Day 9.2: It's Bigger on the Inside

After retrieving the car and our luggage from the hotel, we drove through Cardiff and, without using precious data, Marsha managed to successfully navigate us to the Doctor Who Experience. Driving through Cardiff was interesting. We stopped for a cross-walk where one of the kids never even looked before walking right out into the street. Another kid in red pants stopped and taunted me for having to stop, then moved to the next lane and taunted that car, too.

This was the primary reason why we came to Cardiff. We'd wondered why they put a big Doctor Who attraction all the way out in Cardiff instead of London. Turns out it's right next door to the BBC studios where they shoot Doctor Who and many other BBC productions.

Other than seeing sets, props, and costumes from the show, we had no idea what to expect. We received a timed entry, which was perfect, since it was only a 30 minute wait. We were also told that photos were not allowed during the first part, but that we could take all the pictures we wanted later.

When they led us in, we entered the museum of Gallifrey (the Doctor's home planet) and received these light up crystal that we hung around our necks. We were immediately thrown into a fully immersive, interactive adventure where the TARDIS is being attacked by these space squid things. The current Doctor (Peter Capaldi), who spoke to us via video screens, needed our help. Our guide was a young woman in a Gallifrey robe, whom the Doctor referred to as "Boy-Girl in the dress."

We boarded the TARDIS and learned that we would have to help him locate three crystals and use those to fight of the thing controlling the squid. It was all pretty impressive and had everything a Doctor Who fan would want. Madison loved every minute of it. This and the Castle made the whole trip to Cardiff worth the long drive.

The rest was two big rooms on two floors  full of sets, costumes, and props. The downstairs room had three TARDIS interior sets. The original is actually the replica built for the TV movie, A Journey Through Space and Time. There were also multiple Police call boxes. I had to wonder how many of those things they've built over the years.

The second floor was largely costumes, but also had a bunch of Daleks and a few other set pieces as well. The few older costumes (from when the show had a much lower budget) were fairly simple, but the newer ones are really impressive. There were a few displays, like the Cyrbermen, where you could see the progression over the years.

The only downside was that this room wasn't air-conditioned. I don't know if it was broken or what. They had a few fans running, but the awesome displays helped make up for the heat.

One of the best displays had all the Doctor's costumes lined up side-by-side. Then the current Doctor was positioned our front next to the TARDIS. Very impressive!

Day 8: The Long and Winding Road to Cardiff

We really didn't want to leave Liverpool this morning. Sadly, our schedule doesn't allow for much flexibility, but we decided to put off our two Cardiff attractions (The Doctor Who Experience, Cardiff Castle) until tomorrow so that we could spend a little more time in Liverpool.

We stopped for breakfast in a little cafe on Albert Docks where I finally had a "Full English Breakfast," which I'd seen on several menus. It's eggs, sausage, ham, toast, beans, and hash browns. Fortunately there was no mushroom, which is usually included.

We returned to The Beatles Story gift shop where we stocked up on several souvenirs. We realized that we need to buy a small duffle that we can use as a carry-on to get everything on the plane home. Madison and I want to buy some shirts on our short return to London, plus we still have Disneyland Paris next weekend.

We took the scenic route from Liverpool to Cardiff, which was both rewarding and challenging. The countryside was just beautiful: green and lush, with lots of rolling hills and even a mountain or two. There were plenty of cows and sheep.

 

We even pulled off in a little hamlet in Shropshire (I think) to get a better view and so that Marsha could jump out and take pictures.

The directions were more difficult to follow going this route. We had a harder time figuring out where we were. There were many, many roundabouts, only one of which had a name.

I'm actually starting to get the hang of English currency. After repeatedly asking for help when paying with coins, I actually figured out the exact change at a toll booth.

It rained for much of the drive, but I was really glad it waited until I was more sure of myself behind the wheel. We've been really lucky regarding the weather (aside from the cold). It rained last night, too, but only while we were in the movie.

We passed into Wales near the start of the trek, then crossed back into England for most of it. In Wales, I was surprised to see that all of the road signs in Wales are both in English and Welsh. When I printed the directions, I thought it was Spanish, which really confused me. It was only a couple of words, and Welsh also uses "y" as a whole word (but it means "the" here). I learned from the front desk that in some parts of Wales, the signs are reversed, with English second, because Welsh is the primary language. We even saw a TV channel in Welsh.

We found our hotel just fine, but I missed the turn. Madison swears I could have turned left, but I was sure that there was a sign that said not to. Anyway, we spent another twenty minutes at least trying to find our way back. The roads here are a bit confusing, and I prefer turning left because it's easier. We tried to use precious data to find our way, but had a hard time getting connected, probably due to the weather.

We had a small problem with car on the way (warning message that said "Engine Malfunction"), about two hours outside of Cardiff, in the middle of nowhere. It was running just fine, but we didn't want to take any chances. Especially since we have two more days to drive. We had no luck calling Hertz or their roadside assistance, so we waited until we got to the hotel. Just our luck, this the only one so far that's valet parking only. I had to move the car to the front of the circular drive with metal poles every few yards, which would have been hard enough on its own, but was made even tougher with all the cars coming in and out, but mostly because of the pedestrians who were constantly walking in front of and behind me. Luckily things calmed down before roadside assistance showed up. Turns out it was just low on coolant and had barely dropped low enough to trigger the sensor. At least I hope that's all it was. We'll see tomorrow.

There's some big convention going on here, with lots of people dressed to the nines, and a chorus singing just past the lobby. When we left for dinner, it was a soloist. When we came back, she was still at it. We also learned that there's a big cycling race tomorrow, which could hamper our efforts to leave and even get around. Fortunately, the castle is right across the street.

I will say that the hotel is very nice and the room is huge, which is a welcome change from the tiny rooms we've been staying in (especially Liverpool). The wifi here is terrible, though. It keeps dropping in and out. You have to stand by the door to get a strong, consistent signal.

With the car taken care of, we went looking for a place to eat. There's a big shopping mall just down the street, but we were surprised that it was closed on a Saturday night.

Dinner was at Nando's again (they're everywhere). We tried some other places, but Madison was tired of pub food, Burger & Lobster was deemed too expensive (three item menu, £20 each), and the two Italian places we tried (including Jamie Oliver) were booked. This time it was full of adults (and some teenagers), but still noisy. Americans aren't the only ones who are loud.

We finally turned in at a decent hour for a change: 11:00 pm instead of 2:00 am. I think we're finally starting to adjust to the time difference.