Cardiff - The Arrival
Okay, so the first few days in Cardiff have gotten a bit blurred together because a) I don't have constant theatre that I can use to differentiate them and b) I got sick. Nothing to bad, just your garden variety cold, complete with fever and sore throat. It kind of started on the coach to cardiff, reached a peak in the night, when I woke up with a fever but sans cold medecine (which I had packed and then unpacked going 'nah... I really won't need these... ha...). In the morning, I bought cold medecine (which I am familiar with now, having been sick last time I was here), for both night and day, which made everything much better. I was still unwell enough I could feel my fever and everything come back whenever the pills started to wear off, but while they were working, I didn't feel sick at all. Which was just as well, because Marion was having a dinner party on Friday, and I'd agreed to make dessert, and wasn't going to let illness deter me!
But anyway, back to my arrival in Cardiff, which was a bit of an event in itself. After saying goodbye to Elaine and Peter in London, I headed to the Victoria coach station to catch the coach to Cardiff. I had with me some delicious leftovers from a little party Elaine had had the night before, including cheesecake and some delicious alphonso mango chicken salad, so I was all set. My coach was right on time, and I got a seat on the side of the bus out of the sun (Peter figured out for me that morning that it would be the right side - he was right), put my headphones on and pretty much dozed most of the way to Cardiff (this was the point where I realized my throat was getting sore, but I figured it was because it was really dry and I hadn't been drinking enough water, so didn't think much of it). Anyway, got to Cardiff without a hitch, and then the plan was for me to catch the bus to Granny's, the 52, which I'd done before. Problem is, they keep changing the route. The 52 used to go into the central bus stop, but last few times I was here, it had stopped, and was now caught on St. Mary's st. Anyway, it quickly became apparent that it was now neither at the central bus stop, or on St. Mary's st, and also that nobody really knew where it did go. I'd been told Marion didn't finish work until 5:00, and it was 3:30,and the weather was good, so I figured if I wandered a little, I'd be sure to find it. I remembered the basic direction the route used to take, so I started wandering along that way, stopping in at bus stops to ask people if they knew where I could find the 52 (generally they didn't. Sometimes they thought they did, but they were wrong). Anyway, I followed the suggestions of the people in the bus stops, each one pointing me a bit further along. Anyway, I get further along, things are looking less familiar, and there are also less and less buses going by, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm headed in the right direction at all. Unfortunately at this point, I've been wandering an hour, I'm in a less busy part of town, with far less people and phone booths, and I have no idea how I got there. Plus I'm getting tired, and starting to feel a bit sick. Anyway, at that point I figured I'd keep going the direction I was going in and hope for a phone booth. Which thankfully I found about 5 minutes later and called Granny. A phone call is 60p, and I only had about 75p of change on me, so I pretty much just had the one chance at it. Fortunately for me, Marion was already there, and between the two of us, we tried to figure out where I was ("I'm by a church... it's small... run down... maybe not used as a church anymore... there's an intersection, with stoplights! No, I can't see any street names. I think there's a primary school across the road.") Finally, with the help of a well timed passer by ("Excuse me, could you tell me what street that is up there?") we figured out where I was, and Marion and Granny swooped in and picked me up and all was well. Anyway, they whisked me back to the Crofts' house where I am currently staying, and fed me a lovely meal. Unfortunately, the internet was down that day, so that was how I got a bit behind on these blogs to begin with (and then the getting sick). Still, it was good to have finally gotten there, and England had won their football match, so everyone was in a pretty good mood.
But anyway, back to my arrival in Cardiff, which was a bit of an event in itself. After saying goodbye to Elaine and Peter in London, I headed to the Victoria coach station to catch the coach to Cardiff. I had with me some delicious leftovers from a little party Elaine had had the night before, including cheesecake and some delicious alphonso mango chicken salad, so I was all set. My coach was right on time, and I got a seat on the side of the bus out of the sun (Peter figured out for me that morning that it would be the right side - he was right), put my headphones on and pretty much dozed most of the way to Cardiff (this was the point where I realized my throat was getting sore, but I figured it was because it was really dry and I hadn't been drinking enough water, so didn't think much of it). Anyway, got to Cardiff without a hitch, and then the plan was for me to catch the bus to Granny's, the 52, which I'd done before. Problem is, they keep changing the route. The 52 used to go into the central bus stop, but last few times I was here, it had stopped, and was now caught on St. Mary's st. Anyway, it quickly became apparent that it was now neither at the central bus stop, or on St. Mary's st, and also that nobody really knew where it did go. I'd been told Marion didn't finish work until 5:00, and it was 3:30,and the weather was good, so I figured if I wandered a little, I'd be sure to find it. I remembered the basic direction the route used to take, so I started wandering along that way, stopping in at bus stops to ask people if they knew where I could find the 52 (generally they didn't. Sometimes they thought they did, but they were wrong). Anyway, I followed the suggestions of the people in the bus stops, each one pointing me a bit further along. Anyway, I get further along, things are looking less familiar, and there are also less and less buses going by, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm headed in the right direction at all. Unfortunately at this point, I've been wandering an hour, I'm in a less busy part of town, with far less people and phone booths, and I have no idea how I got there. Plus I'm getting tired, and starting to feel a bit sick. Anyway, at that point I figured I'd keep going the direction I was going in and hope for a phone booth. Which thankfully I found about 5 minutes later and called Granny. A phone call is 60p, and I only had about 75p of change on me, so I pretty much just had the one chance at it. Fortunately for me, Marion was already there, and between the two of us, we tried to figure out where I was ("I'm by a church... it's small... run down... maybe not used as a church anymore... there's an intersection, with stoplights! No, I can't see any street names. I think there's a primary school across the road.") Finally, with the help of a well timed passer by ("Excuse me, could you tell me what street that is up there?") we figured out where I was, and Marion and Granny swooped in and picked me up and all was well. Anyway, they whisked me back to the Crofts' house where I am currently staying, and fed me a lovely meal. Unfortunately, the internet was down that day, so that was how I got a bit behind on these blogs to begin with (and then the getting sick). Still, it was good to have finally gotten there, and England had won their football match, so everyone was in a pretty good mood.