Matt's aunt, Val, had her last week in the country at the beginning of the month, so we joined the family in Barry for a lovely lunch one Sunday. We really enjoyed the time we spent with her, and hope to get over to Canada while we're in this hemisphere to visit her. That week was also our wedding anniversary, and we had a lovely dinner out at one of the local cafe/restaurants – Cafe Brava this time. It was lovely. Matt gave Kathy a much desired Global brand knife (mmmm, sharp... She later bought the appropriate sharpening tool to keep it appropriately edged), and Kathy gave Matt 2 cigars and a half bottle of whiskey. Matt cracked open the bottle and had the first cigar when we got home after dinner.
The people involved in naming food festivals in Cardiff need a talking to. We went to something down at Cardiff Bay which was called the Cardiff International Food Festival. Guys – try harder! There was about 4 stalls for non-UK based food suppliers [Matt: I counted zero!], out of over 20 tents (with about 4-5 suppliers in each). Hardly international [Well it was if England counts - M]. Mind you, the way some North Wale-ians react to the rest of the UK the 'international' epithet could be apt. We had cockles, which were really nice (with the obligatory vinegar), but the rest of it was pretty lame. Still, we'd probably go again next year to see if they've picked up their standards.
The weekend after we went to Dublin (see our separate entry) we spent most of the weekend in the pub. Because it was wet. And to get out of the house. That's not to say that we drank a lot. [No we didn't – dear lord, what is happening to me? - M] People who know us in Canberra would be surprised to learn that, given the way we were spending a lot of our weekends back there. We now go and have a meal, and sit over a couple of drinks for a couple of hours reading the paper, or watching sport on TV, or talking. Very respectable.
The Tri Nations kicked off this month as well. The matches in Australia and New Zealand are breakfast affairs for us, so we drag ourselves out of bed, put coffee on and watch the Wallabies beat New Zealand (so exciting – we thought the whole neighbourhood could hear us screaming and yelling!), or New Zealand beating South Africa, or (sob) Australia being beaten by New Zealand. After that wonderful victory over New Zealand by the Wallabies we went to the Halfway for lunch. Sitting at the table next to us was a bunch of lads, and at another table close by were 2 guys – one wearing a Wallaby jumper, the other wearing an All Black jumper. All were talking about the rugby. Then the antipodean pair left – and the bunch of lads started bagging out the Wallabies! Poor form guys, very poor form.
We went to the Big Cheese festival in Caerphilly.
Kathy at Caerphilly Castle
We went there thinking that it was a cheese festival, because of it's name, and while there certainly was cheese there at the food stalls, most of it was a big fair and market, and there was a medieval exhibition on as well. It was great!
The Big Cheese Festival
The weather was fantastic, Matt tried jellied eels (bland without the pepper and vinegar, but pretty tasty nonetheless [They have very large bones that cut mouths - M]), and we bought Caerphilly cheese in Caerphilly! Gotta do it, don't you? There were heaps of family at the festival, and apparently it's the big thing to do in the Valleys. There were heaps of things for the kids to do, including trying their hands at various medieval weapons, and watching displays and talks about weaponry and life in medieval times. There was also free entry to Caerphilly Castle, and we really enjoyed wandering around that, too.
Caerphilly Castle
One of the fallen towers at Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle across the moat
We want to go back when the festival isn't there and have another wander around – we didn't go inside the castle itself much, but wandered around the grounds (and looked at the siege weapons – very cool {Trebuchet and a ballista – coooooooooooool - M]).
Siege weapons, aimed at the Castle
And besides, Caerphilly is only half an hour away by train. Can't wait for the Big Cheese 2009!
The most exciting thing to happen all month was – drum roll – our stuff FINALLY arrived!!!!!!! We now have different clothes! Our photos are up! Kathy's finally got her recipe books! (not all of them – just a select few) We've got kitchen toys! Matt's got his XBox! Oh, the joy of it all. It took long enough, though, and we weren't impressed with Grace Removals for their lack of communication with us about the bill for uplift and shipping, and about when we might expect things to leave Australia. But, we've got our stuff and that's what matters.
[Matt here: I thought Ireland was more exciting]
What else of note? We saw Batman - The Dark Knight (and thought it should have had a different classification as it's not really a movie I'd want to take kids to see). Matt rang Sheeds. Matt picked a football team. Kathy enjoyed buying summer berries, especially those you can't get readily in Australia, like gooseberries – mind you, she still doesn't quite know what to do with red and black currants, so if anyone has any good suggestions... After going to the Big Cheese we sat and enjoyed pints of Magners cider at the Kings Arms in Caerphilly (lovely pub) in the beer garden. We went to Dempsey's Bar one day and there were guys doing a pub crawl, or a buck's night, or something – and they were all dressed as superheroes. We got cranky at our landlord for not advising Cardiff Council that the house was built, so when we tried to pay our council tax we experienced no end of dramas. Upshot of that is that we now have a new postal address (complete with new post code), we should have our address turn up on databases everywhere eventually (which will make things like purchasing insurance on-line much easier), and our place has been rated in a tax band higher than what we were expecting. Ouchy. Ah, you can't win them all, can you?
New pubs this month include Callaghan's, the Old Arcade, Copa (which is a bar, really), and Zero Degrees – a newly opened brewery bar [Wanky - M].
1 comment:
Such a nice blog. I hope you will create another post like this.
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