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Going to Cardiff for a few days next month

softybabe said:
weird time for a conference during Easter. i'm travelling up on 9th as well ...might see you on the train. any pics of you on the ugly mug?
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It's NUT conference innit. It's always Easter w'end. Dunno why.

Have actually just checked train tickets and it's the morning of the 10th I'm heading to Cardiff, not the 9th. Shame, would have been fun seeing if I could pick out the urbanite on the train :hmm:

JamesWales said:
As are the old victorian shopping arcades..Theres about 7-8 of them full of quirky bits and bobs and a couple of cracking second hand book shops. Also, in the city centre, check out Central market..its great.

re Pubs, Old Arcade, Queens Vaults, City Arms, Cottage, Kiwis, Vulcan, Cardiff Athletic Club, (small) O Neills, Rummer Tavern, Kitty Flynns..All good places for a swift pint. Kiwis is pretty odd because it's inside one of the arcades..It's also slapbang opposite you in the Marriot. It gets lively at weekends, and it's a pretty 'Kairdiff' place..thats to say, 'local.'
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I'm not going to have loads of time but I'll always make time to see an old Victorian shopping arcade. Ditto anywhere called 'Central Market'!

Thanks for the list of pubs, Vulcan keeps coming up, so must be a good 'un :D

Kiwis sounds like an antipodean theme bar - I'm assuming it's not? :hmm:

Brockway said:
For tea: http://www.trufflescardiff.co.uk/ Truffles is quaint and fairly old biddy - you can often find my aunties in here.

For coffee: http://www.qype.co.uk/place/105673-garlands-coffee-house-and-eatery-Cardiff I've never eaten in Garlands I just go in for coffee and the ambience.

For beer: the Vulcan

All within walking distance of St David's Hall and the Marriott.
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Love the look of Truffles! Excellent stuff - many thanks!

Brockway said:
I was talking to the landlady of the other week and apparently the donkey shat on the floor.
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:eek: *reconsiders The Vulcan*

Marius said:
Garlands ain't as good since the guy who started it sold it.

Still it's nicer than many places if you are prepared to pay that little more for the old school charm of the place.

If eating don't expect big portions. But it does leave you lots of room for the lovely home made deserts. The lemon cheesecake with the Ginger biscuit base being my fav, served with fresh squeezed OJ.
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Can I just say - YUMMMM!!

Marius said:
When in May? Should we tryto arrange a welsh meet to coincide with your visit?
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None of you, not a one, have offered to meet up with me! :mad:

*flounces*
 
brix said:
It's NUT conference innit. It's always Easter w'end. Dunno why.

Have actually just checked train tickets and it's the morning of the 10th I'm heading to Cardiff, not the 9th. Shame, would have been fun seeing if I could pick out the urbanite on the train :hmm:



I'm not going to have loads of time but I'll always make time to see an old Victorian shopping arcade. Ditto anywhere called 'Central Market'!

Thanks for the list of pubs, Vulcan keeps coming up, so must be a good 'un :D

Kiwis sounds like an antipodean theme bar - I'm assuming it's not?


Love the look of Truffles! Excellent stuff - many thanks!



:eek: *reconsiders The Vulcan*



Can I just say - YUMMMM!!



None of you, not a one, have offered to meet up with me! :mad:

*flounces*
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me n softy might be able to meet ya and i'll try and convince sweatty but don't hold out any hopes there! :p

most of the arcades and the central market are yards from your route between the marriot and st david's hall. the other arcade(s?) is on the other side of st mary st.
the hayes island tea place is directly outside st david's hall.
the vulcan is funny, small but funny! last time i was there a few weeks ago the lady working there was asking us if we wanted the juke box turned down and kept fetching our pints through the hatch for us, tis slightly out of the way from the city centre tho.
never been in kiwi's and always been advised not to
 
ddraig said:
me n softy might be able to meet ya and i'll try and convince sweatty but don't hold out any hopes there! :p

most of the arcades and the central market are yards from your route between the marriot and st david's hall. the other arcade(s?) is on the other side of st mary st.
the hayes island tea place is directly outside st david's hall.
the vulcan is funny, small but funny! last time i was there a few weeks ago the lady working there was asking us if we wanted the juke box turned down and kept fetching our pints through the hatch for us, tis slightly out of the way from the city centre tho.
never been in kiwi's and always been advised not to
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Would be good to meet up for a pint or two one night. Ace :)

The Vulcan sounds better and better the more I hear about it :D

Loving the sound of arcades and 'tea islands' at close hand. Something tells me I shall enjoy my little tripette.
 
brix said:
I will happily get on a bus in search of tea and cake. Oblong sounds more like it though - that Waterloo teashop looks a bit modern for my taste. I prefer something a bit more traditional :p
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Oblong isn't traditional - it use to be a shop that sold quirky gifts and recently branched out into a little cafe, it's nice but as I said possibly not worth making a special trip for.
 
brix said:
None of you, not a one, have offered to meet up with me! :mad:

*flounces*
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Yet.

Its short notice to arrange a full welsh meet.

You'll have to let peeps know when you'll be free and when you're doing stuff with your Sully matey.

Me personally, I've got a feeling that i may be in London that weekend.
 
Marius said:
Yet.

Its short notice to arrange a full welsh meet.

You'll have to let peeps know when you'll be free and when you're doing stuff with your Sully matey.

Me personally, I've got a feeling that i may be in London that weekend.
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A full Welsh meet? :eek:
Not sure I'm quite ready for that :p

I was thinking of a pint in The Vulcan one night with one or two Weslsh urbs if they're around. I'm in Cardiff from 10-14 April and will be free most evenings from 7pm.

Talking of The Vulcan, I know what it looks like now. Look what's just popped up on The Guardian's website today: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WOODPECKER-MO...14&_trkparms=72:1684|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

It's a sign I tell you! :)
 
"The Swan" Llantwit - good beer and a decent Welsh steak ! :D

(plus Welshcakes from the Bakers shop) - what more do you want on a lunchbreak - a lucky find on our annual St Davids day rail trip.
 
If you like odd little old fashioned tea shops then try out the Louis on St Mary Street - it's very odd, and very old fashioned. The waitresses still wear uniforms. It's like the 60s in there.
ldc_1x22n7s.480.jpg
 
My ex used to like to take her elderly mother to the Louis.

Her mother loved it because "the waitresses are even older than me!".
 
llantwit said:
If you like odd little old fashioned tea shops then try out the Louis on St Mary Street - it's very odd, and very old fashioned. The waitresses still wear uniforms. It's like the 60s in there.
ldc_1x22n7s.480.jpg
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It's fabulously surreal, Pillars on Queen Street is similar
 
When I was a teenager I got thrown out of Pillars for snogging... with a girl. It was putting people off their food apparently.

I'm not sure if it's still going but the weirdest cafe in Cardiff is the one on the top floor of Calders, the gentleman's outfitters on Duke Street. It's called, for obvious reasons, the Castle View Cafe. Frequented, mostly, by old ladies and homosexuals, it's one of those sticky bun and a cup of stewed tea places. Dead flies on the windowsill in the summer. Ali G - I forget his real name - his family used to own Calders.
 
This sounds like material for a fly -on - the wall documentary like the one on T J Morgans Dept store in Swansea.:D:D
 
For pubs I like the Goat Major, the Rummer's cool, Vulcan, Dempseys is always good for a laugh.....definitely check out the arcades for some little independent shops...if you like concrete you'll love St Davids Hall btw. Should be a good few urbs hangin round all those places over easter weekend :D
 
This is all excellent, excellent stuff - many thanks you lovely Welsh Urbs! :)

Now, I have another query....

Just wondering if it's worth taking my laptop. I can bet internet access will cost an arm and a leg in the Marriott. What's central Cardiff like for wifi spots? Suggestions of decent cafes with free wifi especially welcome.
 
Cardiff's not great for free Wifi, but it's there in all of the usual places (Starbucks, McD's [spit], etc). I think you'll also find free wifi in and around most brains pubs, which is cool. Not sure about the new library (next to the Marriot), but I'd be surprised if it wasn't in there, and it's worth checking that out anyway. Park Plaza hotel on Greyfriars Rd and it's bars and cafes do free Wifi, too, and you can access the Uni's guest wifi for free sometimes. There must be more indy places that do (perhaps Brazil coffee shop and 10 Feet Tall on St John's place?), but as I live here I don't tend to go online in town, so I'm not sure.
 
llantwit said:
Cardiff's not great for free Wifi, but it's there in all of the usual places (Starbucks, McD's [spit], etc). I think you'll also find free wifi in and around most brains pubs, which is cool. Not sure about the new library (next to the Marriot), but I'd be surprised if it wasn't in there, and it's worth checking that out anyway. Park Plaza hotel on Greyfriars Rd and it's bars and cafes do free Wifi, too, and you can access the Uni's guest wifi for free sometimes. There must be more indy places that do (perhaps Brazil coffee shop and 10 Feet Tall on St John's place?), but as I live here I don't tend to go online in town, so I'm not sure.
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what that man say^

here's a list which is pretty big and a lot of those places are just in the CF postcode and nowhere near central http://www.myhotspots.co.uk/results.aspx?Town=CARDIFF

wtf is "the monk" on stmary's st???:confused:
 
ddraig said:
what that man say^

here's a list which is pretty big and a lot of those places are just in the CF postcode and nowhere near central http://www.myhotspots.co.uk/results.aspx?Town=CARDIFF

wtf is "the monk" on stmary's st???:confused:
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Thanks both.

According to Beer in the Evening the Old Monk is now closed.
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/21/21943/Old_Monk/Cardiff

Not surprising when you see it had a rating of 2.8 out of 10 :eek:

It's been a while since I saw a pub on there with a rating that low :D
 
:D

I just called the Marriott to see how much it costs to use their wifi (I just KNEW they'd be charging) and it's £15 from 1200 to 1200 the next day.

:D

I think I can cope without the laptop for a few days if it's going to mean:

a) spending a fortune
b) sitting in McDonalds or Starbucks :(
c) sitting in some dodgy pub/bar on St Mary's Street
d) any combination of the above
 
£15 jeeez....there are a couple of cool spots you can use free wi-fi - Shot In The Dark springs to mind but it's 10 minutes out of town on Newport.....or Ten Feet Tall, which isn't quite as pretentious during the day as it is at night......
 
ddraig said:
wtf is "the monk" on stmary's st???:confused:
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Used to be the Great Western. Massive place on the Walkabout end of St Mary's Street.

There are quite a few Cloud hotspots around Cardiff.
In all Wetherspoons for example.
Not free but cheaper than the Mariot. (free for me on my iPhone)
 
brix said:
:D

I just called the Marriott to see how much it costs to use their wifi (I just KNEW they'd be charging) and it's £15 from 1200 to 1200 the next day.

:D

I think I can cope without the laptop for a few days if it's going to mean:

a) spending a fortune
b) sitting in McDonalds or Starbucks :(
c) sitting in some dodgy pub/bar on St Mary's Street
d) any combination of the above
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but how will you be able to meet up with any slacker Welsh urbs?
 
brix said:
:D

I just called the Marriott to see how much it costs to use their wifi (I just KNEW they'd be charging) and it's £15 from 1200 to 1200 the next day.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest shot in the dark over other places but you may get lost trying to find it.

loads of bars say they have free wifi.

Chapter - http://www.chapter.org/
buffalo bar - http://www.myspace.com/wearebuffalobar
10 feet tall - http://www.myspace.com/thisis10feettall
The Pot in Canton -
Fat Cat - http://www.restaurant-guide.com/fat-cat-cafe-bar-cardiff-the.htm
Laguna bar,
Halfway Pubhave been off recently
apparently all weatherspoons
 
I'd go for Chapter Art Centre, A great bar, good coffe fab eats and lovely atmosphere and culture and stuff too!!:D
 
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