Wales is a beautiful country with a rich history. It’s also home to several of our favorite series: such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock. Doctor Who is still filmed in Cardiff at the BBC Station on Cardiff Bay (we saw the building from the bay tour). We re-watched several Torchwood episodes before heading out to Cardiff, just to be sure we hit the high spots.
Look! A Castle (See The Snowmen)
Cardiff Castle is a mélange, a mish-mash of a Norman keep and Victorian folly. It was built at least partially on a 3rd century Roman fort (because of course it was!). The oldest part of the castle dates back to William the Conqueror and several hundred years later, Welsh revolutionary Owain Glyndŵr attacked the castle in 1404. Read more here.
There are multiple buildings on the grounds and Mark went up into the very tall tower (for a small extra charge) which he described as the Victorian millionaire version of a man cave.
Notes: Cardiff Castle appears in the Doctor Who episode The Snowmen which introduced Clara Oswald. The castle also appears in Sherlock episode, S2E3, standing in for the Tower of London when Moriarty steals the crown jewels.
The Invisible Elevator/Millenium Center
Practically every episode of Torchwood had some shot of the Cardiff Millenium Center and Roald Dahl Plaza. We made the journey to get the photo ops.
A Short Tour of the Bay
While we were at the bay, we took a nice boat tour, then hopped on the Ferris wheel. Great views.
That’s One Big Spoon
This has nothing to do with Dr. Who or Torchwood or any pop culture, but Cardiff is the home to the World’s Largest Lovespoon. Carved in 2008 by Ed Harrison out of a single cedar tree trunk, the spoon is 44-feet long. Lovespoons have been a Welsh tradition for hundreds of years and are traditionally given as a token of love and devotion. The National Museum of Wales has an extensive and beautiful collection, with the oldest lovespoon dating to 1667.
Happily, Mark got me my own lovespoon. Silly me didn’t take a picture before shipping it back to Georgia, but I assure you it is lovely, and a more portable size.