the wrong drinks turn up. The waiter spills wine on the woman's top & the bill is wrong. They're then short-changed as they leave. Much the same happens to everyone else. It's a disaster!

The Irish guys: Complain, but smile thru it. Say 'never mind' & refuse to pay the bill. They leave smiling.

The French couple: Walked out when the waiter was rude & then complain by letter.

The German Family: Are cross & outraged. There's a flaming row when a burned steak turns up. They then leave frostily - without paying.

The Americans: Photograph & film everything. Complain & contact their attorney.

The British guys: Complain continually amongst each other and are clearly unhappy and very pissed off. Everything is wrong! The waiter comes, and asks how the meal was. He smells strongly of cigarette smoke. They tell him the meal was 'lovely' - paying the chef compliments. They pay the bill AND leave a very decent tip.  They then continue to slag off the restaurant, the food & the waiter all the way home!.

Does this national trait of acceptance and compliance explain why we are so downtrodden, and why we just sit back whilst our country is turned into a police state?


Of course it does!

Strictly Come Dancing: Phenomenon or farce?

I'm  embarrassed to admit (well, only very slightly!) that I'm totally hooked on so-called 'reality tv shows' and alleged talent competitions, my current favorite being Strictly Come Dancing.

This totally improbable and highly unlikely show features celebrity B & C - listers who practice their dancing skills, guided by a professional ballroom dancer. Therre are then showpiece dances, judged by fairly terrifying judges, and ultimately, elimination of the weakest dancer, as confirmed by the voting public.

I know this sounds hopeless and totally uninspiring, but this masterpiece of televisual excellence is absolutely electric! The dancing is not really my scene, but the magic is in the judges, their self-preening, their acidic comments and the drama they make when delivering their verdicts... and the fate of the contestants in front of an audience of millions.

The four judges are all very colorful, and all very different. Bruno Tonioli... very Italian, extremely camp - and ultra generous with his marks. Craig Revell-Horwood, an Australian terror with slick hair and the longest pronounciation of 'daaaaaaaaaahnce' in the world, famed for his meanness of score and so cuttingly saracstic, it actually stings.. Then there's Len.. Head Judge, and the kindest by far. Always keen to say something nice after harsh words from Craig, and rather like your favorite uncle in so many ways. Finally, there's Arlene... straight down the line, and she tells it like it is! She's been a dancer & choreographer for over 40 years, and clearly knows a thing or two...

Then there's the performers... all taking the show very seriously, some good, some not so good at all. The big hit - John Sargeant. Can't dance, is 60+ and is unfortunately overweight. Quite a sight in lycra when cavorting around the dancefloor like an arthritic elephant on valium, but a nice man - who everybody seems to like. So nice, in fact, that everybody kept voting for him... even though the judges were absolutely desperate to remove him from the show... and were clearly angry that they couldn't.

Well, today... John quit the show. It's headline news - on all TV channels. There's a special show - an hour long - on BBC2, and TV schedules have been changed. It's even front page news on all of tomorrow's UK national newspapers... the country is shocked, and the BBC's switchboard is jammed...

Are we taking TV just a little bit too seriously?

... or are we just in need of fun?

Time now to think of next week's show.... plus of course X Factor (getting exciting!) and I'm a Celebrity... awful, but so watchable & totally addictive TV!!!

One of the best places to come to shop?

Cardiff & Co has welcomed confirmation that the St David’s 2 shopping development is likely to push the city into the top five of the UK’s best performing retail locations within a few years.

Research from Experian (a credit reference agency) shows that this year Cardiff has climbed one place to 10th from 2007 and in its projections for the next decade, predicts that Cardiff will have climbed to eighth in the UK, well ahead of rivals such as Bristol, ranked 14th.

Over the next 10 years, Experian believe Cardiff will move ahead quickly with the opening of the St David’s 2 center next year, giving the city a spot in the top five shopping destinations in the UK!

Bruno Rost of Experian is reported in the Western Mail newspaper saying:  “When you see a big scheme such as St David’s 2 taking shape,  it is going to have a positive impact. It is difficult to predict precisely, but you could see Cardiff reaching sixth or even higher over the next few years as result of St David’s 2.

However, over the long-term we believe it will stabilise and by 2018 it will be ranked eighth in the UK.”

This year Cardiff is immediately behind Bluewater in Kent which has a slightly higher total comparison spend of £1.55bn. The top location is London’s West End with a spend of £5.34bn, followed by Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

“Cardiff is punching above its weight and will continue to do so. However, the city’s retail offer doesn’t just rest with the fantastic development in St David’s 2. There's the original St. David's center, Queen's Arcade plus the Capitol Center, not to mention Queen Street itself, plus the many Victorian arcades!"

So, there you go! Nive to know, eh?

David Tennant and a female Doctor Who??

Award-winning actor and mega-star, David Tennant leaves Doctor Who after filming four specials, to be shown during 2009. I can confirm that David's final appearance as the Time Lord will be in the Christmas Special, 2009.

When interviewed for BBC Wales, the Scottish actor refused to confirm, however, that this was a 'final' departure, adding that 'doors would remain open'. Interesting!

After briefly meeting Russell T. Davies today - I can confirm that in spite of all the hype and rumor, the 11th Time Lord will NOT be a woman. How wrong that would have been anyway!

Here are ten things you (probably) didn’t know about David!


1. David was born David John McDonald in 1971 in West Lothian, Scotland. His father was a Presbyterian minister and is now a member of the Scottish cabinet.

2. David was barely out of nappies when he decided to become an actor. He recalls: "I was very small, about 3 or 4 I think, and just wanted to be the people on telly telling these wonderful stories. Obviously the idea grew and matured with me but I can't ever remember wanting to do anything else."

3. David was so crazy about Doctor Who as a child that he had a Tom Baker doll, made his gran knit him a multi-coloured scarf and once wrote a school essay declaring that he would one day play the role.

4. David is a huge fan of Madonna. The first single he bought was 'Like A Virgin' and he credits the Queen of pop with kick-starting his sexual awakening at the age of 13. Oo-er!

5. (Not confirmed!) David took his pseudonym from Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant after finding that another actor shared his real name. He explains: "I was on the bus looking through Smash Hits and I saw Neil Tennant. I thought it would be a good name as it's got a good number of consonants in it." Well, it's as sensible a reason as any! (Sorry! My theory may have been wrong - not sure!)

6. David once lodged with Arabella Weir from The Fast Show and is godfather to her youngest child. He says of the experience: "She probably corrupted me, but I probably needed corrupting a little bit."

7. David received such a scathing review playing King Arthur on stage in only his second job that it made him weep. The critic wrote: "The cast of 18 are uniformly excellent with the exception of David Tennant, who lacks any charm or ability whatsoever." No doubt that nasty man is eating his words now.

8. David counts McDonald's restaurants, astrology, Cliff Richard and the Conservative party among his biggest dislikes. On the other hand, he adores Honeynut Shredded Wheat, Alfred Hitchcock, The West Wing and The Proclaimers.

9. David has auditioned no fewer than six times for a part in Scottish detective drama Taggart, with no success. Maybe it's worth giving it one more shot, Dave!

10. David held 'passing wind' contests with John Barrowman on the Doctor Who set. After finding out that Freema Agyeman was less than keen on the practice, they began "saving them up" and waiting until she walked past to "thunder one out". Charming!

There's your ten facts!

Off to the Valleys - The pink Kappa tracksuit!

Woke up feeling a bit on the 'meh' side - and found it quite tough to decide what to do , where to go, and, to be honest, when to get out of bed - always a tough one! Decided, for a change to head up the Rhondda Valley, a place I rarely visit - but one full of suprising beauty and spectacular sights, as well as a place of contrast and anachronism. Fantastic pine covered hills & mountains, sheer, deep valleys, awesome rock formations & superb waterfalls, along with valley towns & villages, reminiscant of the 1950s, complete with Elvis walking down the high street, and a fantastic array of flared trousers, shell suits & other way-out-of-time stuff. Interesting!

First stop was a smallish town called Treorci / Treorchy; where the first Elvis's were spotted eating chips, suprisingly, outside a rather scruffy chip shop. He seemed to find it odd that I too wasn't dressed in an Elvisesque manner, and couldn't comprehend the concept of black skinny jeans & Converse... I don't think that style has reached the Rhondda yet, but will arrive in perhaps 2038.

Even odder - and somewhat amusing - was being referred to as a 'f**king f@ggot' by a chip-throwing chav in a pink fluorescent Kappa shell-suit (collapses in shoulder-shaking hysteria) - who was also wearing an oil-stained Burberry baseball cap.... Hmm.. What CAN a man say!

The picture above shows Treorci from the Rhygos mountains. Sadly, pictures can't show the contrast between the heights of the mountains, alongside the depth of the valleys. Good view of Treorci in the distance, anyhow. Standing outside the car to take this picture was almost an impossibility - with gale force north-easterly winds being impossible to stand vertically with the camera stable!

The one disappointment - the 'Welcome To Rhondda' sign was accompanied by one of the BIGGEST Speed camera warnings I've EVER seen!! Not the warmest of Welsh welccomes, but sadly, the kind of high profile traffic control made fairly essential by the standard of driving by some local youths - aka chavs.

Then headed down ot Neath, a small town about 8 miles outside of Swansea. Not a quick stop - had to get passengers back home in time for the sheer unmitigated thrill of Strictly Come Dancing. Nice town though - and open, friendly people who are more than happy to talk, however busy or pressurized they are at the time!!

Back home now... Pub later. Star, Dinas Powys calls, as do three bottles of Bulmers Pear, with copious ice!!

Chris @ Torchwood, Cardiff.