usuallyhats: The cast of Critical Role sitting round a table playing Dungeons and Dragons (Default)
[personal profile] usuallyhats
Yesterday I took the day off and went to Cardiff.


Things got off to a less than auspicious start when I overslept by about fifteen minutes. But I threw myself at the station and just about caught my train.

Cardiff Castle!

I went on a tour round this, it was rebuilt in the nineteenth century by the fabulously wealthy Marquis of Bute, who had it all done up inside in marvellously vulgar Victorian mock-medieval style, all 22-carat gold leaf and, because the architect happened to like them, parrots.


This is the old medieval (?) keep. There's about a hundred stairs to the top and they're all very steep. The view from the top was very nice but my legs are aching today.


The clock tower on the Victorian bit.

After that I had lunch and then headed down to Cardiff Bay.


Seeing this for real was pretty exciting! Sadly the big shiny tower thingy was covered with adverts for Cardiff festival.

Then I went to the Doctor Who Up Close exhibition - it was surprisingly tiny, but there was lots of stuff in it. It started with some classic stuff: four big displays with two Doctors on each of them, and if you pressed a button you could see a classic monster behind the banner. I tried to take a picture of the Ice Warrior behind the First and Second Doctors but it didn't quite work:

The other monsters were a Sea Devil (with the helmet and armour, not a string vest), a Cyberman (I joke about Rubbish Eighties Cybermen, but up close they are pretty scary) and a Haemovore. There were also two screens, one showing all the title sequences, one showing all the regenerations. I stood and watched those for a bit.

The rest of the exhibition was New Who stuff and I think it must have been set up after S2 because a lot of it was from the first two seasons, and there was a big banner up saying "FAREWELL Rose Tyler, the Doctor's Companion 2005-2006".


There was a helpful sign clarifiying that this was the Trinny droid.


Auton bride! Also there was a wheelie bin with a video of Mickey getting et by the bin inside it.


MARTHA'S OUTFIT. I may have got a bit excited about this. Also, props from 'The Lazarus Experiment'.


Battered TARDIS, Ten's outfit from 'The Runaway Bride' and Jack's costume.


Rose's clotheses.



Stuff from Guys 'n' Daleks. The Emo Man-Dalek was also there but I chose not to take a picture of it.


Nine's costume, yay.


DON'T BLINK, YO.


K9! HURRAY! Plus Rose's dinner lady uniform.


Pretty clockwork robots.


Doomsday-Dalek and Torchwood guard, plus small child who wandered into my picture unexpectedly, darnit.


Cyberman and Rose's maid's uniform. Erm, yay?


OOOOOOD. At something of an angle so I could get the spacesuit in too.


Hath type thing. It was just this and a spacesuit from SiTL from season 4. Oh and a Sontaran, that is quite a bit, actually.

On the way home I saw this on a bridge:

I felt it was probably trying to tell me something.

The day's loot:

- One wristband from Doctor Who Up Close
- One NA - I went in three different charity shops on the way to the tourist information centre.
- One flattened penny with the TARDIS stamped on it. Though technically this is a transformation rather than an acquisition.
- One half-drunk bottle of Orangina (not pictured).


And now I must go and have some lunch.

Date: 22 Jul 2008 13:31 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] velvetfascism.livejournal.com
Great pictures! :) It doesn't look that small, and it looks a lot better lit than the Land's End one! That was like stumbling around in the dark!

Looks like you had a good day :)

Date: 22 Jul 2008 14:05 (UTC)
ext_3965: (TARDIS)
From: [identity profile] persiflage-1.livejournal.com
Whee!! I haven't been to Cardiff for about 5 years - before DW even got going again. Trouble is, it's a beggar to get to from Oxford via public transport (train's VERY expensive!)

Date: 23 Jul 2008 04:39 (UTC)
ext_3965: (10 Has His Doctor Jones Back)
From: [identity profile] persiflage-1.livejournal.com
*nods* About 6 years ago, I took the coach down to Cheltenham for my graduation as I'd already moved to Oxford by the time the Nov ceremony rolled around...

Date: 22 Jul 2008 14:29 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vandonovan.livejournal.com
Ah, what fun! You've done it all for me! Makes being across the pond a bit more mangable, thank you! And bonus Troughton! (Though it hurts that that's all there is.)

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usuallyhats: The cast of Critical Role sitting round a table playing Dungeons and Dragons (Default)
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