Cardiff - Four months in

Time flies. I know I sound like a broken record or an old lady but 2016 has flown by. I have now been living in Cardiff for around 4 months. That's crazy. Although it does sometimes feel that I've lived here for much longer. For the last 5 months of 2015 I was clocking up to 500 miles a week on the road going to and from work. The milage itself wasn't the worst part of it, rather it was the time spent on the road. Living where I lived in West Wales the motorway is over an hour away thus if you get stuck behind a tractor/lorry/terrible driver then you're stuck behind them for at least 45 minutes. On a good day I'd be in the car for minimum 3 hours. BUT ALLAS, it's now motorway all the way. A cool 45 minutes and I'm sat at my desk at work ready for the day ahead. It's glorious.

It's not just the decline in hours spent on the road that makes living in Cardiff great - it's also the food, the people, the parks, the pubs, the cinema, the theatre, the CIVILIZATION! Now when I get home from work I actually have time and the means to go meet friends for a drink; I can decide at the last minute to go and watch a play in the local arts centre or a comedy show down in the Bay and I can choose from one of the umpteen restaurants on my street to go out for food.  On the weekends I don't need a huge plan to sort out lifts home from places I can either jump in a taxi or walk home. For the first time in a very long time I feel as if I am truly enjoying life.

So here are my top three favourite places in Cardiff right now -

Chapter Arts Centre

I love chapter not just because of everything that goes on there but also because it is literally a two minute walk from my front door. I can pop over there after work, have a drink, watch a film or a play and be home in a heart beat. For someone who grew up 45 minutes from the nearest cinema this is amazing. On Thursday night my housemate and I went over there after work to watch a play The Harri-Parris (which was great) and to have a glass of prosecco. I regularly set up camp there on a rainy Sunday afternoon with my laptop or a book and crack on with work or just to read for hours with a cup of coffee. It is always busy and without fail there will be tables and tables of people having food, sipping a drink, having meetings or just relaxing.


Yr Hen Lyfyrgell

Recently opened in the heart of the city , Yr Hen Lyfyrgell (The Old Library) houses a few shops inclusing Bodlon and Lampeter's finest Lan Llofft as well as a  large upstairs area where you can have a drink and some delicious food. A few weeks ago myself and a few friends headed there to have lunch and it was sooooo nice and when Wales were playing one of their Euro 2016 warm up games we watched it on their massive screen which makes it a perfect place to watch major sporting events.


Llandaff/Pontcanna Fields






























I usually end up venturing into Llandaff and Pontcanna fields everyday. Be that on my daily
run or for a walk in the evening. Having green space so close to my house has become very important to my life in Cardiff. Running/walking around these parks gives me time to think or not to think. Sunny Sunday afternoons are the best here - running past families on their post-lunch walk, witnessing dogs galloping around in the grass or simply grabbing a cup of coffee from Cafe Catsan and sitting watching the world go by. I think I've spent more time here than anywhere else in Cardiff over the last 4 months. Oh and in the last two weeks I've run passed THE James Dean Bradfield from the Manic Street Preachers and Gruff Rhys (aka the Coolest man in the world) from the Super Furry Animals in Llandaff fields. So yeah.

CARDIFF HALF MARATHON 5/10/14

A few weeks ago I packed my trainers and running vest and hopped on the train to Cardiff where I would be taking part in the 2014 half marathon.

If you would have told me a year ago that I would run 13.1 miles, all in one go, I would have laughed and quickly corrected your mistake at believing that I could run that far. In a moment of heightened confidence or boredom, I am not quite sure, I signed up to run the half marathon on behalf of the mental health charity MIND. I committed to this challenge amidst revising for my second year end of year exams. I think at that point anything sounded better than sitting at my desk all day attempting to memorise the histories of the Tudors, Stuarts and Victorians – even running a hell of a long way.

WEEKEND IN PICTURES// MANICS, COFFEE AND TRAVEL

Friday // 

Saturday //

 Manics //

Sunday //

Friday // Friday morning I popped to the gym to squeeze in one more session before coming home for Easter. After that, myself and Laura had some breakfast, sat on the couch in the living room wrapped in duvets and blankets and watched day time TV, you know - all the classics, Jeremy Kyle, This Morning. Eventually I had to move because I had a train to catch to Cardiff central where I would be staying for the weekend. 

Saturday // After a rather lazy morning, myself and my mam headed in to Cardiff central to do a bit of shopping but mostly to have coffee at Coffee Barker - probably the best cup of coffee you'll get in Cardiff. Yuuuuum. While on our little wander we popped in to the White Company where I bought the perfect white tee which I quickly changed into because my jumper was just too warm. I also bought a new foundation and blusher from Benefit, where I also booked in for a free makeover just before my birthday - yaaay. A quick lunch in Madame Fromage (lush place down Castle Arcade) and it was time to pop back to Canton to get ready for the Manic Street Preachers gig that we were going to later that evening. The Manics are one of my all time favourite bands and I have seen them twice before and they did not disappoint last weekend. James Dean Bradfield's voice is insane and when he played some acoustic songs he really showed it off. They also played two songs from their forthcoming album that really remind me of their earlier stuff - more political, more rock. With the last chord of A Design For Life being played we headed on the bus home. 

Sunday // After packing, having a quick brunch in The Fat Pig Deli and creating a playlist for the ride home on Spotify (mostly consisted of Manics classics) we made our way West and back home. 

Cardiff, Floods & Coffee

We had 4 weeks off from uni over Christmas (which was awesome) and since it was quite a long break I decided to meet up with one of my uni friends, Ellie, in Cardiff (she lives near Bristol). However, we typically planned to meet up the morning after the night when the West was hit by masses of rain and train tracks were either flooded or broken. Thus, it was a bit of an adventure getting to the capital but after a short car ride, an hour on a bus, another hour on another bus, and a 40 minute train journey (yaay for living in the middle of nowhere) I eventually made it (getting home wasn't quite that easy)! First stop was Coffee Barker down Castle Arcade. If you ever get a chance to go to Cardiff I urge you to go down the little arcades and away from the big shopping centres for a bit. They have some jewels down there. Cool vintage clothes shops in the form of A Vintage Affair down Morgan's Arcade (along with others across the city) and the oldest record shop in the world is also situated down Morgan's Arcade - Spiller Records. Morgan's Arcade seems to have everything you need because on our little trip to Cardiff I picked up my new skateboard from Route One which is also placed down the busy arcade. Now back to Coffee Barker... Every time I make a trip to Cardiff I have to have a coffee or a milkshake here (they are insane). It's an awesome place to chill on their super comfortable sofas, have a chat with friends, play board games or do some work. I can honestly say that I had the nicest latte that I have ever had in Coffee Barker. Starbucks who?! So yeah, the next time you're visiting the Capital city of Wales steer away from Topshop, River Island and Hollister and venture down those little arcades, who knows what you'll find.

ARCTIC MONKEYS CARDIFF 2013

Last week I made the journey from the East of England to Wales to watch the mighty Arctic Monkeys and boy were they amazing. I first saw the Arctic Monkeys on their Favourite Worst Nightmare Tour which, if I remember correctly, was back in 2007 when I was but 14 years old. I learnt a lot from this gig - I learnt that yes, in fact, the Arctic Monkeys are awesome but I also learnt that in an Arctic Monkeys gig it's best to stay back from the front and either left or right of the centre - never centre because you will inevitably be caught in a mosh or a push of some sort. It's funny, after going to numerous gigs you start to be able to judge a crowd and where you should place yourself within that crowd.

Before I start to talk about the Arctic Monkeys, lets just take a minute to appreciate the awesomness and talent but most of all, the coolness of The Strypes. Myself and Nicola, who both attended the Monkeys gig, saw these young Irish boys play in Reading Festival back in August and I instantly loved their music and last Tuesday they did not disappoint. Playing tracks such as Blue Collar Jane, You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover & What a Shame from their new album Snapshot they thoroughly prepared the crowd for the men from Sheffield. Superb - you could have been mistaken to think that they were headlining their own concert rather than supporting. If this band stays together massive things will come their way.

That's all I kept saying when the AM went from song to song was "THIS IS INSANE" because each song they played was a hit - not one song came on that I did not know at least some of the words to and can I just say, what a way to open a show. I mean, Do I Wanna Know? to Brianstorm, Dancing Shoes, to the awesome Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair . . .  I could go on and on. Perfection. The only criticism I would have (criticism . . . shock horror) is that they could have played for longer and I mean, how can they not play Fake Tales of San Francisco & When the Sun Goes Down. . . but I suppose you can't have everything you want in life ey.

 

I think we all also need to take a minute to appreciate Mr. Alex Turner's awesomely jazzy blazer.

I can honestly say that last week's gig in Cardiff was one of the best I've been to and that is saying something. Myself and Nicola's musical few months continues at the end of this month when we pop to the O2 in London to watch the Stereophonics. This will be the fourth time that I've seen the Welshmen live and It's going to be awesome - I've got the Welshflag ready (#represent) and will definitely find my way to the front to see Kelly and Richard up close.  

But yeah, the Arctic Monkeys were, as you might expect, immense.

ARCTIC MONKEYS // INSPO

Last night I went to watch the Arctic Monkeys in Cardiff and it was simply insane. This was the second time I'd been to a monkeys gig and they just get better and better but I'll go more in to detail about the gig in tomorrow's blog post. This post is a sort of inspo post which is going to be filled with pictures, mostly of Arctic Monkeys, because as we all know, the latest band that I go and see I become obsessed with for at least a few weeks so here we go . . .

 

 

 

SUMMER ADVENTURES // CARDIFF, GBK & IPHONE

It has happened guys. I knew the day was going to come but you are never really ready for it are you. Yes, you guessed it - my iphone has broken. I can happily live without a phone for a long while and I don't suffer from text withdrawal symptoms but the camera. I use the iphone camera for the majority of my blog posts and just as a way to capture daily events. It wouldn't be that bad if I lived close to an apple shop but as I live in the middle of nowhere I have to do a 200 mile round trip to Cardiff to get it fixed. Yup - 200 miles! Well anywho, Carwen, Ruth and myself had planned to go to the capital on Tuesday to get my phone fixed but we were late in deciding train times and by the time I went to book an appointment at the Genius Bar there was none left - nooooo! Although I couldn't get my phone fixed we still went and had a lovely day.

First thing was first - we had to go and get lunch because we were starvin' marvin. Having been reading the Burgers and Bruce blog recently I really wanted a burger and, well, there is only one place to go and that is Gourmet Burger Kitchen by the Library in town. I had the beef burger with bacon and avocado. Wooow - delish. Also, I have no idea what's in their relish but it's the best I've ever had. Once we were energised we did a bit of shopping. I've been searching for some records recently and they are so expensive everywhere - £24 for a Justin Timberlake vinyl anyone? Crazy. The only time I've been willing to pay £20 for a record was when I found Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town album in Portobello Market. Anywho, Urban Outfitters currently have an amazing collection of old school records which is just awesome. 2 albums for £10!! I picked up U2's Rattle & Hum and a 50's rock 'n' roll album with artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis. Yaaaay. I also picked up a Beatles and a Guns 'n' roses  tee before heading home.

We had such a cool time together and sometimes when you're away at uni in different parts of the country you start to forget how awesome it is to be around people you've been friends with since you were 10/11 years old (gosh, almost 10 years! whaaat?!). Diolch Carwen a Ruth :)

Apologies: I have only got pictures of our meal at the GBK because as I stated earlier I have no camera at the moment. These were taken by Ruth. 

Me trying to create an artistic background for the photo . . . yeah . . . 

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, CARDIFF - 23.7.13 // Summer Adventures

“There are good Bruce shows, there are great Bruce shows, and then there’s Cardiff!” - Helen Jones 

Wow. I have thought about how to describe what myself and over 20,000 Springsteen fans saw on Tuesday night but there are no words. 

My Mam, my brother and I opened are deck chairs and sat in the Cardiff sun all of ten hours before The Boss made an appearance on stage. It had to be done. After being so close to the Golden Circle in Wembley last month we knew we had to be even closer this time. The E Street Band are like a drug which you just want to experience on a more intimate level every time. Next time (and there will be another E Street tour) we'll queue the day before if we have to  - Springsteen has that effect on you. The hours fly by because Springsteen fans are like a big family - everybody talks to each other, look out for one another and swap stories of their experiences of life on the road with the Boss. From Australia, Netherlands, America and Italy, they were all there ready to see Springsteen in the Welsh capital. 

Once we were in the stadium we were ridiculously close to the front and on many occasions during the 3 and a half hour set (yes you heard right, 3 and a half hours) Springsteen was at a face to face distance from us which was enough to almost make my mother (who has been following the Boss for 30 or so years) cry! That was enough to make it one of the best nights of my life but then the setlist, oh the setlist. What an incredible thing it was!

After being privileged enough to hear the whole of Darkness on the Edge of Town in Wembley I was quite happy for the Boss not to play another album from start to finish but just to play songs from his never ending back catalogue. And wow, what a show he put on for us. The band burst on to the stage with a fantastically gospel version of This Little Light of Mine which I was incredibly pleased about and this is also the song that ended the first encore.  I was already pumped by the end of the first song but when Adam Raised A Cain was played as the third song in the set I knew that the show would be one that would not be forgotten for a long time. Adam Raised a Cain is one of my favourite songs not only from Darkness on the Edge of Town but ever. 

After running in to the crowd to grab some sign requests (sadly not mine) we were treated to a world premiere of TV Movie. A song that has never been heard live before and according to Bruce, a song that will never be heard live again! Cynthia, another song from the 1998 "Tracks" boxed set was played after TV Movie to the delight of Steve Van Zandt and the crowd, before the band jumped in to a trio of Wrecking Ball tracks - Death to My Hometown, We Take Care of Our Own and Wrecking Ball. 

 Bruce treated the people of Cardiff to an awesome surprise as The Animals' Eric Burdon came on stage to perform We've Gotta Get Out of This Place with the amazed crowd shouting the chorus back at the performers. If the Millennium Stadium was not already almost filled to the roof with energy, Springsteen launched into a cover of John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom which was followed by Cadillac Ranch and (one of my favourites) Summertime Blues. The seated crowd were told to "get off their Welsh asses" when Pay My Money Down came on and they listened to turn to the atmosphere in the stadium up to 11. As the set came to an end with an immense version of Badlands the roof was now shaking and the crowd were jumping - could things get any wilder? 

With a 10 song encore, yes they most definitely could. The first encore included Springsteen hits such as Born to Run, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Dancing in the Dark and ended with a totally mental version of Shout which saw Bruce crawling across the stage in an almost see through shirt as the sweat flooded from the singer after 3 and a half hours on the stage. Not bad for an almost 64 year old. With The Boss ignoring cut off time and as the band left the stage, Springsteen continued with an emotional and sensational acoustic versions of Janey Don't You Lose Heart and Thunder Road which left many of the audience with tears in their eyes. 

Bruce, as one sign in the crowd stated simply - Thank You. 

SUMMER ADVENTURES // CARDIFF

Thursday afternoon after a morning of exercising, blogging and getting myself together, I drove down to Carmarthen with Ruth to meet my mam. We then changed cars and three of us made our way to Cardiff. With mam having to be in the Vale hotel by 7:30am with work, I decided to tag along to have a day or two in the capital. We were staying in our friend's house as she is currently in Australia watching the Lions. After we dropped our stuff off in the house we caught the bus in to central and had a delish Wagamamas for dinner. We watched Horrible Bosses and made our way up to bed.

I woke up early the next day to order Arctic Monkeys tickets that were being released at 9am. I was trying for Earls Court tickets just because EC is so much nearer to me while I'm at university but within a matter of seconds they were sold out. I then immediately tried for tickets for their Cardiff gig and got them instantly. Therefore, in October myself and Nicola will be seeing the AC! woohoo. I first saw the Arctic Monkeys around seven years ago in the CIA for their Favourite Worst Nightmare tour and they were superb so I'm super excited to see them again! Nicola and myself have so many gigs planned for this summer together - Reading fest, Kaiser chiefs, Arctic Monkeys and Stereophonics! It's going to be awesomeeee!

Myself and Ruth ate our breakfast in the garden as it was sooo hot and it was only around half 9! We eventually got ourselves together and we headed in to town. We browsed around a few shops and both of us treated ourselves to a new pair of Urban Outfitter sunnies - in preparation for this heat wave we have been promised :) For lunch we ate at Madame Fromage which is an awesome deli down Castle Arcade in town. They have the best baguettes, cheese and also they have some heavenly cakes - wowza! Having been filled to the brim with deliciousness I headed in to the Apple store and bought myself a brand spanking new Macbook Pro with retina display :) I've always had second hand laptops that have been passed down through family members so I thought I'd treat myself and buy a new one for uni work and for my blogging. So far it is awesome - and because I'm a student I got a £70 iTunes voucher! If I was on twitter right now I'd be saying #winning.

The sun was beaming down on the city and with no wind I thought I was melting! Ruth and I caught the bus to the train station and then a train to Newport where my brother was picking us up to take us back home.

I love Cardiff. The uni wasn't for me when I went on an open day there but the city itself is just beautiful. It's more like a town than a city really, well if you compare it to London it is. I would love to live there one day. It looks ever more awesome in the sun.